Sun coral revival

ryansholl

ryansholl

Member
Was in the LFS the other day and walked out with both a declining sun coral and an aptasia-riddled galaxea colony for $10. Had seen them there for a long time, had noticed that they hadn't been looking so hot for a long time, and made an offer. The galaxea is already looking good, and my shrimp are making quick work of the aptasia, but I'm not having as much luck with the sun coral.
What methods could I maybe use to get the coral to open up, and what does everyone feed theirs once they are open?
Right now I've got the colony floating in a plastic container with DT's phytoplankton in it, and they're more open than I've seen them so far in my tank, but any extra help would be appreciated. Purchased the colony to revive it and would like to get it back in shape ASAP! Thanks!
 
revjaxson

revjaxson

Member
My sun coral took a little while to open.
#1 It opens at night. therefore about time for lights out i use a syringe with plastic air tubing extension to blow cyclopeze over it.
#2 It will sense the food. Lights off, wait a bit (30 minutes) and check with flashlite.
#3 Once open it happily accepts cyclopeze and will feed and then reopen quickly for some more.
Hope this helps
 
ryansholl

ryansholl

Member
Followup: (for anyone who has a similar situation)
1st thing - My 3/4 dead orange sun coral turned out to be a 1/2 dead orange sun coral and a 1/2 barely-holding-on black sun coral! I didn't even notice! Neither did the LFS!
2nd - I've been pulling the colony and placing it in a plastic container floating in the tank, filled with tank water and a hefty dose of zooplankton. It's been about a week of doing that almost every day for about 3-5 hours, and I could see the orange polyps starting to open. Tonight, when my MHs turned off and the single actinic turned on, ALL the oranges opened partially (a couple fully) and as far as I could see most of the black polyps opened. Fed enriched mysis shrimp, bits sized so that they could actually swallow them since the black polyps are largely little nubbins, and had good luck! I think this entire colony is going to make it! Am going to keep floating in zooplankton during daylight, hopefully so I can get them to open during those hours.
Thanks again for the tips/links.
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Great to see you taking the time to save these corals, I wish you alot of luck! looks like they are on their way to a great recovery
 
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