Angående Tubastraea hittade jag denna artikel på nordicreefforum: Feeding Methods and Handling Tubastraea Due to the lack of Zooxanthellae, Tubastraea spp. MUST be fed by the aquarist between 1-7 times a week to maintain health and growth. **This is not a coral for the lazy**. It is believed that each polyp must be individually fed on meaty offerings such as vitamin enriched brine and Mysis shrimp, along with other foods along the lines of, chopped mussel, Cyclop-eze™, pieces of raw oil fish, etc, and as I found out by accident they will quite readily accept marine pellets, namely; Ocean Nutrition™ Small Formula One and Two pellet. When choosing a "sun coral" try and go for one that is already feeding well and shows little sign of starvation. An under-fed, malnourished animal is relatively easy to spot, the tell-tale signs are apparent; such as clearly showing calices (cups) and corallites (tubes). The coenosarc (flesh / skin) covering the cups will also appear to be extremely thin. After transportation and acclimatisation, a newly acquired sun coral maybe reluctant to expand its tentacles in preparation for feeding. These tentacles are used to capture and incapacitate prey which range in size from planktonic forms to small fish. One way of coaxing the polyps to expand and open, is to very gently “woft” / blow a small amount of Brine shrimp juice, Phyto-plankton, Cyclop-eze™, or , Coral Vibrance™ over the cups of the coral. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P></O:P> <?:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = V /><V:SHAPE id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><V:STROKE joinstyle="miter"></V:STROKE><V:ULAS><V:F eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></V:F><V:F eqn="sum @0 1 0"></V:F><V:F eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @2 1 2"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></V:F><V:F eqn="sum @0 0 1"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @6 1 2"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></V:F><V:F eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></V:F><V:F eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></V:F><V:F eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></V:F></V:ULAS><V:PATH gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f" o:connect="rect"></V:PATH><O:LOCK aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></O:LOCK></V:SHAPE><V:SHAPE id=_x0000_i1025 style="WIDTH: 456pt; HEIGHT: 84.75pt" alt="" ="#_x0000_t75"><V:IMAGEDATA src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Bo/LOKALE~1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image001.jpg" o:href=" http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f46/evilervin/Image6.jpg" target="_blank"> </V:IMAGEDATA></V:SHAPE><O:P></O:P> If, after several days / nights (sometimes a couple of weeks) of "wofting" the polyps still fail to show any sign of opening, its possible that the coral may no longer have enough energy remaining to expand, as a result the slow process of starvation will begin, along with tissue thinning and recession, eventually leading to death. On a brighter note, it’s not all doom and gloom. Once Tubastraea is accepting your meaty offerings and the feeding regime is maintained, it’s a hardy inhabitant that will reward you with a daily stunning display of large, usually intensely coloured polyps, and in time daughter colonies within the aquarium (see, reproduction). Once the coral is opening enough for you to feed, there are various methods of delivering food stuffs to the polyps that can be employed, here I will try and explain some of these methods. If the coral is going to be fed within the aquarium, the simplest means is to use a syringe or turkey baster to deliver individual Mysis / Artemia to the oral disc and tentacles of the polyp. This is my preferred method of feeding, except for the fact my hand & arm are constantly within the aquarium. Fearing the introduction of toxic substances etc, I decided to make a device for target feeding the coral without the need for me to place my hands in the tank. - Pictured below -<O:P></O:P> <V:SHAPE id=_x0000_i1026 style="WIDTH: 372pt; HEIGHT: 2in" alt="" ="#_x0000_t75"><V:IMAGEDATA src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Bo/LOKALE~1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" o:href=" http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f46/evilervin/gogfeed.jpg" target="_blank"> </V:IMAGEDATA></V:SHAPE><O:P></O:P> The rate Artemia / Mysis exit the device is controlled by very gently blowing down the affixed air line, and as an aid, an air line tap is fitted to help restrict the flow of air. Also within the orange shoulder of the devise is a small piece of cotton wool / filter floss acting as a spit trap (just in case). If feeding within the aquarium, the food offered to the coral may be “stolen” by shrimps (which will actually remove the food from the gut) and fish. One method to combat this is to cover the coral will half a Coke™ bottle or similar, this is sometimes known as the “top hat” method. Another method of fending off unwanted visitors is to “guard” the coral with an acrylic rod, this incidentally is the method I use because none of my colonies will fit within a fizzy drinks bottle once expanded. Another popular method to feed this wonderful animal is to remove the coral from the aquaria in a suitably sized container. To carry out this procedure it is necessary to submerge the container, pick the coral up by the underside (scoop it up with an open hand) and place it within the container, ensuring complete water coverage of the coral (don't forget to allow for polyp expansion) when the coral is removed. Once the polyps have expanded feeding can commence with your chosen foods. After the coral has moved the food down to its gut, it maybe placed back within the aquarium by means of reversing the above proceeder. If you’re going to be handling the coral great care must be taken. Although the main skeletal body is strong, the coenosarc, corallites and calices are fragile and easily damaged. Under no circumstances should the coral be removed from the water and exposed to the air if the polyps are extended. The result from such an action can be torn tissue around the calice edge and in some instances this is irreparable. When feeding Tubastraea, it’s important to remember that its very easy to increase the NO3, PO4 and dissolved organics within the system due to the regurgitation of food (if it had eyes, they'd definitely be bigger than its belly), and food that "escapes" the polyps un-checked whilst feeding within the aquarium. There are many ways around this problem; ample detritus eaters / scavengers amongst the clean-up crew, heavy skimming and high flow, “algae scrubber” sumps, removing uneaten food, removing the coral for feeding (note: doesn’t help with regurgitation), regular water changes, and of course, only feeding little and often. <O:P></O:P> <!-- Signature -->
