Sun coral polyps not responsive during feeding?

[studd muffin]

My sun coral is not responsive during feeding. I tried to feed them brine shrimp when they open up, but it seems like they arnt catching the brine shrimp. I have to use a chop stick to feed them chopped market shrimp. I have to hold the shrimp for more than a minute close to their mouth before they can grab onto it. Is it because their tentacles are too short? Ive noticed that their tentacles are shorter than other sun corals I have seen. Here is a picture of them. You can still see the brine shrimp swimming around in the tank. Sorry for the crappy phone picture.

 

[studd muffin]

Do you guys think its because they cant scent it? I always wash the brine shrimp in the tanks water before I feed.

 

[FLESHY]

They look like they are putting out their tentacles?

 

[studd muffin]

They look like they are putting out their tentacles?

They are but the problem is that they cant catch it.

Problem solved: Its because they cant smell the shrimp! They are pretty good at catching chopped market shrimp.

 

[FLESHY]

Break it into as small of pieces as possible and set it down into their mouth.

I take my chalice coral out every single morning, and put it in a little acrylic box, where I put food on every single eye.

Then I sit on my couch and watch monty python while it eats, although as they get used to it this goes much faster.

 

[kay-bee]

I found it best to feed sun corals at night. It's when they're most likely to fully extend their feeder tentacles. They can be 'trained' to feed during illuminated periods, but in my opinion the starting point begins with nocturnal feeding.

When feeding my sun corals, I'd start the process about 2 or 3 hours after the tank lights went off. I would also turn off the circulation in the tank and target feed nearly every polyp with mysis shrimp with a tweezer, that is to say pass each mysis shrimp in direct contact with the corals' feeder tentacles.

Incidently I found that mysis shrimp elicited a stronger feeding response from the sun coral than brine shrimp. The 'scent' of mysis would cause them to fully extend even during the day (cyclopeeze also had the same effect). Mysis is more nutritious than brine shrimp, you may want to consider switching to that).

I don't think you have to break the food into smaller portions, in fact larger portions are easier for them to grasp. They can easily consume mysis shrimp nearly 1"/2.5cm in length.

 

[studd muffin]

I bought five packs of mysis shrimp yesterday. Feed them and is loving it!

 

[Pufferpunk]

Turn off all your flow & spot-feed with a turkey baster.

 

[Zoodiver]

I'd also suggest going to a night feed. There are two variations of 'sun polyps' that mix into the pet trade. both feed at night. One is found in shallow water with lots of flow. The other is a low light deep water coral. Have you tried moving to the middle of the water column and out of the corner?
Also, if you are trying to feed things off a chop stick, the food is too big. Go to smaller chunks - more of a slurry. Baster method does work great.

 

[studd muffin]

Turn off all your flow & spot-feed with a turkey baster.

Yea I turn off all the flow and spot feed them. I feed them with a turkey baster now.

I'd also suggest going to a night feed. There are two variations of 'sun polyps' that mix into the pet trade. both feed at night. One is found in shallow water with lots of flow. The other is a low light deep water coral. Have you tried moving to the middle of the water column and out of the corner?
Also, if you are trying to feed things off a chop stick, the food is too big. Go to smaller chunks - more of a slurry. Baster method does work great.

Mine opens in the evening even with when the aquarium lights are on. The lfs feeds them during closing time around 7 PM. So when I brought mine home it opened up around 7-7:30 PM. When I fed them with the chop stick I stuck little pieces on the tip of the chop stick and fed them. The pieces were not big at all