Favities - sweeping tentacles ?

I have small colonies of favia (or favities), brown
variation taken from the seashore of Florida Keys...
They look nice, dark brown with polyps extending
from the rocky ball of their skeleton...
They are doing fine without target feeding, but
I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles.
I have inspected these corals at night with a flashlight
and I have never seen any sweeping tentacles...
Here is a short movie of the coral taken during the day
just to show you what coral I am really talking about:
http://www.darmoland.com.pl/pszemol/...6/Favites1.avi
http://www.darmoland.com.pl/pszemol/...6/Favites2.avi
(it might not play directly from the link - then save the
file on your local machine and play it from there...)

So my question would be: anybody here has this or similar
coral in your tank? If so, do you observe sweeping tentacles?
Do you have any pictures of them to share with the group?

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
|I have small colonies of favia (or favities), brown
| I have inspected these corals at night with a flashlight


From what I've read, corals can detect food in the water in
concentrations as low as 1:10,000,000. I'd have to say that the
presence of the food will bring out the feeding behavior.

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
I have small colonies of favia (or favities), brown
variation taken from the seashore of Florida Keys...
They look nice, dark brown with polyps extending
from the rocky ball of their skeleton...
They are doing fine without target feeding, but
I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles.
I have inspected these corals at night with a flashlight
and I have never seen any sweeping tentacles...




I had my favia for over two months befors I saw tentacles extended.
Maybe they're just slow waker-uppers.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/reef.htm

Pz

Where did you hear this;

"I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles"

I have heard and seen statements similar to his but just assume that don't understand the
real deal about sweepers and are just assuming they are lookin' for food

Sweepers are for defense, fighting and attacking other corals. Why would there be a need
for sweepers to do this, when the regular ever day tentacles do this ? They are not out
as they sense no near-by threat to be out. They also are not structured right to catch
food. It is like you trying to catch a fly with your hand while your whole body is covered
with sticky fly-paper :-)


You might like this bud
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/rs/feature/

http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/179/1/96.pdf

--
Boomer

Want to talk chemistry ? The Reef Chemistry Forum
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/index.php

Want to See More ?
Please Join Our Growing Membership
www.coralrealm.com

If You See Me Running You Better Catch-Up
"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
:I have small colonies of favia (or favities), brown
: variation taken from the seashore of Florida Keys...
: They look nice, dark brown with polyps extending
: from the rocky ball of their skeleton...
: They are doing fine without target feeding, but
: I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
: during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles.
: I have inspected these corals at night with a flashlight
: and I have never seen any sweeping tentacles...
: Here is a short movie of the coral taken during the day
: just to show you what coral I am really talking about:
:
http://www.darmoland.com.pl/pszemol/...6/Favites1.avi
:
http://www.darmoland.com.pl/pszemol/...6/Favites2.avi
: (it might not play directly from the link - then save the
: file on your local machine and play it from there...)
:
: So my question would be: anybody here has this or similar
: coral in your tank? If so, do you observe sweeping tentacles?
: Do you have any pictures of them to share with the group?

"Boomer" wrote in message ...
Where did you hear this;

"I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles"

Looks like I made old mistake of listening to wrong people :-)
I am new to SPS and instead of reading stuff in a reputable
sources I trusted one of my "all-knowing" friends who has
reef for 5, maybe 7 years :-) When do I learn not to do it ? ;-)

I have heard and seen statements similar to his but just assume
that don't understand the real deal about sweepers and are
just assuming they are lookin' for food

The thing is I tried to feed my favities and they do not accept
zooplankton... How can I stimulate them to eating ? What food ?

Sweepers are for defense, fighting and attacking other corals. Why would there be a need
for sweepers to do this, when the regular ever day tentacles do this ? They are not out
as they sense no near-by threat to be out. They also are not structured right to catch
food. It is like you trying to catch a fly with your hand while your whole body is covered
with sticky fly-paper :-)

I see... sometimes, when I feed my hermits with some pellets
some of them land on the coral and stick to it... I am not
sure if coral can benefit from this kind of food, can it ?

You might like this bud
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/rs/feature/

http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/179/1/96.pdf

Thanks - I will read it tonight.

" see... sometimes, when I feed my hermits with some pellets
some of them land on the coral and stick to it... I am not
sure if coral can benefit from this kind of food, can it ? "

Yes, they may absorb some of it

--
Boomer

Want to talk chemistry ? The Reef Chemistry Forum
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/index.php

Want to See More ?
Please Join Our Growing Membership
www.coralrealm.com

If You See Me Running You Better Catch-Up
"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
: "Boomer" wrote in message
...
: Where did you hear this;
:
: "I have heard they could benefit from feeding zooplankton
: during night - they hunt plankton with sweeping tentacles"
:
: Looks like I made old mistake of listening to wrong people :-)
: I am new to SPS and instead of reading stuff in a reputable
: sources I trusted one of my "all-knowing" friends who has
: reef for 5, maybe 7 years :-) When do I learn not to do it ? ;-)
:
: I have heard and seen statements similar to his but just assume
: that don't understand the real deal about sweepers and are
: just assuming they are lookin' for food
:
: The thing is I tried to feed my favities and they do not accept
: zooplankton... How can I stimulate them to eating ? What food ?
:
: Sweepers are for defense, fighting and attacking other corals. Why would there be a
need
: for sweepers to do this, when the regular ever day tentacles do this ? They are not
out
: as they sense no near-by threat to be out. They also are not structured right to catch
: food. It is like you trying to catch a fly with your hand while your whole body is
covered
: with sticky fly-paper :-)
:
: I see... sometimes, when I feed my hermits with some pellets
: some of them land on the coral and stick to it... I am not
: sure if coral can benefit from this kind of food, can it ?
:
: You might like this bud
: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/rs/feature/
:
: http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/179/1/96.pdf
:
: Thanks - I will read it tonight.