Sun coral, non-photosynthetic inverts question

[sharuq1]

Is it photosynthetic? Does it sting other corals? Can someone please tell me some specifics on their care?

--On the off chance there are some non-photosynthetic inverts (besides shrimp) I could have that I don't yet know of, I thought I would ask: Are there some? I know I could have a feather duster, anything else that needs no light?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Non-photosynthetic. You need to feed each head regularly (I do it everyday). Usually, I squirt some juice or gorgonia mix, then wait a bit & all the heads open up & then I squirt more food.

Anthony

[Rippin]

You may be aware of this already but if you're keeping feather dusters, you will need to feed them to ensure that they survive. Phytoplankton every other day should do the trick.

Sure, there are other types of inverts that can be keep without a dependency on light, but they all must be fed. Scallops and tube anemones are nice but must be fed (and the survival rate of those in captivity are low, from what I've read).

[trilinearmipmap]

As far as feeding feather dusters, I think it depends on your tank. I never fed mine, it did fine for a couple of years until a power outage killed it when the tank went down to 65 degrees.

The thing about sun corals is, if you feed them enough, you will be polluting your tank. Also you will get fed up with your fish stealing mysis from the sun corals. I learned from experience that sun corals are not for me.

[michika]

If your set on a sun coral there are a few feeding options available.
1) an area of medium current were the food will just flow to it, and you don't have to worry about putting your hands in the tank or target feeding it.
2) Target feed it with a syringe, or turkey baster
3) Target feed it with a cut off pop bottle. Basically its a pop bottle with a hole drilled in the lid to accomidate airline tubing. Then you just take a syringe, fill it with food and then push the food into the bottle top. It was like a biodome for the suncoral. It could open at its own pace, the food was always available for all the polyps, and I didn't have to worry about my shrimp stealing the food.

[andresont]

Originally Posted by michika

If your set on a sun coral there are a few feeding options available.
1) an area of medium current were the food will just flow to it, and you don't have to worry about putting your hands in the tank or target feeding it.
2) Target feed it with a syringe, or turkey baster
3) Target feed it with a cut off pop bottle. Basically its a pop bottle with a hole drilled in the lid to accomidate airline tubing. Then you just take a syringe, fill it with food and then push the food into the bottle top. It was like a biodome for the suncoral. It could open at its own pace, the food was always available for all the polyps, and I didn't have to worry about my shrimp stealing the food.

Bio Dome !very cool idea , i will try it on my sun coral.
Thanks!

[sharuq1]

Good idea! I am thinking of adding a few other interesting things to my 7g (or 8g I am not sure, lol) nano once it is cycled. I was thinking a single small fish, possibly a fire or cleaner shrimp for color and interest, maybe a small star or urchin (if anyone can name some I would be appreciative) and no photosynthetic coral (I have not been able to find a replacement for the bulb in the hood-the tank says Sun Sun on it, and it looks like they went out of business-it looks like a mini pc with 4 pegs)

So far there is a possibility of sun coral, cocoa worm, feather duster, shrimp (I'm not saying all of these in there just those are choices). All of these with the exception of the shrimp will req. phyto or target feeding, looks like. Drawbacks/opinions? Any other possibilities for stocking this little tank?

Anyone else have any ideas or further ideas on how to care for some of these critters? I want to make an informed decision.


Tank info.:
The tank will have a couple of small powerheads or a seio for circulation, live sand (when I get some), and base rock (going to throw in a bit of LR in hopes that seeds the BR with bacteria), and a rio nano skimmer). Light will be the mini pc (no idea of wattage, but I know it does NOT fit the coralife bulb I have in my BC14-prongs are too far apart and bulb is smaller)

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by sharuq1

Good idea! I am thinking of adding a few other interesting things to my 7g (or 8g I am not sure, lol) nano once it is cycled. I was thinking a single small fish, possibly a fire or cleaner shrimp for color and interest, maybe a small star or urchin (if anyone can name some I would be appreciative) and no photosynthetic coral (I have not been able to find a replacement for the bulb in the hood-the tank says Sun Sun on it, and it looks like they went out of business-it looks like a mini pc with 4 pegs)

So far there is a possibility of sun coral, cocoa worm, feather duster, shrimp (I'm not saying all of these in there just those are choices). All of these with the exception of the shrimp will req. phyto or target feeding, looks like. Drawbacks/opinions? Any other possibilities for stocking this little tank?

Anyone else have any ideas or further ideas on how to care for some of these critters? I want to make an informed decision.[/color]

I'd be careful about adding an urchin. The tuxedo urchins are cool, but they can be quite the little bulldozers, and you'll find them with snails, frags, rubble, random polyps, or anything stuck to them. The long-spine urchins grow to mammoth proportions!

As far as non-photosynthetic, you could try some gorgonians. They are a little harder to keep, though.

I think you could keep some mushroom corals, and possibly a few others with your small PC lights.