BLEACHING OR NOT???

[joshuacpr99]

IT WAS LIKE THIS WHEN I GOT IT AND IT HAS BEEN ABOUT 4 MONTHS NOW. IT IS A LOW LIGHT CORAL AND FEEDS WHEN THE ACTINCS GO ON AT NIGHT AND A SHORT WHILE AFTER THEY GO OFF. I KNEW THE NAME WHEN I GOT IT BUT ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAVE HAD TO USE IT. ANYWAYS, SOME OF THE PINK BRANCHES SEEM TO HAVE A WHITE TINT TO THEM DURING THE DAY WHEN THEY ARE CLOSED. AT NIGHT THEY OPEN FULLY AND ARE A BRIGHT YELLOW. I FEED THE TANK LIVE PHYTO TWICE A WEEK AND SPOT FEED THEM BRINE SHRIMP EVERY NOW AND THEN. IF THIS IS BLEACHING DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO BRING IT BACK? THANKS!
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r206/joshuacpr99/S4010001.jpg

[schigara]

That is a Tubastrea( sun coral) and really benefits from target feeding every day or every other day.

Correct me if I am wrong but this coral does not bleach like other corals since it has no Zooxanthelae to expel.

[Pufferpunk]

Brine shrimp isn't very nutritious. Try mysis or krill. Turn off the flow for about 15-20 minutes. You can train them to open during the day by adding some food to the tank & when they open, feed them the same time every morning. You'll be surprised how much they can eat! They do turn white when they start to die. Try Selcon-enriched foods.

[AnnetteG]

I feed mine every day, at the same time as I feed the fish. I use a turkey baster and gently squirt food into as many polyps as I can hit. It stays open most of the day. In fact, it actually opens when I first turn the lights on, expecting food! I love this coral and really enjoy feeding it. Check out my avatar, I think it's working! :headbang2:

I feed a variety of foods to my tank - frozen plankton, mysis, cyclops, marine cuisine, emerald entree, squid - basically I just buy every type of frozen food I come across. I put two different cubes in a cup, then I add either a squirt of roti feast, phyto feast or a little tiny scoop of DT's oyster eggs. Sometimes I use a mortar and pestle to grind up some pellets or flakes into a powder and put that in too, just a little bit. Then I put two turkey basters of tank water on top and let it all defrost and mix up. Then I use the turkey baster to squirt food at the fish first, then my corals. The fish love it, they come and perch on the side of the baster or dart at it and bump into it. A couple of them will come and nibble at my fingers. I think of fish food like I do feeding my family and other pets. We don't all eat just dry cereal every day all day long, we'd get bored and sick. So I feed us all a variety of healthy and tasty foods. :)

[Catpicklesdog]

Deifnately try target feeding as the others have suggested. The bleaching you refer to is a sign of die back. It looks very dark around the individual polyps, don't if that is just the light in the photo or algae? If it is algae you need to give it a quick blast with a turkey baster or similar.

When closed, they should like this (with the orange "matting" spread between the polyps

53557

Like this during feeding - I feed mine a mixture of mysis and krill with a little bit of cyclopeeze.

53558

And like this when full and open

53559

HTH

[joshuacpr99]

THANK FOR THE HELP REFERS!!! GOING TO LFS NOW.

[joshuacpr99]

I HAVE BEEN READING THAT THEY LIVE IN CAVE OPENINGS AND UNDER LEDGES. WILL THEY THRIVE IN DIRECT LIGHT OR DO THEY DO BEST IN SHADY POSITIONS? I HAVE 260 WATTS P.C. AND 140 WATTS M.H.

[AnnetteG]

from what I've read and experienced, they don't mind light, they just don't need it. In the ocean, they live in caves and overhangs because it's a good spot to catch food. You can train it to open during the day by feeding it during the day. Mine sits at the bottom of the tank, but out in the open and stays open most of the day from the time I first feed it and the fish.

[joshuacpr99]

GOOD.....ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITES AND I DIDNT WANT TO HAVE TO HIDE IT IN MY LR. THANKS NEIGHBOR!

[Pufferpunk]

It's nice to use it to fill a darker spot in my aquarium, where nothing else will live.

[Catpicklesdog]

I had also read info regarding them not minding light but had also read articles going against that, so I tried my own experiment.

Mine was originally placed in a dark cave where it flourished but it got a bit difficult for me to reach it for target feeding due to my leather toadstool growing above it.

So I moved into a brighter area. It still flourished. A couple of weeks later I did notice some darker areas on it. On closer inspectin they were patches of algae, so I syphoned them off leaving bare rock underneath where once the orange "membrane" had been (hence the bare patches in the photo above).

This tied in with the further research I did.

Whilst the coral itself does not mind the brighter areas - algae loves it which will then cover it like a blanket, suffocating the coral underneath.

My sun coral is now back in the shade!!! And like Pufferpunk said, it's nice to brighten up a dark corner.

HTH