Training Sun coral

[ReefHomieJon]

Got a sun coral last week. Put it under a ledge in my tank that stays shaded. I want to train it to open up about 5:30pm so that I can feed and enjoy it’s polyp extended presence after work with the rest of the tank. Been putting polyp booster in the tank every day around 5:15 to try to get it to open so that then I can feed it my sis shrimp. They say give it a few days and be consistent. So far he stays shut until the lights get super low and then I see him start opening but I don’t want to feed it that late because then it’ll never learn. Any tips? Anyone been successful training there’s?
Here is the sun coral in question and placement, plus a couple other shots of my tank. Not all my fish/coral and inverts but some of it

 

[ScottR]

I’ve got similar corals to that. Dendrophyllia- which also go by sun corals. There is a difference. But both being NPS. For mine, they open whenever they please. However, they do stay open most of the time. Light and time don’t seem to be a factor. When I add aminos to the tank, they tend to open. Then I feed frozen mixed food and they all just open up and eat.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I’ve got similar corals to that. Dendrophyllia- which also go by sun corals. There is a difference. But both being NPS. For mine, they open whenever they please. However, they do stay open most of the time. Light and time don’t seem to be a factor. When I add aminos to the tank, they tend to open. Then I feed frozen mixed food and they all just open up and eat.

I’ve heard about those but yea they’re not quite as challenging as this one for those very reasons you listed. The hardest part is just the fact that we have to hand feed them. I go to bed like at 730(wake up at 3:30 for work) and my lights go off at 9:30 so I really need to make sure this “training” goes well

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I’ve heard about those but yea they’re not quite as challenging as this one for those very reasons you listed. The hardest part is just the fact that we have to hand feed them. I go to bed like at 730(wake up at 3:30 for work) and my lights go off at 9:30 so I really need to make sure this “training” goes well

Lotta patience, entice it , like your doing, also raw shrimp in very small pieces, see if they open quicker. Beautiful piece. Looks from Australia. Keep us posted, comrade.

Always target feed it.

 

[ScottR]

I’ve heard about those but yea they’re not quite as challenging as this one for those very reasons you listed. The hardest part is just the fact that we have to hand feed them. I go to bed like at 730(wake up at 3:30 for work) and my lights go off at 9:30 so I really need to make sure this “training” goes well

Trust me, mine need to be hand-fed as well. They only eat meat. They don’t know what time it is and they don’t even care about the lights. I don’t think you can train them to be honest. They do what they want when they want. Sometimes some polyps open then close then the other polyps open.

 

[ScottB]

Sun corals are a challenge. I will admit first that when I got inconsistent (OK, negligent) about the feeding regimen mine slowly faded away to nothing. Here is what did work, when I was consistent.

At the end of my light cycle, I would
a) put pumps into feed mode
b) soften up some mysis pellets in tank water
c) cover the sun coral with a cut off top of 2 liter bottle (weighted with epoxy)
d) Squirt in the softened pellets through a hole cut into bottle cap
e) wait 1/2 hour or so for them to open
e) hit feed mode again, remove cover and hand feed mysis
f) chase away shrimp for the next 1/2 hour

So yeah, I got them trained OK, but just could not keep up that regimen. Hopefully @ScottR broadcast method will work for you.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Lotta patience, entice it , like your doing, also raw shrimp in very small pieces, see if they open quicker. Beautiful piece. Looks from Australia. Keep us posted, comrade.

Always target feed it.

Ok then I’m going to try and use polyp booster today and then after 15 minutes feed it mysis shrimp and see if it helps them open up because yea sometime during the day they are partially open

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Trust me, mine need to be hand-fed as well. They only eat meat. They don’t know what time it is and they don’t even care about the lights. I don’t think you can train them to be honest. They do what they want when they want. Sometimes some polyps open then close then the other polyps open.
I know that’s y I said WE have to hand feed them lol

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Sun corals are a challenge. I will admit first that when I got inconsistent (OK, negligent) about the feeding regimen mine slowly faded away to nothing. Here is what did work, when I was consistent.

At the end of my light cycle, I would
a) put pumps into feed mode
b) soften up some mysis pellets in tank water
c) cover the sun coral with a cut off top of 2 liter bottle (weighted with epoxy)
d) Squirt in the softened pellets through a hole cut into bottle cap
e) wait 1/2 hour or so for them to open
e) hit feed mode again, remove cover and hand feed mysis
f) chase away shrimp for the next 1/2 hour

So yeah, I got them trained OK, but just could not keep up that regimen. Hopefully @ScottR broadcast method will work for you.

That’s a lot!! Lol I’m going to try it but I don’t want to do it after the lights go out! No one will ever see it’s polyps

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Lotta patience, entice it , like your doing, also raw shrimp in very small pieces, see if they open quicker. Beautiful piece. Looks from Australia. Keep us posted, comrade.

Always target feed it.

Thanks, yea it’s a nice piece indeed

 

[ReefHomieJon]

They finally came out some lol. Enough that I was able to feed the majority of the polyps some mysis shrimp

 

[ReefHomieJon]

But I will say, this coral is a big giant pain

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

But I will say, this coral is a big giant pain

Wait till the babies come.......heeeeee

 

[ReefHomieJon]

A

Wait till the babies come.......heeeeee

already got one lol a little tiny polyp top left of the tock(not visible in the last pic)

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I haven't shown you my children of the sea

At this time 50+ babies of sun polyp corals

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I haven't shown you my children of the sea

At this time 50+ babies of sun polyp corals

Dang how do you feed all those polyps?? By hand?? And your fully opened polyps make my semi extended polyps pic no longer seem like a big deal lol

 

[ReefHomieJon]

And are our sun corals different species? Mine has a different skeleton color

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I'm into NPS corals. So took me about 2 years to get close to perfection, still working on that. I feed a method called broadcast feeding, fine powder foods like reefroids. No spot feeding. My filtration system can handle it. The way your feeding, best for your type of filtration. In 2mo. or less more babies coming, all perimeters need to be stable to get babies

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

And are our sun corals different species? Mine has a different skeleton color

I have three different kinds, ,I think. One set is like yours, then I have one all yellow. Yellow produce most babies, then large black colonies. I think

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Those sun polyp corals not babies, I have literally tiny 1mm to 3mm, babies all over.