My Sun Coral

[sparty059]

So, last night I was looking at my tank and decided I would bring my attention to my Sun Coral to see if it has opened up any more than usual.
I must say... it looks quite happy.
A question though - How quickly do these things grow? If I feed it once... (maybe twice a week if I am daring) then will I see any growth? I haven't been feeding it too much recently since I don't want to feed it a whole frozen cube, plus it's just a hassle... I didn't opt to get the coral it just came on the rock. I'm not feeding it every other day or every day because I haven't since I bought the rock, and he doesn't look like he's starving... But will it start branching off into more Sun Corals, or is this truly the size it will be?

 

[2quills]

I've seen pictures of them alot bigger than that. I would assume under proper conditions that it will continue to grow and spread. I've never had one so I can't advise on the feeding routine. Try googling it. I'm sure you can read up on its requirements.

 

[sparty059]

Yeah, I know they can be bigger than this. I was referring to the amount it has opened up to though. He's never been really this open before. I've looked up some requirements and it scattered across the board. People said they fed them once a week... maybe even once every two weeks. People have also said they feed them once every other day. I'm assuming the ones that feed every other day are the people that have massive Sun Corals... the people that feed once every week or other week probably have corals the size of mine.

 

[2quills]

A quick breeze through a couple of articles says that feeding it more often is better. They are picky eaters and need to be target fed. A recommended daily schedule should be put into place.
I'd try a light feeding once a day for about a week or two and see how that goes. Brine, Mysis, and plankton should be kept on hand for feeding the sun coral. They are beautiful, I may look into getting one when the time rolls around.

 

[sparty059]

If it will be as much trouble for you as it is for me then I would strongly advise against it. I obviosuly need some other type of feeding method for these guys. The one time I fed them *and was successful* was awesome to actually feel them grab hold of the food and tug it. They spread it all over and pretty much had everyone eating at once.

 

[timeless1]

The best was to get it to grow is to feed it, you can get away with two-three times a week, It is better to feed more ofter, but smaller amounts, as some of the food does not digest and can kiil the animal. I found the best way to get them to come out is to feed some cyclopeeze about 20 minutes before you want to feed them(brine, mysis, etc.) I use a large medicae syringe that I modded to feed directly. I found that the best thing to do is feed a mixture of food, and do a combination of broadcast feeeding and target. I had approximately 300 heads of suns before my tank cracked during the move, I found that they grow very fast using this technic, and I added abit of Seachem Fuel(fatty acids) it does work well. I was also feeding daily as I have a NPS tank (10 gal). If you want more info just pm me I have a 30 gal breeder 100% NPS 6 colonies of Dendro about 80+ heads and geting more.

 

[tang_fame]

Get a turkey baster or a sea squirt and feed directly....I feed mine a mixture of cyclopeeze and marine snow (I put them in a container and syphon up with the baster and squirt right over the sun coral after the main lights go off). Sometimes you'll find them extended during the day also. I turn off he power heads so they can catch the food. Mine seems to be doing fine and growing nicely.