Elegance Coral theory
- Thread starter elegance coral
- Start date
John Kelly
Goniopora Aficionado
If your coral is anywhere near as brown as it looks, that reaction has got to be caused from recently moving yours lights closer. The same retraction reaction from an increase in light also occurs in several species of Goniopora. That just shows an example of how sensitive Elegance is to light.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10680827#post10680827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dla2000
elegance coral
They call me EC
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10716611#post10716611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dla2000
My elegance coral is looking not so good, should I bring the lights back up?
Here's a pic of the elegance coral at about 3 am this morning
Here's a pic of the elgance coral at 12 noon
It's not swelling up I don't think and no brown stuff are coming out of it's mouths. I read somewhere that they go thru phases, is this one of them?
It's hard to tell much about an Elegance corals health at night. They all withdraw at night, so the 3am pic is not surprising. It is a new coral to captivity so we can safely assume that its health is not at it's best. The 12 noon pic shows that the coral is in a little trouble. This is where your adjustable lights may come in handy. It's all about trial and error. At first it seemed as though it was not getting enough light. Then you moved them down and it seems as though it was getting to much light. Finding the proper placement between these two points is the hard part. When I get a new coral to my tank, I normally have to move it several times before I find a spot where the light is just right. John is right again, about the color of your coral. If the pic is a good representation of it's true color, it will be easy to provide to much light. It has a huge population of algae in it's tissues. That much algae could oxidize the cell walls of the coral in no time.
I can't help but notice what appears to be a diatom bloom on the sand. How's your water quality? I have to ask, was the tank cycled before you put the Elegance in? Are you using tap water for your tank? Contrary to popular belief, Elegance corals do not like poor water quality. The first thing I would do is vacuum the sand bed and change some water, after moving the lights back up a little. I have been known to get a little lazy or to busy to change my water like I should. When this happens my Elegance corals are always the first ones in the tank to let me know they are unhappy. After I change some water they lose the attitude.
elegance coral
They call me EC
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10719228#post10719228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mental1
Hi Darell -- here's a picture today -- it doesn't look too bad!
:lol: You're so proud of your Elegance you had to post it twice! :lol: Seriously though, you should be proud. That coral looks very good. If you can get those crabs under control that coral is going to be a monster. Good job!
Charles Ward
New member
I was wanting to go from 10k 250 watt MH to 14k 400 MH. I figured the elagance would like the blue tint of the 14K but I am worried that the 2 400 watt bulbs may be to bright. Any ideas about how I should go about this?
My tank's
pH = 8.0 in the morning
Salinity = 1.023 SG (stable)
Alkalinity =9 dkh
Calcium = 400 ppm
Nitrate, Phosphate, Nitrite and Ammonia = 0 mg/l
Temp = 76-77
That's not diatom on the sand, don't really know what it is.
I was only doing 1 gallon water changes. I just did 2.5 gallon water change today and got most of that stuff off the sand.
The color of the elegance is that brown.
No tap water
pH = 8.0 in the morning
Salinity = 1.023 SG (stable)
Alkalinity =9 dkh
Calcium = 400 ppm
Nitrate, Phosphate, Nitrite and Ammonia = 0 mg/l
Temp = 76-77
That's not diatom on the sand, don't really know what it is.
I was only doing 1 gallon water changes. I just did 2.5 gallon water change today and got most of that stuff off the sand.
The color of the elegance is that brown.
No tap water
Mental1
New member
Darell -- I was so impatient to load it up for you to look at I hit the send button multiple times! I know it is going to be huge but my tank doesn't have the room. I have been contemplating putting a big fuge and sump in the basement but need to find the money. I also just resuced and yellow finger gorg from horrendous conditions in a LPS that should probably be in a low light fuge too. It has not extended yet -- I got the tank temp down but it spiked back up when the weather changed yet again and I have not been able to get it down again. Then, I will just have snails in the fuge --- no crabs! Those are my plans...
elegance coral
They call me EC
If your Elegance is still doing well after several months under your lights, I believe it will do fine with the lighting change. I believe that only a shallow water Elegance could survive for long under the lights you have. These corals can adapt to a wide range of light. I would change out one of the lights and see how your animals react. After a week or two, if all is well, I would change the other light. This way the change would not be as sudden and drastic as changing them all at once. Good luck, and let us know how it goes if you do this.
elegance coral
They call me EC
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10722178#post10722178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dla2000
My tank's
pH = 8.0 in the morning
Salinity = 1.023 SG (stable)
Alkalinity =9 dkh
Calcium = 400 ppm
Nitrate, Phosphate, Nitrite and Ammonia = 0 mg/l
Temp = 76-77
That's not diatom on the sand, don't really know what it is.
I was only doing 1 gallon water changes. I just did 2.5 gallon water change today and got most of that stuff off the sand.
The color of the elegance is that brown.
No tap water
I'm sorry for asking. I just wanted to rule out other possibilities for the corals stress. I believe that once you get the lights in the right spot this coral will be fine. Good job.
hobogato
New member
great thread - like many, i tried a couple of elegance corals long ago and when they died (because i followed the advice in those old coral books) i decided not to try again. recently, after some discussion with other locals, i decided to try again and basically did what you suggest (even tho i hadnt found this thread yet) the smaller one has been in my tank for about 6 months. it is in my 240 mixed reef (sps dominant) in an area of low flow and low light (for the tank). it has doubled in size since getting it. the larger one, i just got yesterday, but it already seems very happy. i think it was getting too much light at the lfs, but hopefully it wasnt drastic enough to cause damage that the coral cant overcome.
before you comment on the cyano, let me say that my system went thru a mini cycle a while back because of rearranging some rock work, and the cyano is now on the decline.
before you comment on the cyano, let me say that my system went thru a mini cycle a while back because of rearranging some rock work, and the cyano is now on the decline.
elegance coral
They call me EC
Now that is a good question. It depends on the intensity and duration of the exposure to bright lights. Then the amount of light it is exposed to after the fact. During over exposure the O2 levels climb within the coral. This O2 does not simply disappear as soon as the coral is removed from the light. It may take hours for the O2 to drop to levels that are no longer damaging. The O2 levels may still be rather high the next morning when the lights come back on and photosynthesis begins again. At this point it does not take much to elevate the O2 back up to damaging levels. I believe this is what most people are seeing with their Elegance corals. A cycle of damage day after day until the corals tissues are so destroyed that infection takes over. Assuming your coral was reacting to the brighter lights, it may take a day or two of lower light exposure for the coral to fully recover. This is why I liked you lighting system. You have the ability to supply the coral with low levels of light for brief periods of time, allowing the coral time to lower the O2 levels in its tissues. If there was cellular damage it could take several months to recover. I do not believe your coral has been damaged to this degree. Now that you have moved the lights back up some, hopefully, over the next day or two its expansion will improve. Only time will tell. I have my fingers crossed
.
John Kelly
Goniopora Aficionado
The time it takes for any coral, not just Elegance, to fully acclimate and adjust to light is usually between several weeks to several months. It is a slow process. The coral comes into the hobby already "programmed" to a specific light intensity and schedule. The zooxanthellae (brown color) are set at a certain density relative to the light and the fluorescent proteins (bright color) are also set at a certain density relative to the light. When there is a large contrast between the natural environment and the captive environment it can have very negative effects on the coral, which cause negative behaviors; such as puffing, tentacle retraction, fading, bleaching, burning, prolonged tentacle retraction, algae invasion under the tissue, infection, and more. A coral will normally have to adjust to lighting changes that are barely even perceptible and the only way to show that these changes take place is by taking photos over a period of time. The point is that every change you make, even very small changes, are sensed by the coral and can affect the coral before it has time to acclimate because the acclimation process is SLOW. Therefore, changes must be made slowly.
The most widespread and deadly problem in this hobby is IMPATIENCE.
The most widespread and deadly problem in this hobby is IMPATIENCE.
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