Are elegance getting any hardier these days?

[Frick-n-Frags]

new strains? new care techniques? new...?

just wondering , thanks

 

[Miggsy]

The ones that we are currently getting over in the UK are aquacultured, not wild harvested, and seem to be very very hardy compared to the wild ones.

 

[BreadmanMike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9442184#post9442184 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Miggsy
The ones that we are currently getting over in the UK are aquacultured, not wild harvested, and seem to be very very hardy compared to the wild ones.

Send me one?

 

[SnailBert]

you mean maricultured? because im pretty sure no one is spawning them and or fragging and growing them in captivity.

 

[Herpervet]

These things will drive you nuts. I have one that is a long term captive I purchased a few months ago. It is doing great and has been in captivity for over 10 years.

Recently it fell over and cracked a small chip off one edge. I let the chip remain for about 3 weeks then pulled it off. The tissue had not started to stretch or anything as I had hoped i.e. it wasn't dropping the frag.

Anyway the chip was about half the size of my thumb nail. I put the frag on a rock next to the mother colony and within about 3 or 4 weeks it had grown a mouth and is a viable colony. Gave it to a friend.

The previous owner had fragged this colony more than once in the past so it isn't that hard to do.

What I want to try is to cut small chips off the edge all around the colony and then pull them off a couple at a time to make literally dozens of frags from a large mother colony.

I think producing them from healthy colonies is very do-able.

On a side note there are Australian elegance coming into the US right now. MY lfs got some and 4 or 5 of them looked to be doing great.

I had him order me a couple of large ones. I picked two and he kept a third. My two are going to die from the looks of it but his still looks absolutely normal. This is only 1 week or so from purchase. Truly sad.

I think these corals are very sensitive to intense light. His is under power compacts and mine 10K halides.

When you think back 20 to 30 years ago these corals did very well. Now you can say it is because our tanks are too clean, heavily skimmed etc. but I don't buy it.

BUT we had only Normal output fluoresent bulbs back then. Coincidence? Maybe. But this episode really leads me to believe the light is a major factor.

(no need to cite Bornemans thoughts, I am very familiar with his theory on an infectous agent and perhaps he is right but I believe that at least in this case light and/or other stressors present in my tank but not the LFS tank caused a rapid delcine.)

The same store has two others recently imported that are going on 2 or 3 months and look absolutely perfect, feeding etc.

Time will tell.

 

[Grand Wizard]

As my good friend Miggsy said we have these beautiful Animals all over the uk now,, better colours easy to get feeding and generally seem a lot hardier Animal, i have 4, one of them brought back from a washed out bleached dying animal but he is nearly back to 100% :mixed: here is two of mine that are doing superbly under 150 watt halides 14.000 ks with 4 atinic tubes .

 

[syrinx]

I think there are problems with the general husbandry of this animal in modern tanks- whether too clean or too bright whathaveyou. I also think that the whole internet has allowed more excange of information, misinformation, and urban myth building in the last 20 years. Elegance corals have never shipped well, were always prone to brown jelly and whatnot- people just talk about it more- and are able to comunicate easier en mass. All and all the elegance has not kept up with us tech wise- and therefore must die.

 

[Grand Wizard]

Us guys over the pond seem to irritate you when we put up pics of healthy animals you hardly go out of your way to make us welcome do you ? or is it we are keeping corals that you lot cant.
I doubt i,ll post again on this forum , hardly make us welcome do you ? :thumbdown

 

[danch]

Borneman was looking into the issue with unhealthy elegance corals http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic31241-9-1.aspx?Highlight=elegance

 

[Scottkelly911]

Wizard, very nice looking Elegance. Unfortunately for us, the ones we've been getting don't seem to be doing too well in captivity in general. I read and re-read the posts in this thread and sincerely don't see anything that would be construed as offensive. Reef Central has been a plethora of information that have helped me avoid mistakes throughout the years. I hope you stick around for a while because we're all here to share information and learn. As far as your elegance goes, thanks for sharing with us, it seems to be doing very well. What type of lighting and flow do you have it under? Also are you feeding it anything in particular? I want to add one to my tank, but have been disuaded by the difficulty they often present.

 

[redFishblue]

I can only figure its the lack of a response to his pic that irritated him.
I'm sure lot of people appreciated seeing the pic even if they didn't post it.

 

[Grand Wizard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9454335#post9454335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scottkelly911
Wizard, very nice looking Elegance. Unfortunately for us, the ones we've been getting don't seem to be doing too well in captivity in general. I read and re-read the posts in this thread and sincerely don't see anything that would be construed as offensive. Reef Central has been a plethora of information that have helped me avoid mistakes throughout the years. I hope you stick around for a while because we're all here to share information and learn. As far as your elegance goes, thanks for sharing with us, it seems to be doing very well. What type of lighting and flow do you have it under? Also are you feeding it anything in particular? I want to add one to my tank, but have been disuaded by the difficulty they often present.

Kind words indeed Scott i appreciate them, all four of my elegance corals are under 150 watt hailides 14.000ks with 4 x 30 watt atinics i have a 6500 litre a hour return pump and two nano streams for further flow, elegance get fed once a week with smashed up pieces of mussel (small) once they have eaten they really do display :dance: :dance:

 

[billr]

I haven't had one live yet. What's the secret? Everything else seems to be doing fine.............

 

[GavinM]

I can only echo the comments made by the Wizard (aw'right mate!) that the Elegance Corals currently available to us 2nd class citizens in the UK are somewhat hardier than previous editions!!

I have had mine for a month now and it is thriving under a single 150W MH 10K at a distance of around 26" of which 18" is water. I also run 2 x 30W T8 Actinic tubes. It receives low flow and is face up on a bed of coral sand (coarse grain 2-4mm diameter). It is partially shaded and not in direct illumination from the MH.

I feed it once or twice a week with Mysis, cocktail prawn or chopped mussel.

Gavin

 

[dmist]

Hi guys

There are a few of these corals that I have personally seen under 400 watt halides and have never been feed either. They are either on the sand or on the rock work and they are doing well, and have been in the tanks for a number of years now.

I personnally have had one of the maicultured one in my system for the last few weeks also under 400 watt halides and itt seems to be settling well, but time will tell it's still very early days still.

Dip's

 

[Grand Wizard]

Greetings Gavin nice to see you popped in over the water :lol: :rollface: and great to hear your elegance is doing well :dance: :dance: :dance: :beer:

 

[GavinM]

I'll take a new picture later and post it - bl**dy thing nearly had my hand off last night when I fed it!!! :rollface: :rollface: :bounce1: :dance: :lol2:

Gav.

 

[MikeD]

For those of you with a healthy elegance, does it recede when the lights go out? I find mine receding at lights out and the happy as can be and fully extended when the lights are on. My elegance get's diffused light as it's in the sand with a rock island/cliff above that shades it somewhat.

Mike

 

[GavinM]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9455747#post9455747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GavinM
I'll take a new picture later and post it - bl**dy thing nearly had my hand off last night when I fed it!!! :rollface: :rollface: :bounce1: :dance: :lol2:

Gav.

And here it is - my Catalaphyllia after nearly 4 weeks in my reef.

Gav.

 

[syrinx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9457307#post9457307 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MikeD
For those of you with a healthy elegance, does it recede when the lights go out? I find mine receding at lights out and the happy as can be and fully extended when the lights are on. My elegance get's diffused light as it's in the sand with a rock island/cliff above that shades it somewhat.

Mike

Yup kind of like a trachaphilia. i had one for 10 years or so before I sold it with the tank, and it did this everynight. We never fed the things either- the only corals we fed in the old days were the carnation corals and all the other ones that don`t have a chance anyway.