Sun corals

[DREUTZ]

Do sun corals need low light? I just bought a black sun and in order to feed it i'll need to use a bottle over it or the scavengers will steal all the food. I don't have a shaded spot where I can fit a bottle over it so i'd like to just put it in my sandbed out in the open if possible. What does everyone think?

 

[motortrendz]

i had a sun coral beautiful piece like 40 heads.. and part of it was uner shade and part wasnt..the part that wasnt died off real quick and left a skeliton... eventually the rest slowly died, but the part in the light died off real quick... hope that helps..

 

[DREUTZ]

Doesn't sound good :supermad:

 

[motortrendz]

nope..time to rescape lol

 

[DREUTZ]

I'm going to try to cut the bottle so it can fit on like a sleeve protecting the front with the rock protecting the back

 

[Marcellina]

I have a black sun coral that I have jutting out of the side of my lr. Its pretty much out in the open under direct light. I have always kept it there bc its easier to feed. Its under 14K 150w MH. It had 2 heads in october now it has 7+

 

[motortrendz]

wow, nice.. mine was a yellow/orange sun coral... maybe theres a difference... post a pic when you can..

 

[DREUTZ]

I have a black sun coral that I have jutting out of the side of my lr. Its pretty much out in the open under direct light. I have always kept it there bc its easier to feed. Its under 14K 150w MH. It had 2 heads in october now it has 7+

How high up in the tank do you have it?

 

[Marcellina]

Its like mid tank.

I also have a yellow one that I had under a cave area, I just put it on top of my high LR so I can target feed it easier. Its been ok so far. It opens up beautifully when its hungry.

 

[DREUTZ]

Looking good!... what type of flow do you have it in?

 

[Marcellina]

little to medium flow.

 

[Marcellina]

also dont put it directly on the sandbed bc the tissue on the polyps touching the sand will start to recede. You need to be a little more careful handling the black sun coral and they seem to be a bit more delicate than the yellow.

I remember when I first got it a crab dropped another frag on it and the black tissue turned white on the side of one polyp! I was so upset! After a few days it healed itself but Im sure it was traumatized.

 

[DREUTZ]

Ok i was going to put it in the sandbed but i guess i shouldn't. Can i glue or epoxy the base to some liverock? I'm thinking I'll glue it either in the rockwork or maybe a piece of LRR and bury that in the sand.

 

[Marcellina]

that should be ok. Mine was glued on a fragging disk and I just stuck it in the LR.

 

[Ziggy]

this are my yellow and black sun corals,

 

[DREUTZ]

ok thanks for everything... the relocation starts tomorrow!

 

[DREUTZ]

they look great together... my black sun is a branch.. when i get it opened and happy i'll be postin some pics of it

 

[ming]

light has absolutely no effect on sun coral. it doesn't hurt them, but it doesn't help them either. the ONLY IMO reason to keep them in the side is to prevent algae from growing on them, but that shouldn't happen in a healthy system anyways. I keep mine 2" from the surface of the water with no adverse effects and good growth. The only reason why its up there is because its easier to feed up there.
The sun coral WILL eventually die if you don't feed it.

 

[motortrendz]

i fed it.. wasnt the issue... but interesting..thanks ming

 

[daisy]

+1 on what Ming said - "sun coral," aka Tubastrea, is a non-photosynthetic coral and relies on being fed (or catching) meaty foods. I have had one for a few years that has lived in different locations depending on ease to reach it in order to feed it. I find that the easier it is to reach with the turkey baster, the greater the likelihood that I'll feed it every day. the only time it does not thrive is when I go on vacation!