My Non Photosynthetic System (NPS)

Sorry for the late reply Raven. I had a "small" operation on Wednesday.

Okey, if the flow for a Suncoral is too little, they aren't stimulated to open up. They can take a few days to open though. I also got one about a week ago and it is only starting to really open up now. Just give it a tad more flow (not too much) and keep on squirting food over it.

Alternatively, take it out in a container (without letting it out of the water) and then squirt food in the tupperware container. It may start opening and you can feed that way, for a couple of days until it is "strong" enough to open by itself. (once it has done feeding, place it back into your tank.)

Let me know whats happening.

PS: low ligh is of no cencern, but flow is, and try give it medium to strong linear flow... ;)
 
Jaco Schoeman said:
Sorry for the late reply Raven. I had a "small" operation on Wednesday.

Okey, if the flow for a Suncoral is too little, they aren't stimulated to open up. They can take a few days to open though. I also got one about a week ago and it is only starting to really open up now. Just give it a tad more flow (not too much) and keep on squirting food over it.

Alternatively, take it out in a container (without letting it out of the water) and then squirt food in the tupperware container. It may start opening and you can feed that way, for a couple of days until it is "strong" enough to open by itself. (once it has done feeding, place it back into your tank.)

Let me know whats happening.

PS: low ligh is of no cencern, but flow is, and try give it medium to strong linear flow... ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply!
Sadly it haven't opened as yet...:(

I'll try to take it out and feed it in the container - must this be done after lights out?

The spot that it is in now is really "ideal" except for the low flow....
I'll post a pic later to show the location...

ps. I hope that the "small" operation was succesfull...;)
 
Okey, let's take this up a notch quickly. Tell me this quickly:

What are you feeding?
What do you see as the "ideal" spot?
How long has the LFS had it for?

Just tell me that, before we take other steps, then I can help you sort this out...

ps. I hope that the "small" operation was succesfull...;)
Click to expand...

Hope so too... Trust me!!! :p
 
Jaco have u ever thaught of getting branching suncoral's? They look pretty cool
 
I was checking a thread the other day, of a drop off nps reef. He has over 40 tube worms, lots of sun coral, and walking dendro's. Will send you link later if u havnt seen it
 
Hmmm, walking dendro's. I've read they can actually be both photo and non-photo corals. They have quite a prey hunting ability at night, yet, they may have zooalgae inside it to feed during daytime. Not as pretty as the dendronephtya sp. though imo...;)
 
Jaco Schoeman said:
Okey, let's take this up a notch quickly. Tell me this quickly:

What are you feeding?
A mixture of mussel, prawns, hake, fish flakes (all blended with blender). With each feeding I mix in some spirulina (1-2 tablets). All the other corals going crazy when I feed this...
What do you see as the "ideal" spot?
I've have a "over hang"/"Cave" spot in my tank - So I gathered that this migh do as it's really low light with some flow - not to much...
How long has the LFS had it for? Not sure - maybe a week or two. This was in a mixed coral tank with some other LPS and softies.

Just tell me that, before we take other steps, then I can help you sort this out...



Hope so too... Trust me!!! :p
Click to expand...
Will post a pic later....
 
Okey, your food mix is fine, keep it up. In the wild, sun corals grow (as you also said) in overhangs, cliffs, drop-offs and cave walls, but, where the tides moves food from the shallows down to it, and plankton from the deep up to it, as the tides move in and out.

Now, one can think about the flow where the tides come in and out. This should be strong linear flow (not as much as SPS IMO, cause that is a different type of flow)

Anyway, as mentioned, light will not cause it to close up etc etc etc. Yes, many captive suns and NPS corals open at night mainly, but this is due to the fact that even in captivivyt, many lifeforms emerge at night, making this coral hunt. I would suggest moving it from it's current spot, into a spot with linearish flow, but more volume movement than head current (does that make sense?)

Do this just untill it is recoverd enough, then you can move it to the sweet spot you have for it.

Good news is, that suncorals have a form of a reserve chamber, where they store food and energy for the entire colony to live from. So, even if only one polyp eats, all polyps can benefit from it. A suncoral can also live from this reserves for at least a week or two (hense the LFS question;))

I would try and take it out of the tank, as described, and feed it that way. Personally I think the drawback to that is you put your sun under more stress by moving it around the whole time. You will see it making an icky snot layer to defend itself when you move it around, which indicates it is stressed.

If by Monday it still has not opened, and you want to, you are welcome to bring the coral to me to see if I can save it, and if it is nice and strong, you can have it back. ;)

In short, if you can not get it to eat, it will die. It has no other means of feeding than you feeding it.

PS: Set your alarm for 02h00 am tonight, and go check if it is open (even just a bit) and if it is, feed it without taking it out.

Good luck and let me know what is happening.
 
Jaco Schoeman said:
Jip, got some on order... ;) (black suncoral) but I also know one gets the yellow branching too...
Click to expand...

Idol has black suncorals, saw them beginning of the week
 
Oh, forgot to mention, once you get your suncoral into a routine, they will know feeding it coming. My NPS all open in the morning between 7 and 8 and then again start opening in the evening just after 5. Even though I have not put food in the water, they anticipate it is coming. Pretty cool huh?;)
 
Johan van Aardt said:
Drop Off LPS Reef - UltimateReef.com

there we go jaco
Click to expand...

Hmmmm... Pretttty impressive - must say... I saw this FTS before, but not the thread. Thanks Johan.

Personally, I think it is quite brave to have so many NPS and SPS mixed, because in an aquarium to meet both their needs on water quality, takes a bit. I would never go that route presonally ;)

But, hats off to him, now let's see if we in SA can do the same huh? :thumbup:
 
Yes yes gents. Will work on that this weekend - I promise. :closedeyes:
 
Okey, as promised, here are some update photos:

Current FTS:

14594b7103b7b1c78.jpg


My Copperband Butterfly Fish (who ate all my tubeworms :( and Aiptaisia :biggrin:)

14594b7103ccbeee4.jpg


The nice Blueberry Gorgonian:

14594b7103fa2927e.jpg


14594b71040cbc233.jpg


Baby Sun Coral that I fragged:

14594b71046cc4361.jpg


White Dendronephthya:

14594b7104d2e41e1.jpg


Close up of Tube Anemone:

14594b7103e1e9eb7.jpg


Update on Small Polyp Sun Coral:

14594b71058acc7b3.jpg


Update on Chili Coral #1

14594b7105a164400.jpg
 
Fanx Tiger... Am getting a few more additions from Lanzo tomorrow or the day after.

I will not be getting any more NPS coral after that though, as I am planning my next tank, and will be slowly but surely be buying stuff for that system.;) What ever is in my current NPS system, will have to live and multiply on their own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom