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Unread 06/29/2013, 08:11 AM   #51
noy
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Wavemakers and Branching Sun Corals
Recently got a WP40 and was able to get real waves going in the tank. I was never able to do that with my combo of Hydor Ev's and Sicce's (using an Apex). Noticed something interesting - the wave motion seems to encourage polyp extension in the branching sun corals (the non-branching ones are still on their routine). Not ready to make any conclusions on this yet and will monitor it.

Here is a shot during the day - normally its lights out/full retraction at this point.


IMG_6249



Last edited by noy; 06/29/2013 at 09:03 AM.
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Unread 06/29/2013, 06:20 PM   #52
Dave.H
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Hey Noy, Have your new black suns opened yet? The orange ones are very nice also.
I picked up some new ones on Monday, not sure of the names, a bit pricey but a lot of heads. Here are pics of the front and the side. Could you help with the ID?


this is the side.


I have not got them to stay open during the day yet.


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Unread 06/29/2013, 08:53 PM   #53
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Very very beautiful! Nice work on Sun Coral and photography!


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Unread 06/30/2013, 12:01 PM   #54
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Where did You buy the yellow one ... Amazing ... If I can know ...

Thank You.


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Unread 06/30/2013, 03:53 PM   #55
noy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave.H View Post
Hey Noy, Have your new black suns opened yet? The orange ones are very nice also.
I picked up some new ones on Monday, not sure of the names, a bit pricey but a lot of heads. Here are pics of the front and the side. Could you help with the ID?


this is the side.


I have not got them to stay open during the day yet.
It will be tough to get them to open during the day for any extend period - they just don't do that. At best mine will react to food (even small amounts) in the water column and open up.

As for species, I went and read over a lot of the scholarly articles on sun coral identification including most importantly the 2001 re-descriptions where a lot of the species were synonymised. I am inclined to suggest this a Tubastraea Coccinea. I used think coccinea had more of a branching structure but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I am very interested to see there are colour morphs within the same rock. I would love to know whether these colours stay the same or whether they morph into the same shade a few months down the line.

My black sun corals are actually not new - I just noticed the purple tinge and posted a photo. They are doing fine.


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Unread 06/30/2013, 03:57 PM   #56
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Where did You buy the yellow one ... Amazing ... If I can know ...

Thank You.
Not sure if you are referring to me or Dave.H. But my yellow one - the branching tubastraea came from a store in Canada called Seaumarine. They have a website but i'm not sure they ship to the USA.


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Unread 07/01/2013, 08:32 AM   #57
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Originally Posted by Dave.H View Post
Hey Noy, Have your new black suns opened yet? The orange ones are very nice also.
I picked up some new ones on Monday, not sure of the names, a bit pricey but a lot of heads. Here are pics of the front and the side. Could you help with the ID?


this is the side.


I have not got them to stay open during the day yet.
btw - forgot to say - that is an awesome combo arrangement of colours! Great find!

Seems you have this cool gorgonian looking coral hanging out of it.


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Unread 07/01/2013, 10:09 AM   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noy View Post
btw - forgot to say - that is an awesome combo arrangement of colours! Great find!

Seems you have this cool gorgonian looking coral hanging out of it.
Thanks Noy, I saw them the same time I got my black suns, didn't have enough cash for both of them. My LFS held them for me, they were not fed for a long time, the pink ones on the bottom have not fully opened but are getting close.
I have it leaning up as there are suns on the backside also.
The little gorgonian was a plus, just looked like a stick, there are about 15 polyps on it. pretty cool!

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Originally Posted by Reef and Rock View Post
Where did You buy the yellow one ... Amazing ... If I can know ...

Thank You.
Thanks Reef and Rock, The owner of my LFS picked them up while on vacation, somewhere between ohio and florida. I will find out more about where they came from.

Quote:
Originally Posted by noy View Post
It will be tough to get them to open during the day for any extend period - they just don't do that. At best mine will react to food (even small amounts) in the water column and open up.

As for species, I went and read over a lot of the scholarly articles on sun coral identification including most importantly the 2001 re-descriptions where a lot of the species were synonymised. I am inclined to suggest this a Tubastraea Coccinea. I used think coccinea had more of a branching structure but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I am very interested to see there are colour morphs within the same rock. I would love to know whether these colours stay the same or whether they morph into the same shade a few months down the line.

My black sun corals are actually not new - I just noticed the purple tinge and posted a photo. They are doing fine.
Thanks for the ID Noy, Like you say, they do open a little when I feed the fish during the afternoon, but only for a little while, and then a lot after lights out when I feed the rest of the corals.

I will keep an eye out for color morphs, but I hope they stay like they are.

I got my second set of Radions and an Mp40 hooked up and running yesterday.

I need to start a thread like yours to keep track of my suns too.

All of yours are beautiful, so I am following your leads.
Thanks again for all your input.


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Unread 07/03/2013, 11:43 AM   #59
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btw - forgot to say - that is an awesome combo arrangement of colours! Great find!

Seems you have this cool gorgonian looking coral hanging out of it.
hi noy

not a gorgonian what hangs. is Clavularia called Carijoa is azoox

see: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hlight=carijoa


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Unread 07/03/2013, 09:40 PM   #60
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Noy, those are great videos.


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Unread 07/04/2013, 04:33 PM   #61
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Noy, those are great videos.
Much thanks - videos of Rhizo's eating coming!


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Unread 07/05/2013, 02:35 AM   #62
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Well if I didn't find the right man to ask, then I don't know who is... Awesome pics.

I picked up this 7"x 5" Tubestrea 3 weeks ago and I have not seen it open up like yours. They puff out all right but never 'bloom'.

I'm staying up so late now to see if they open up this late. Here's a pic.



I have a cup of cyclopeeze and frozen mysis and reef plankton all mixed up ready to feed. I've been spraying these on them to entice them, but nothing.. I'm going to bed soon.

What's your secret?


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Unread 07/05/2013, 07:26 AM   #63
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still looking very health - its a very nice piece solid tissue and no tissue loss betweeen polyps.

i would suggest the following:

i) get some direct flow on the coral (w/o any food) - i find that this stimulates them

ii) some of polyps looked like they are on the verge of opening or have opened (maybe at night - i had a colony that was only opening about 2 hours after lights out - took over a month to get it to feed regular) - some of the tentacles are actually out. put some adult brine shrimp in direct contact with these polyps either with tongs or using a small squirter (julian's thing is perfect). The food can't bounce off the coral - have to more or less put it there. Make sure you turn off your flow first. See if you get a reaction and whether there is exposed nematocysts that will stick to the brine. I am suggesting brine because i find the nematocyst react really well with brine (i.e. brine sticks to the tentacles like no other food). Use good frozen brine - like hikari that have large sized feed specimens.

iii) get a really smelly prompter food - i use this angel food feed that has clams and it has an obvious smell once i defrost it. Turn off your flow and spray it slowly at the coral so that the particles are still in the vicinity - wait 15 min - then turn on your flow.

iv) if iii) doesn't work - repeat this nightly but use a small container filled with tank water (i use these plastic storage containers from cdn tire) and take the coral out and put it in the container and repeat iii). use your hand to fan the food particles at the coral.

Note - if the coral opens - feed it with your intended feed. I would comment that i dont find sun corals react much to cyclopeez - i was just testing that recently.

sometimes it takes a while - i had one that took over a month before i got it going. You're pretty close - the worst cases are when the polyps stay completely reracted in the tube.

let me know how things work out.


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Unread 07/06/2013, 12:01 AM   #64
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Ahh, you give me hope! It truly does look healthy. Thanks for emphasizing the food of choice. I think I have everything except brine and that could draw them out. Thanks noy

Are they particularly picky about water quality? My params are normal with the exception of a slight phosphate reading. The salinity is .22 but slowly reaching target .25. Could this be the cause of their shyness?

How long do they stay open for? I was Ken's again today and was floored at how many Dendros he had, easily over a dozen, each with min. 7 heads. I love how they stay open all the time.


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Unread 07/06/2013, 07:28 AM   #65
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I find they are not picky about water quality unless its pretty extreme.

Not sure what you mean by 0.22 - is that 1.022 sg? 1.022 is low and i'm not sure whether that has any relationship to them not opening. 1.024-1.025 is a good target.

SUM/Ken has a new shipment of what's commonly called "fathead dendros" (Eguchipsammia fistula - often incorrectly referred to as dendrophyllia fistula). They are a whole different species. I have one colony and they do open all the time. That's the difference between the "dendros" and the tubastraea's - the tubastraea's are nocturnal and you have to work on them to "trick" them to open during the day. Pricey corals though.

Btw - I see you have a clown trigger as your avatar - do you keep one and if so how long have you had it? Do you run a FOWLR tank for it or have you managed to keep it in a reef environment?


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Unread 07/17/2013, 04:14 PM   #66
stunreefer
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Quote:
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...what's commonly called "fathead dendros" (Eguchipsammia fistula - often incorrectly referred to as dendrophyllia fistula.
I've seen the genus Eguchipsammia tossed around some before but never consistently identifying the "same" coral... do you have a source/cite noy?


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Unread 07/17/2013, 04:21 PM   #67
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I originally thought it was a dendrophyllia fistula but when I looked up in WoRMs (World registry of marine species) - that taxa was not accepted, instead its been accepted as Eguchipsammia fistula.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.p...ails&id=210751


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Unread 07/31/2013, 01:14 PM   #68
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I'm not sure moving them is a good idea. I find that when i move them they get stubborn and won't open for a few days.

You may want to find a spot for them where you can easily access all the polyps. You will also need something to target feed with either a small turkey baster or "julian's thing" - i use both (baster for blood worms and julian's thing for brine). You will have to use a method to keep the fish away (if that is a problem) - either a 2L plastic pepsi bottle cut at the bottom or feed after the lights are out (which i do).

Once they settle and you settle into a routine where you feed them at the same time everyday - the polyps will open like clockwork.

I have a "special" mixture for colonies that won't open up. Its a mix of angelfish food (with clams/meaty items), reef roids, and mysis water. The clams have a distinct odour - i think that may be what the polyps react to. I turn off the flow and squirt some of this mix onto the polyps. I wait about 15 minutes and them i turn everything back on (except the return pump - i let the pumps blow the stuff around in the water a bit). You need to direct one of the pumps at the colony from a distance so it gets a sense of the mixture continuously. I find this routine gets them to open at regular times and after a week or so you can stop with the routine and they will still open.

This mix will dirty up your water so you can't do this regularly - only to get your polyps opening on a routine.
noy,
Please provide some more info on the angelfish food.


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Unread 07/31/2013, 03:41 PM   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noy View Post
Wavemakers and Branching Sun Corals
Recently got a WP40 and was able to get real waves going in the tank. I was never able to do that with my combo of Hydor Ev's and Sicce's (using an Apex). Noticed something interesting - the wave motion seems to encourage polyp extension in the branching sun corals (the non-branching ones are still on their routine). Not ready to make any conclusions on this yet and will monitor it.
I concur... after keeping various species of LP non-photos over the years I finally installed a Vortech MP40w, whilst previously had been using my trusty MaxiJets (love those pumps!). Immediately noticed better and much more consistent polyp extension from LP NPC, including the touchy Cladopsammia gracilis colonies.




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Unread 08/01/2013, 01:09 AM   #70
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My Sun coral shows off quite regularly now and during peak photo periods too. Got them trained on your great tip of frozen brine shrimp. You're so right about how sticky these are!! Super easy to feed.





Look at them beam! Thanks a bunch, Noy!


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Unread 08/01/2013, 10:40 PM   #71
noy
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noy,
Please provide some more info on the angelfish food.
its from prosalt - its the angel diet. its a fine mix of clams, various chopped seafood and smells horrible. prosalt also makes "pacific plankton" - smells just as bad and is just as effective - I feed with this regularly now.


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Unread 08/01/2013, 10:41 PM   #72
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My Sun coral shows off quite regularly now and during peak photo periods too. Got them trained on your great tip of frozen brine shrimp. You're so right about how sticky these are!! Super easy to feed.





Look at them beam! Thanks a bunch, Noy!
lovely!


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Unread 08/01/2013, 10:45 PM   #73
noy
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I concur... after keeping various species of LP non-photos over the years I finally installed a Vortech MP40w, whilst previously had been using my trusty MaxiJets (love those pumps!). Immediately noticed better and much more consistent polyp extension from LP NPC, including the touchy Cladopsammia gracilis colonies.

amazing looking tank.


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Unread 08/08/2013, 08:09 PM   #74
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Finally figured out how to embed video so here's the feeding video again. Feeding bloodworms and a very persistent shrimp




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Unread 08/10/2013, 07:34 PM   #75
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very nice I hope mine look like that sooner or later.


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