Feeding Sun Coral, Part 3

Ways to feed

1. Container feeding:

If sun coral is not opening for a feeding, even after the lights are off and adding frozen food juice into the water, one may try container feeding: removing coral from the display tank to the container with the tank water, and add the thawed food there.

Coral can be removed trom the main tank manually, with or without exposing to the air. If without: place a small container into the tank, move sun coral there, remove container with water and sun coral, carry to the feeding place.

Shade coral from the light (newspaper will work), it could help. The turkey baster, pipette or a plastic spoon can be used to create some flow and deliver food to the coral's mouthes. In cool weather, the water cools quickly, and container with the coral may be placed into the wider container with warm water.

After finishing - have the transporting container with aquarium water ready, remove the coral from a feeding soup, place into transporting container, carry it back to the tank, remove coral from the already polluted water and place it back into the tank.

Could be used for a short time: bothersome, and the coral doesn't like to be exposed to the air or handled, but keeping coral with a high density food available for 40 min, (in my case, worked for 3 different suns) induced feeding response.

Cleanest way to feed, less pollution to the tank water. But corals don't like the handling, especially the yellow kind.

2. Heated container feeding,
or Keeping sun coral in pico tank.

After being fed up with moving coral for a container feeding, and heating and moving water without proper hardware for almost an hour, had to set this on a semi-permanent basis: small feeding container, heater and power filter for a water movement and filtration between feedings.

Tank setup:
• 3/4 gal (3 l) acrylic container from the LFS - the smallest to be able to house a heater.
• All-Glass the shortest submersible heater, 50W. Have to set temperature not by heater scale, but by thermometer, and make adjustments for a summer.
• Red Sea Nano-filter. If it rattles - check insertion and let it work for a couple of days.
• 20W 50-50 PC screw-in bulb in a desktop lamp - for a photography and for blastomussa, who was in the same tank for recovery.

All as with usual container feeding, only the coral resided in the feeding chamber permanently. The water is moved in and out. The food is added to the water, power filter (without filter media) moved the water. If the food accumulates behind the coral, again, turkey baster or pipette can help.

As you can see, no live rock or biomedia of any kind, other, than corals bases. The water for water changes was taken from the tank, standing next and above the pico: 6g Nano-Cube. The smaller tank with no biomedia received water with established bacteria, and 6g tank also had benefits - from frequent water changes.

After feeding, 100% water change in the pico - all at once, or in 2-3 times partially, without exposing the coral to the air. Aged water from the 6g tank is syphoned down as replacement water. Piece of the filter floss roll serves as a mechanical filter media, changed, as necessary.

This lasts for 3 days. Then - next feeding and water change. Coral doesn't mind eating each day - readily opens, then, frustrated, closes.

Sun coral was in this tank for 4 months, and started spawning there.

All described feedings are daytime only - didn't see necessity to do all of this at night.

3. Target feeding of the coral, placed on the rock:

After being fed up with twice a week water changes, bought the biggest skimmer, that (my) money can buy - ASM G-3, and moved sun coral with the sigh of relief to the big skimmed tank. One coral more, one coral less - who cares, in the tank with such filtration capasity.

Placed it high on the rocks, for easy access, when feeding by turkey baster (short oversized pipette - for those, who are on the other sides of the ponds).

The fish was well fed 3 times daily, tubastrea opened each time within 15-20 min after feeding, to pick up what was left after the fish feeding. It's own feeding consisted of spurting food onto polyps' tentacles.

A lot was lost in the Fiji rock crevices, without any possibility of removing. Water quality problem, and was too close to the lights - 55W PC, algae started to grow on the sea squirt, that is between two sun colonies on the same rock.

4. The Bottle hut feeding:

Few months later, moved sun coral to the bottom, placed it on pedestal (so the bottom polyps will be exposed to the food too), and tried the bottle hut method.

The top of water bottle, of the suitable size for the coral, from 500 ml to 1 gal, is cut off, and placed over coral for feeding. The food is squirted into the hut through the top opening. Settled on the bottom particles can be made air-borne again by the baster or pipette. After feeding the hut is removed.

The positive side of this method is in protecting coral from other hungry animals, who will attack it, steal its food and tear the polyps flesh apart to remove the already eaten food.
None of these horrors happened in my tank, where there's always enough food for all. Fish and shrimp were fed before the sun coral, and may join the feast, whenever they wish. No need in the hat, merely nuisance. And coral was dropped down repeatedly from pedestal.

Coral continued spawning, larvae settled on the rock not far from the parent colony.

5. Feeding sun coral on the bottom of the deep tank:

The food is applied by pipette from all the sides, starting each time at the different height, in different place. Trying to cover all polyps. After the first time they all (almost all) had the food, wait until they open again, and give a second feed.

Video of the feeding sun coral: 5 Mb .wmv file. Had to chop it down to one and a half minute. Using different tools, in order of their appearance on the next page, with cleaning afterwards.

Next: Proper tools for a job.