I have attached a picture of the Chalice Coral I won in the raffle at the last meeting. I never have luck with raffles so it was a great surprise to take home this coral.
It seems to be doing well in my tank. From everything I have read, they only feed at night and will take mysis shrimp. At night the sweeper tentacles come out and I have tried feeding it, but I have not had any luck.
Has anyone had one of these? Do you think I should worry that it is not taking food?
Thanks.
any food that hits any tentacle on any chalice of mine is immediately grabbed and slowly pulled to the mouth. i don’t think it’s a choice the chalice has; it’s sticky and venomous for a purpose. i wouldn’t worry about it if you have good light.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of my chalices actually grab food. I think they get most of their food from the light and will extend tenticles out to grab particulate matter from the water column. If you’re seeing sweepers it may be trying to ensure noting is encroaching on it’s space.
If the color on it looks good, not fading, then it will be fine. Don’t be concerned about hand feeding it. IMO
I had one a while back never fed it at all and doubled it size in several months.
Leave it go and see what it does under good light it will be fine.
Chalice and encrusting monti’s are the only hard corals that I can keep (and they have been thriving) in my tank. Good light, moderate flow, and non-aggressive neighbors are the key. I had a hammer close to one of my chalices, and noticed it wasn’t very happy. I moved the Hammer to a better spot in the tank, and the Chalice has taken off in both growth and brighter color.
Best of luck to you, the Chalices in my tank are my favorite additions by far!
Thanks for the replies. The reason I was concerned is I kept seeing that they take food easily at night. It is under Metal Halide Bulbs and the water flow is moderate. Since it is on the sand bed, there are not any other corals that come in contact.