Sun Corals not opening to feed

[BarryV]

Hi All,
I have a question about Sun Corals. I have 4 Sun Corals in my tank. One has been there
almost a year the others are newer. At differant times one of them will not open to feed
for almost a week at a time. I this normal?
Thanks,
Barry

[laga77]

How often have you been feeding them? I feed mine 3-4 times a week and sometimes they will not open up like yours. My interpretation is that they are not hungry. After a couple of days they open up again.

[BarryV]

Originally Posted by laga77

How often have you been feeding them? I feed mine 3-4 times a week and sometimes they will not open up like yours. My interpretation is that they are not hungry. After a couple of days they open up again.

laga77 I do feed mine 5-6 time a week. What you said is most likely right.
I have had my orange and black sun not open for several days. I thought
they just were not hungry but could not find any information about this
problem.
Thanks for your input.
Barry

[rt67ghy]

Earlier on I used to feed my suns every day but then I had the same problem as you're facing and was worried. Now I only feed them every 2 or 3 days and they accept the food; so I think they need to feel hunger to respond to the food being offered.

[homer1475]

Smae here with my one black sun coral. Every day feeding eventually endes up with it not accepting food even though it opened every night. I switched to every other day, and it feeds every time now.

I don't think I would be worried at this point, they probably just aren't hungry. Your over feeding them.

[BarryV]

Originally Posted by homer1475

Smae here with my one black sun coral. Every day feeding eventually endes up with it not accepting food even though it opened every night. I switched to every other day, and it feeds every time now.

I don't think I would be worried at this point, they probably just aren't hungry. Your over feeding them.

Yes Homer I think I most likely I have been over feeding them. I have cut back
feeding to four time a week. It's funny I get a feeding response every day from
three of the four sun corals. It's the sun coral I have had the longest that is not
opening. It is opening later in the evening. It's going to get very hungry if it
thinks I am going to get up out of bed to feed it
Barry

[homer1475]

I have ended up feeding at night after lights out(typically around 9pm) as this is the only time of day he opens, even after trying to train it to accept food during the evening while the lights are still on. So I've just switched to feeding at night now.

[Newstead]

I fed my sun coral every day to get him healthy but as others said, after he was hale and hearty there are days he doesn't open for feedings. I noticed it was usually the day after a big feeding so I give him a day off now and then.

[laga77]

I think they eat like pigs at first to make up from being starved in transit. After they get their fill, they slow down a little.

[BarryV]

Hi All,
Here is an update on my sun corals. Well all four of my sun corals opened up tonight to eat.
Below is a photo of them. Also is a photo of one of my new baby sun coral, I spotted it about a
month ago.
Barry

[rt67ghy]

Good to hear. Are you able to feed the baby? I lost a baby sun because it was too small to target feed.
I like your tank.

[AndrewBui]

Beautiful sun corals. Have had mine for less than a month. Opens at night only. But not fully. Tried the bottle over sun corals also. Just wait for it?

[ozmedic80]

mine onlynever open during lights out, or under low blue light. They normally live in dark caves

[scorpio83]

Sorry for hijacking and going off the topic, What is the kind of lighting in these tanks? As I can see, these sun corals are placed somewhat in the middle of the tank. I read they live in dark caves or deep waters, so i placed mine in a cave and I find it very difficult to use that bottle method for feeding them. If i don't use the bottle the hermits steal the food. Any advice,

Thanks
Naveen

[laga77]

Originally Posted by scorpio83

Sorry for hijacking and going off the topic, What is the kind of lighting in these tanks? As I can see, these sun corals are placed somewhat in the middle of the tank. I read they live in dark caves or deep waters, so i placed mine in a cave and I find it very difficult to use that bottle method for feeding them. If i don't use the bottle the hermits steal the food. Any advice,

Thanks
Naveen

Corals are always competing with each other for food and space on the reef. Sun corals grow in places where other corals cannot. That is why they are found in dark places. Lighting does not matter to them. In fact, I have one Sun colony placed on the top of my tank under led lighting turned up to 100%. Good water quality and good flow are more important.

[DubiousMaximus]

Try feeding them live critters just before lights come on in the morning. Ive had this problem before but once you have pods in there they pop out, at least for me thats been the case. Maybe their behavior is like anglers. If the dont get to capture prey they loose interest in the food you offer

[Newstead]

I was glad to find this discussion. My sun coral is doing exactly the same - not opening during day every so often. I fed him daily from August to Oct. but now it is every other day or so.

[Hope_L]

Originally Posted by scorpio83

Sorry for hijacking and going off the topic, What is the kind of lighting in these tanks? As I can see, these sun corals are placed somewhat in the middle of the tank. I read they live in dark caves or deep waters, so i placed mine in a cave and I find it very difficult to use that bottle method for feeding them. If i don't use the bottle the hermits steal the food. Any advice,

Thanks
Naveen

I use a syringe with IV tubing, you can get a syringe from any pharmacy, just like what you would use to give babies medicine. Mine is a little bigger than that and I had some tubing that fit perfectly on it and it provides flexibility and control to feed inside the cave.