Quote:
Originally Posted by Reef Pilot
Denny, I am not saying the in tank bottle method is better. I haven't tried your method, so can't speak to that. But it is interesting that you say yours are open 24/7. Mine are definitely not. I also have some Dendros though, and they are open 24/7.
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i understand , and the bottle trick does indeed work provided your suncoral is healthy enough to come out and feed ,fact is the bottle is only to keep others from robbing the food as suncorals take food quite aggressively and have no problem swallowing a piece of mysis in less than a few seconds.
ive tried maybe 20 different approaches to feeding and i want to explain that the tupperware method outside the aquarium is not for easy feeding but to guarantee they get food the whole time they are out , this has to be done more than once and usually for a week or two consistently, once done they will stay out 24hrs a day(provided your have nutrients or food particles in the water column)regardless of the intensity of light.
right now i have more suncorals then i have any other corals except zoos, i collect them and try to have as many pieces and species as possible and have put countless hours into understanding why they feed, how they feed and what keeps them out continuously.
once you get to this number feeding and waiting for them to come out is time consuming and doesant work with my regular scheule and work hours.
by using the tupperware method i can get new specimens to be out and feeding for days on end continuously , now since they are getting food the whole time they are out as opposed to whenever food is manual fed, they are getting a constant supply of energy and using less to open as they stay open.
after i do the tupperware acclimation method they are out full force , they never close my corals dont know day from night as long as i provide food daily they stay out all the time.
when i buy a new specimen they are not always ready to take food and need to be acclimated , average acclimation time on fresh suncorals from the wild is about 2 weeks, this includes dendros which can at times be as hard as suncorals to train.
now once they are acclimated i can feed them in the display in which i switch to pellets its less pollution and easier to feed then frozen, i do the same for my dendros, when im feeding the fish frozen the suncorals and dendros get some of that as well.
i should also mention that i run a continuous feed via 2 brs perialistic dosers that feed the tank 24 hrs a day im sure this helps keep them open as well when target feeding isnt going on.
my tank is mostly zoanthid and nps dominant with several or more carnations,tubastreas,dendros and gorgonians plus some others.
feed daily if you can once in the morning and once at night, they will have more energy, when they close they use energy thats not needed and when they stay open they dont use the energy it takes to open, all of this energy has to be replaced via feeding and is used towards feeding.
some pieces are very hard to train im currently doing the tupper ware method on a dendro i picked up about 3 mths ago it still does not stay open and barely feeds, on rc there are cases of people going 6mths and more with this method trying to bring back a specimen that is eating its self from thew inside out.
beautiful corals , my tubastreas are dropping babies everywhere in my tank not to mention the origional colonies grow very fast , they are a great coral to take up dark places.
the doser is mainly for gorgs and other nps that feed on food in the microns, but the suncorals use that food as well.
and of course a few pics heheh, sorry its a cheap phone camera
cheers and enjoy guys!
nps are beautiful corals and are getting easier and easier to keep then they were years ago , keeping them longterm isnt a dream anymore but rather a reality that anyone can do , the same is said for alot of gorgs that we couldnt keep years ago