Plate Coral question

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Dewana

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So after listening to Tony talk about plate corals, it got me to doing a lot of research on the topic, Even more than I did when I purchased it about a month ago, I have a short polyp orange plate. I have it sitting on sand in a medium flow area, It has the prettiest colors to it, a bright orange trimmed in a beautiful purple with a tiny bit of green going through it. I do see it open just a tad during feeding, but that is the only time I ever see it move and its not at every feeding. It has never inflated, its real thin, and never moved an inch from where I placed it, Is that normal?
 
Well for the first time really, I got to spend some time feeding it and really watching it, (Hubby does all the feeding, but he isn't home) And I realized this has THREE mouths? It was kind of cool to watch, but I've never read about a plate coral with three mouths. Not sure you can see all three in this picture, but the two purple mounds are two of them.
 
He fattened up a bit right after I fed him, which is when I took this picture, in a couple hours those three mounds will deflate and he will be real skinny again, still has never moved since I put him in there a month ago. But I guess as long as the color is good and he is eating good....
 
Yes, it looks fine to me. If you have a flat rock you can 'hide' under the surface of the sand, just to give it a tiny lift, do it.

If it dies, DO NOT THROW IT AWAY. Leave it in the tank and in a few months you'll see babies sprouting out of the dead skeleton, and in a year you'll have dozens.
http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/28785-Fungia-Pays-It-Forward
 
Well I hope it doesn't die! LOL I will go up to the LFS and see what I an find as far as a flat piece of rock to put under it. I just thought it odd that it NEVER moves and outside of a couple feedings it has never inflated. But like I said the color is good... so .... we will see! :)
 
2-3 mouth is common, so you're fine. I feed mine Fauna Marin LPS pellets and they go crazy for it. I find feeding them once a week will do, any more than that and they will puke it all up.

It's also normal for them to not move, they only move (real slow) if they are unhappy about something.

Good luck with it, it looks good.
 
Im guessing mine must be the super short version, Ive been watching him closely. He looks just as bright and colorful as the day I got him. He hasn't eaten food since the other day though. I figured I would give it a couple days and try again. he really did eat alot. how often do you feed your plates?
 
Personally, I don't specifically feed mine ever. They grab food out of the water column. I do however feed very healthily (if that's a word) with brine, krill, pemysis and my own special blend of whatever is on sale at the seafood counter, so they usually get a pretty decent meal every 2-3 days.
 
I have a wrasse, two clowns, 5 pjs, a goby, a firefish, about 5 snails and maybe 7 crabs. Is one frozen cube of either brine or mysis mixed with garlic and vitamins enough one per day you think?
 
@Dewana wrote:
I have a wrasse said:
Personally, I would consider that kind of a lot. I had issues adjusting the amount to feed when doing cubes. Always struggling with nitrates etc. Everything got a lot better when switching to rods. Could be coincidence, but its been much easier keeping params in check. Feed less in both amount and frequency and tank/corals looks better than ever. Just my .02. To each their own. :)
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