Sun Coral help to feed

TrottingReef · Mar 21, 2023

At ReefStock 2 weeks ago I got 2 Sun corals. I have not been able to get them to come out at all since. I have read a few articles on trying to get them to feed. I have been trying to target feed them every few days but they still wont come out. I know they mostly do at night. I have checked multiple times but well, I mostly sleep at night. I am starting to get rather worried for them. I have no idea how much of the feed they are actually getting since their polyps are pulled in.

They need a NPS sub forum.

MERKEY · Mar 21, 2023

Can you adjust your light schedule and have your lights turn off an hour or 2 early so you can feed them before you go to bed?

srobertb · Mar 21, 2023

cdnco2004 said:
At ReefStock 2 weeks ago I got 2 Sun corals. I have not been able to get them to come out at all since. I have read a few articles on trying to get them to feed. I have been trying to target feed them every few days but they still wont come out. I know they mostly do at night. I have checked multiple times but well, I mostly sleep at night. I am starting to get rather worried for them. I have no idea how much of the feed they are actually getting since their polyps are pulled in.

They need a NPS sub forum.

These are one of my favorite corals (in both black and yellow). Well…before I had lots of kids and got old and decided I like sleeping.

I fed them at night. They would come out about an hour after my tank lights turned off. We set our red lights on the LED’s as nightlights so we could see the tank at night when crabs and worms and clams and squirrelfish rule the tank.

O have heard stories of people “pushing” back feeding time over a year or so until they open up in the morning. You could set your lights to come on an hour later but that may not work.

You can dissolve a mysis shrimp cube, then take the liquid from it and spray it gently around them to get them to open (maybe) during the day then once opened, feed them.

Put them in a cave or under a shelf rock where it’s dark.

Ultimately they are very difficult. They need target feedings a few times a week or a tank specifically designed for them where there’s food in the water column and flow designed to gently bring food to them.

TrottingReef · Mar 22, 2023

Yeah I got a black and orange sun. I have seen the orange open up partially but thats it so far. Guess i will have to set alarms to wake me up in middle of night to try to do a feeding. Im just worried they are not getting the feed they need.

danieyella · Mar 22, 2023

My black sun is in a very very shaded area of the tank - it took about 2 weeks of settling in before it started to open up for me. I feed everyone else in the tank then circle back about 30 min later to feed them because it takes that long for them to really become aware of the food in the water

907_Reefer · Mar 22, 2023

I have both black and orange Tubastraeas as well, agree they can take a while to settle in. Every time I've had to move them it was a few weeks before they would open again. Also like above, I'll feed the tank (manually or auto) and then start some mysis/brine thawing in tank water and circle back in 20-30 minutes later with a baster. Then I'll dump a portion of the mix into the tank to get the scent flowing, and give it a few more before loading them up.

Eventually mine started opening during the day, when I feed, and adjusted to the tank's schedule rather than having to be fed at night. Initially, they were open primarily at night and not during the day.

My orange/sun coral Tubastraea had an unfortunate tumble onto the sand bed recently and it was another 2 weeks after I re-glued before it would open..