Tubastraea Sun Coral Care Tips

This video is all about sun corals from the genus Tubastraea. Sun corals get their name from their bright yellow coloration and sun-like appearance of each polyp. Despite their bright sunny name, these corals are non-photosynthetic which means they do not get any energy from the light unlike most corals in the hobby. Their popularity is rooted both in their beautiful appearance as well as the challenge to keep them alive and thriving. Feeding and nutrition is so important for these corals that it frames the discussion of just about every aspect of their care requirements as you will see. Let’s get right into it!
#tidalgardens #coral #reeftank
Video:
Camera Gear List on Amazon
Canon C200
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS macro
Canon EF MP-E 65mm f/2.8 macro
Sigma Art 18-35mm f/1.8
Free Fly Movi Pro Stabilizer
Kessler Crane Motorized Slider
Copyright Information:
This video was shot and edited by Tidal Gardens. Tidal Gardens owns all intellectual property rights to this content.

[@AquaSplendor]

While watching this video I couldn't stop thinking about duncan, they look so similar but photosynthetic version of the sun coral. And why the phoque you are not 100k subscriber, it blow my mind! You deserve it so much

[@Entety303]

Aqua Splendor well duncans are very closely related to sun corals. But I cannot keep duncans for the life of me. Not tried tubastrea yet

[@zafishguy5166]

I got duncans and I see the similarities

[@OmniversalInsect]

eyy now u got a sun coral

[@AquaSplendor]

@@OmniversalInsect lol. Indeed. I put it next to the duncan precisely ;)

[@Sim1991eon]

I was given a Dendrophylia under the impression that it was a photosynthetic coral. Once I researched it and realised it wasn't I started feeding it (after 2 weeks of having it and not feeding it at all). It is looking amazing now and I feed it every day. But it is a big responsibility that I didn't have before...

[@bigceelos]

Ah, these used to be my favorite coral. I remember coming down in the middle of the night shutting off my filters and hand feeding each individual polyp.

[@sseeaahhaawwkkssrule975]

I'm trying this now.

[@ernestsacco8552]

Never had an actual tubastraea but I've had a beautiful fat head dendro colony for a little over 3 months....started with a single large head and now it has sprouted an additional 4 heads....it stays somewhat open throughout the entire day but really extends once the blue lights come on at about 9....I feed maybe 3 times a week with a mix of reefroids and frozen mysis....the extra goes to my blastos and my rock flowers....its honestly one of my favorite corals in the tank

[@saml8119]

Tried them a couple times because I love the way they look..the last time I thought I had figured them out. They were living for months and even growing new heads! Then I left for vacation for a couple days, when I came back they slowly died off.

[@gabesreef]

👍🏽 I really appreciate all these highlights. Thank you!!!

[@melainkinney7213]

Thank you for all these videos you put out there educating me and make me respect corals so much more ..

[@innerbaconn8605]

Great advice but, my opinion is fuq dirastic water changes and over skimming just put it in a bowl with your tank water and feed the coral separately it feeds better no flow etc than add it back in, mine are thriving with this method

[@thecarnivorecollector]

I completely agree with your method. I use salad tongs to remove the colony and in the bowl it goes. I leave the colony in the bowl for 20 minutes. Then return it to the tank. I do this 3 times a week.

[@olliesshopautos9327]

Awesome video ... I've successfully kept Sun Corals for a few years now and this video really helped clarify what I need to do going forward.

[@gregreefboy8651]

Absolutely beautiful looking coral! Nice to see you have been able to keep it looking healthy and vibrant. A low light coral sounds neat and exciting. Thanks for sharing your knowledge on care requirements.

[@taryndeclyn1474]

Loved Inland and Morgan! Great Video!!

[@ArtistWizardry]

Always so informative. Love these videos.

[@volteface69]

Merci pour ta vidéo !!! 👍👍👍

[@josephbyerly4167]

I just wanna say thanks I love your videos. You guys have definitely been one of the most inspirational channels that I’ve been introduced to. I can’t thank you enough for doing what you do. Thank you thank you thank you

[@portwolf2293]

@Than I've been waiting for you to talk about filtration to this extent for years and is very valuable information especially touching on the commercial side. After what you said about sun coral, sarcasm would dictate placing it in your filter sock compartment 🤔🤣. BTW, I have heard stories of baby sun coral clogging up overflows before so that is a watch out. Personally though on NPS systems roller style filters are a good candidate. As for algae turf scrubbers, they aren't practical for that kind of nutrient load which is why I'm glad you mentioned the bacterial supplement 👍

[@AbbasReef]

Would be great if you did a video on Vibrant and your thought on using it. Thanks

[@gold3nrul311]

I have tubastarea in my puffer tank, and I don't feed it that much. I feed it specifically once a week. It just captures food on it's own and does great.

[@zafishguy5166]

Has it grown I somewhat doubt that although sone tubastrea are more suited to less frequent feedings unless the tank is small and you always feed around it.

[@gold3nrul311]

@@zafishguy5166 yeah dude it's absolutely grown it even made a polyp baby that started growing near by. If you don't believe me I will link photos.

[@gold3nrul311]

I haven't fed it on purpose for weeks and it's still doing great. It expands at night and catches stuff and retracts in the day

[@enzoalmeidadasilva5513]

I imagine it would be easier to feed chopped table shrimp than small mysis shrimp. I find it much easier to feed LPS corals with chopped table shrimp, since it doesn't need to reach the coral, just put directly into the mouth.

[@brandonezdoofenshmirtz2916]

I wanna do a non photosynthetic nano one day so I dont have to buy all the expensive lighting

[@lonestarpatriot876]

I am a dedicated reefer and I still don't want sun coral in any tank I own. They are beautiful, however, I like everything in my tanks to be somewhat hardy because while I am a dedicated reefer, that does not mean I want to babysit a coral into good health with a bunch of special attention that my other corals don't need. To me, the strong survive and the weak die whether it be a coral, a fish, or a person. This is a weak coral the second you put it in a tank. By the way, good talk about Vibrant, I dose it weekly and my tanks don't get nuisance algaes at all.

[@gold3nrul311]

To be honest they are not weak corals. They are considered invasive species in many parts of the ocean.

[@lonestarpatriot876]

@@gold3nrul311 The ocean is different than a glass tank. Sun Corals are one of the hardest corals to keep and it is not because they are a strong coral when you are talking about keeping them in a glass box in your home. I hear people referencing "The Ocean" all the time when it comes to reef tanks and the reality is that there is very little that is the same between the two.

[@gold3nrul311]

@@lonestarpatriot876 What are you talking about dude... I'm telling you as a fact that they are not that hard to keep. It has nothing to do with the Ocean or a "glass tank" as you say. The fact is, they are very fast growing and very hardy. All they need is some food every once in a while. They are a very hardy coral. As long as you feed your tank mysis every once in a while, once a week.

[@lonestarpatriot876]

@@gold3nrul311 It is not that simple as he stated in the video. He gave very special care requirements for them and discussed it at length so I am not going to regurgitate that again. Happy that you think they are a hardy coral but I would have to agree with what he said in the video. They require alot of special needs that many other corals don't.

[@gold3nrul311]

@@lonestarpatriot876 I'm telling you he's wrong. And if you think what he thinks, you are wrong too. It's just facts.

[@firebirdude2]

Two dozen feedings a day! Holy moly!

[@matthewwagner4042]

I think this could be one of my favorite species if I got it. I love feeding corals. The stronger feeding response the more I love the corals. I spend 30-60 minutes hand feeding each polyp every day. If I power fed them once a day where each polyp got a few shrimp and or a mega dose of reef roids do you think that would be enough nutrition? I typically feed the corals just once a day. Also, I'm.the crazy reefer that only uses a fuge as the sole filtration method. I feed a LOT, but the fuge algea seems to uptake all the nutrients as fast as I can put them into the tank. So I almost never do water changes or worry about maintenance of a skimmer. I haven't done 1 water change on my main tank yet. I did just pull out 2.5 gallons of cheato the other night which was just a percentage of the cheato. I had to make room to start growing ulva. It needed to get trimmed anyway.

[@Thatonedude337]

Yes that would be fine. I feed mine mysis once per day, sometimes skip a day here and there. Mine is growing new heads all the time on that feeding schedule

[@adamschaafsma5839]

Have you done a video on the importance of amino acids for coral health? I think this would be helpful.

[@tidalgardens]

I have not yet, but it is on the list!

[@MandrakeFernflower]

These things are allover the docks in west palm beach Florida i think it's an invasive species there

[@SKIM_831]

So knonigeable

[@Freytraz]

Kind of a dumb question... But the "gunk" trapped on the skimmer neck, although still "in the system" (oppose to the gunk on the cup which is "out of the system"), would not still be a trap for organic phosphates and nitrates? I mean, the flow of complex organic molecules in a skimmer is always upward, therefore trapping pollutants in the top layers of bubbles, even if not collected in the cup. If the pollutants agglomerate in a single spot, would not them still be harmless, as they are trapped?

[@Seattlekoi]

👍 what is wrong with the 2 people dislike the video. They much be freshwater folks.

[@ScChannelBG]

what camera you use? awesome colors!

[@robertromero5930]

Than do you have a link to this vibrant product? i'd love to read into it.

[@tidalgardens]

amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/2RkD0wy

[@Chris-zi9bb]

@@tidalgardens I do daily 10% water changes in my reef....

[@Maciek-qg3ow]

Hi @Tidal Gardens. With these new facts that came out to light lately, are you going to continue to use Vibrant? What's you opinion on that?

[@tidalgardens]

It's not something we used a lot. If indeed they were lying about the contents of their product, that's not a great look.

[@dr.barreleye9475]

I would like to try the amino acid dosing thing for tubastrea. But which amino acids do I dose?

[@deanfielding4411]

What about a roller mat filter system? Wouldn’t this be ideal in this scenario?

[@skicattx]

What do you consider a continuous high dose of Vibrant? More or more often than the manufacturers dosing recommendation?

[@tidalgardens]

Right now we are doing the recommended "high" dosage twice per week instead of once per week.

[@naj.h9051]

First love you than

[@deanfielding4411]

What about roller mat filters?

[@zafishguy5166]

Honestly I just do not know what rate LPS grow at there is so little documentation in the reef aquarium hobby I have had my LPS group for almost 5 months and they have barely grown. Wierd

[@lonestarpatriot876]

You are probably expecting too much growth, too quickly. Even in the ocean corals don't see massive growth in the amount of time you mentioned. Growing coral is a marathon, not a 100 meter sprint. Many LPS corals grow slow as well. As long as your paramaters are good I would not worry about it. Ofcourse, if your paramaters are not good you could see slow or no growth.

[@zafishguy5166]

@@lonestarpatriot876 the issue is outside of the areas around where I have corals I have algae coming back periodically and it sucks it almost makes me want to get some xenia bc I would prefer that to algae....

[@lonestarpatriot876]

@@zafishguy5166 You don't want Xenia unless you put it on an island. If you are having algae problems then that means you have an excess nutrient issue. I am curious as to how old your tank is? Also, I am curious as to what your Alk, Calc, Magnesium, and PH are testing out at?

[@eddyortiz8110]

That's one of those pretty corals that are on the "Leave it in Ocean" type!🤣 Way to much to deal with and not comparable with much of anything🤔 nice looking tho!😁💜💜💜✌🌿

[@rosshamblin5455]

I disagree, if enough planning is done, this is a relatively easy coral to keep.

[@rubikclockweights]

do you sell frags?

[@Entety303]

Fun fact there is a photosynthetic balanophyllia

[@masonj19]

I wonder if you think the same on vibrant now 🤣 probably not

[@insane_reefer3719]

Very nice coral but it’s not a type for me.

[@glenp.8241]

Wonder how I became unsubscribed??You tube👀!

[@tidalgardens]

KZbin is real shady

[@glenp.8241]

Indeed.