Sun Coral

[ledzep fan]

I had a couple of questions about this coral.
1. Does it need light?
2. What should it be fed?
3. Can i keep one in my 12 gallon nano?
I was planning on buying one from this site and i wanted some info on them. Any more info you guys have on them please share. Thanks!
The Zep

 

[granny]

Sun Corals do best out of the light, in a shaded cave where you can get to them easily for feeding. Usually specimens are small and should fit in your nano with no problems. but they are a little difficult since you have to feed the polyps individually when they open(which is why I stay up all night-to feed the sun coral and the snake corals in my tank.

 

[sufunk]

What lights do you have? I dont think they need to necessarily be in shade as long as they arent under intense light. Id say you could have one in a 12g if you want to care for it. They certainly need to be fed almost daily. I use the cup method and now can get them to feed early in the evening either frozen cyclopeeze soaked in selcon and zoecon or krill ground fine. Best thing about my tank by far!!!! Cant resist showing it off

 

[granny]

OK, Sufunk, Educate this old lady. What is the cup method?
I chop up shrimp, krill etc. soak it in zoe, then spot feed these little suckers with a pair of tweezers.
The tank the Sun Coral is in has 260W PC with one additional 48" stip on it sitting close to the top. My BTA is about 6 inches under the lights The sun just didnt look happy when I laid it on the bottom so kind of pushed it back towards the Coral Beauty's cave where it is slightly shaded from the overheads. It seems pretty happy now.

 

[sufunk]

I have a plastic tupperware bowl, its like 4"x4"x4". I drilled a little hole(1/4") in the top and one on each side. I put this over the sun and put a rock on top. I mix frozen cyclo and some selcon and zoecon with a few ml's of tankwater and sit for 20-30 minutes. Then squirt very little into the top of the cup. After about 10 minutes, the sun is open wider than any youve seen. Then i squirt the rest in slowly from all angle to make sure i getas many of the heads as i can. Mine has so many small heads its impossible to be sure all got some so i put alot in. I repeat maybe a time or two and let the cup stay over the sun for a few hours until hes done. Works VERY well, try it out

 

[n_sarno]

Sufunk.. I picked up a sun coral today!
My question is does this stay open like that after feeding? or does it close up? How long is it open like that?

 

[crox]

Mine was open when I fed it but it closed right after. So I stopped feeding it and it die!! It was only $5 so not a big loss.

 

[sufunk]

Originally Posted by N_Sarno
Sufunk.. I picked up a sun coral today!
My question is does this stay open like that after feeding? or does it close up? How long is it open like that?
Congrats :cheer:
I start feeding mine about 7:00 p.m. and it pretty much stays open like that until morning. Im always up late soI get to look at it from like 10:00 to 1200, when i turn the lights off. In the morning its usually still open.
Post a pic n sarno.

 

[ledzep fan]

Thanks for all the replies. Well, I have 24 wat combo PC. The tank is a 12 gallon. I was thinking about putting him in the shade but, so that I could see him. I have read a lot about them and I know that I will have to feed it everyday. I plan on doing that cup method. My tank is only about 2 weeks old so I plan on getting it possibly in the summer for my tank to have time to mature. Also, they don't have it in stock right now. I wanted to have the free shipping so I would have to buy a little more. Any suggestions on corals??? Thanks again!
The Zep

 

[sufunk]

Sounds good but 1 piece of advice. This is a coral that i would NOT order. First, it is very delicate. More importantly, i think you should see it in person to make sure it has very little or no recession!! The rock its on should be covered in its orange "flesh". You shouldnt be able to see any rock in between the polypls. If you look at mine, even when its 100% closed, you can see ZERO rock. I think this is very important. It may take awhile ( i saw literally dozens) before you find a good one but it will be worth the wait. Also, with that small a tank, you'll want just the right size, no too big so that a cup will fit over it easily.

 

[ledzep fan]

Ya, maybe your right. I will try to special order it or something at a lfs. Or what should I do??? I really want to get one but, I want to get a healthy one. HELPPPP!!!
P.S I love yours!!!!
The Zep

 

[sufunk]

Thank you very much. Believe me, i looked at a ton of them and almost bought 50 crappy ones before i found this one. It is awesome in person. My crappo camera doesnt do it justice.
Where do you live? Do you have decent LFS? do you ever see sun's at the lfs's? If you do, i would say just wait it out. I literally go to the 4-5 good lfs's in my area every friday and saturday just to see any new coral or LR they got. Be patient and keep looking. You can get a lessor one with some recession and hopefully nurse it to full health but they are kinda expensive around here so not sure if you wanna try that.

 

[ledzep fan]

Well, I have never seen one at any of my lfss'. All though a petland gets corals in and I might beable to speacial order it from there. What do you think???I want one SOOO bad!
The Zep

 

[sufunk]

if its not very expensive or you dont mind spendin the money, i guess give it a try. Id at least order from a LFS and tell them you want a NICE one. Does your lfs get any good corals. The sun's seem to go in cycles. I wont see one for a while, then every store will have a few.

 

[ledzep fan]

Yes, Petland does get corals in. I'll ask them the next time i go in there. The have gsp, mushrooms, gargonians, ect,. So i will see. How can i be positive they will get me a nice one if i ask for one? What if it's crappy? I just love the way yours looks! So full and bright and healthy. Your lucky.
The Zep

 

[sufunk]

You cant be sure but if you have any relationship with the manager or even strike up a conversation with him and make him think your gonna spend alot on corals and fish there he might try and hook you up. Maybe tell him something like, "yeah, i wanna start stocking my 180g with a ton of corals, can you get me a nice sun?"

 

[n_sarno]

Here is mine

I got it from my cousin.. he has 2.. if you want one I will see if he'll sell the other one to.. its healthy.

thats his and mine in his tank.. note mines in the btm right corner of the pic.
If your interested email me - N_Sarno@sbcglobal.net

 

[sufunk]

Damn, you're a lucky guy. All my cousins ever give me is grief!!

Did he buy both of those or did yours spawn in his tank? Why's he getting rid of the other one, looks pretty nice?

 

[n_sarno]

He sells corals locally out of his basement. The peice he has left is the biggest sun coral I've seen. He's had it in his tank for over 6 months and its very healthy.. I went w/ the smaller one bcuz I have SO many corals I didnt really have room for the big one on my sandbed.. and you pretty much have to put them on your sandbed to they can be fed easily. This will fit nicely in your 12 gallon and will look AMAZING because its quite big.. full size probably 5" plus!

 

[sufunk]

Did yours spawn in his tank or did he buy it?