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Have You Ever Seen A Coral Eat?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Circle Shot Media

Have you ever seen a live salt water coral eat?  We have several different types of coral in our coral reef tank.  We feed them at night and watch them under the black lighting.  Most of them will glow in a bright sea foam color.  Here are some photos of some of the different corals right after we fed them, as well as, some of the critters in the tank.

This is our boys faviorite hermit crab.  We have an extensivie collection of shells which are now walking around our tank on the backs of several of the crabs who have out grown their homes and needed a larger shell to reside in.

coral reef

These are Green Button Polyps.  As they catch food with their tentacles, they close up into a ball and digests the food.

Live Corals

These are Pulsating Zenia's.  These flow with the water and look a lot like feathers when they are open.  When they feel the food touch their tentacles, they close up like a hand and digest the food into a small opening in the center of each head. 

Live Corals

This is a Scooter Blenny sitting on our Watermelon Mushrooms.  We call him Scooter.  He is to cute the way he scoots around the tank. 

Live Corals

The corals on the left are Emerald of God and the one on the right is a type of Brain coral.  If you look in the center of each of the circular corals, you will see a mouth.  The left have a florescent green line as a mouth and the right have a small hole in the center of them for a mouth. 

Coral Reefs

When they eat, the Emerald of God will close up into a ball as the ones shown above do.  The Brain coral will extend a see through type of fishing line.  They draw them back up into the small mouth in the center of each circle to eat their food. 

Tonight is our feeding night and I usually try to capture new images of the different corals and critters as they eat.  It is a fun and relaxing hobby that my husband, 2 boys and I all enjoy together.  Propagation is going well and the new corals in our other salt tanks here at home are growing in quite well.  We are teaching our boys both how to care for the tanks and how to propagate corals.  They both want to have salt tanks in their homes when they move out on their own.   They really are relaxing, especially when the white light turns off at night and the black light stays on.  The colors they display are amazing!

Posted by

Dawn

Comments (8)

Debi Boucher
Real Estate Showcase Photography - Woodland Park, CO
"Realtor Showcase" - Real Estate Photography/Virtual Tours

What beautiful photos, Dawn! They are very interesting, and I can see how it would be a terrific hobby the whole family can enjoy.

Debi

Feb 10, 2010 12:09 PM
Peter and Dawn Smith
Circle Shot Media - Vancouver, WA

Nice to hear from you Debi,

Thanks.  I had never seen them eat until we started growing them in our tanks.  Have a great evening!  :)

Dawn

Feb 10, 2010 01:31 PM
Marcia Hawken
WILLIAM RAVEIS - Naples, FL
Naples Luxury Specialist

Wow, Those are breathtaking photos.  What a great hobby.  Thanks for sharing!

Feb 11, 2010 08:23 AM
Peter and Dawn Smith
Circle Shot Media - Vancouver, WA

Hello Marcia,

Thanks!  We do enjoy it.  Have a great day.

Feb 11, 2010 09:32 AM
Anonymous
Jan

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!   THANKS FOR SHARING....

Feb 11, 2010 08:41 PM
#5
Peter and Dawn Smith
Circle Shot Media - Vancouver, WA

Hi Jan,

Thanks, anytime.  Have a great week end.

Feb 12, 2010 12:40 PM
Debbie Walsh
SHAHAR Management - Middletown, NY
Hudson Valley NY Real Estate 845.283-3036

How interesting all of this is!  Thanks for sharing these photos!  Keep them coming!

Feb 13, 2010 10:41 AM
Peter and Dawn Smith
Circle Shot Media - Vancouver, WA

Hello Debra,

I am so glad you thought so.  We have seen some pretty cool things in our tank that you would not normally get to see unless you spent a lot of time in the ocean, even then you might not see them!  Have a great weekend.

Dawn

Feb 13, 2010 12:21 PM