Elegance Coral theory

[elegance coral]

That's great to hear, Sherri. As time passes and it continues to eat it will get stronger and stronger. Before long it will be grabbing any food that gets close. It will start stinging you too, so use caution when cleaning the tank. Great job!

 

[Charles Ward]

Hey Elagance Coral,
I came home yesterday and found that my elagance coral has expanded even farther then I thought it could. This thing is BIG!!! It covers about 8"to 10" across and atleast a 15" in total length. My concern is that it is very close to my GBTA which is also about 8" in diameter. Do you belive them touching will cause a disaster? I know the anemone has nematocyst that will sting pretty much anything but is the elagance able to stands its ground? I will try and post a pic of this standoff so you can see exactly what I am dealing with. my biggest problem is space to accomidate the two of them. They are in an 120g tank but they both look awesome where they currently at. I could frag the elagance as it is made of one very large head (7 to 8 mouths)and a second thats slightly smaller (4 to 5 mouths) inorder to make some room between it and the nem. What do you believe is my best course of action?Thanks for your input.

This was the elagance a month ago will post new pic this weekend.

 

[elegance coral]

:lol: They can expand to be huge. I have seen them expand more than 6 inches from the skeleton in all directions. You can frag the Elegance, but I wouldn't. There are lots of small Elegance corals in the hobby. Unfortunately large healthy Elegance corals are very rare. This sucks that one of these animals will need to be moved. It is much safer to move the Elegance, but it is obviously happy right where it is. If they do touch, maybe the bubble will move on its own. If not the battle probably won't be pretty. Elegance corals can have a very powerful sting. I have had them sting me many times to the point that their tentacles would come off on my arm, like carpet anemones do. I hope you can post a picture. I want to see this monster.

 

[elegance coral]

I need pic's of Elegance corals. Anyone fallowing this thread with pic's I could use? I especially need pics of sick corals.

 

[Reno Reef]

Elegance...

Thank you very much for getting this thread rolling. I was under the impression that elegance corals were going to die 99% of the time.

I was in a LFS just yesterday and they had 3 elegance corals. And they were pretty bleached. And they were under quite powerful MHs. This gives me some hope that my PCs might be able to support these great corals.

 

[ssterling]

Elegance,

I will send you some pics today of my elegance which does not look well. It has looked unhappy since I got it from LFS. I have tried several location in my tank with no success yet. First I placed it wedged between live rock (mid depth) with partial shade, then in the sand with partial shade, then in the sand with full exposure. It slowly just looks worse. My wife said it looks the best in the morning before the lights come on. Should I try totally shading it for awhile?

I have a 225g, 30" deep mostly SPS tank with 2-400W 20K DE MH IceCap pendants. 82 to 84 Deg, Cal:440, Alk: 3 to 4 meq/l, Mg:1350 other nutrients all at zero.

Cheers

 

[elegance coral]

Thanks for the pics.
I'm going to assume you have an Indo Pacific Elegance.

I hate to say it, but with those lights and that temperature, I don't think you will find a spot where the coral can survive. My lights are not as strong as yours and if my temp starts pushing 79 or 80 my corals will begin to react poorly. I believe that the reason they look their best in the AM around the time the lights come on is that they have had all night, with no photosynthesis, to relieve themselves of the Excess oxygen produced during the day. The lights come back on, photosynthesis begins again and the oxygen level within the coral climb back up to damaging levels. Every day this happens more and more of the cells within the coral become damaged. Eventually different organisms will begin to break down this damaged tissues and their populations will grow. The infection spreads until it takes over the entire coral and all is lost. I'm sorry, and I wish I had better news for you, but I don't think you will be able to stop this process.

 

[ssterling]

Thanks Elegance,

Here is a very low res picture. I can send a better one tomorrow.

Not sure if I wan to drop my tank temp to 78 since all else seems to be doing so well but perhaps I could try it. I know many folks keep SPS tanks at 78 with success.

 

[elegance coral]

I would just find a spot out of direct intense light and hope for the best. Does it eat at all? It's hard to tell how bad off it is from the pic.

 

[ssterling]

Thanks. From what I have read from this thread it sounds like you feed your corals regularly. I have not ever fed this elegance coral because I was waiting for it to look better first. But now of course I could be waiting indefinitely. What do you feed yours and how often? Also, there are dark brown spots all over my coral. I don't remember noticing them until lately. Perhaps they were always there and I am just now seeing them because my coral is much paler than when I got it.

 

[ssterling]

I figured out what the brown spots were. Flatworms. I did a freshwater dip on my elegance and several hours later it looks better than ever. Now that I can see the elegance without these worms I know the elegance came from the LFS with the flatworms. I just didn't know what I was seeing. At first I thought it was a natural freckle pattern to the elegance. When the freckles got bigger then I saw one move I knew something else was up! Still needs to get healthy but I am hopeful. Lowered tank temp to 80 to 81 and the SPS's didn't seem to respond at all so I may try dropping to 78 later if elegance continues to look less than ideal.

 

[elegance coral]

I hope killing the flat worms will save your coral. It does look a little bleached in the pic. In the right environment they can regain their zooxanthellae so hopefully things will turn around for your coral. During this time it will not be getting the nutrition from its zooxanthellae so you may want to think about dosing vitamins and amino acids. While I don't think it has been proven to benefit corals that have bleached, it seems to have helped the ones I have had.

 

[Aquarist007]

After reading this thread a number of times I decided to take the plunge. I have had this elegance for 6 days now. How is it doing?
I have it placed low in the tank--partly shaded from the halides--about 26 inches away.
The one thing that concerns me is that it polyps are not large and extended like the pics in this thread----but they never were in the store.
I fed it last night and it took the food eagerly--small pieces of raw shrimp.

this pic gives a larger view of where it is situated

 

[Aquarist007]

---------the mushroom is still angry at me--I trimmed it last weekend when I added the elegance---its gone a week before not opening its polyps cause its been angry.

 

[elegance coral]

I wouldn't be to concerned about the polyp not being very large right now. That is a frag from a much larger Elegance. If you look at its skeleton you can see on one end or both where it was cut. These corals don't normally grow very wide because of the cramped environment they live in. This can change now that it has more room to expand. Do you know where the Elegance came from? Australia or Indo Pacific.

 

[Aquarist007]

Thanks--I was hoping you would answer my post--you are the expert

I think he said it was from indo pacific and was more hardy--but that seems to conflict what I have read in this thread.

Is it placed ok--or should I move it right down on the substrate(only about three or 4 inches) I realize the lighting maxes out at the 18 inch point and I am well below that.

 

[trojank]

I have an elegance coral in my tank for over a year. When I got it it was about the size of my hand fully open now it is about the size of a football. I have never fed my elegance coral I do feed phyto for my tank one or two times per week. I also feed the four fish I have formula one daily but I feed very little. Do you think if I were to feed my elegance I would see better growth? I would love to see it it larger then it is. my tank is 120g I run 2 175 watt 10k Hamilton MH and 2 65w PC. My elegance is in the bottom of the tank in the sand bed. I have never seen an elegance other then the local ps so it is hard for me to gauge what one should look like after a year. In the pic I posted does it look healthy? It does to me but I could br wrong. The only time my elegance has tried to feed is when I have accidentally touched it with my hand cleaning my tank I have never seen this happen with the phyto or the fish food. So with all that said I wonder should I feed my elegance? <a href="http://photobucket.com" ta...haring and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/kevtroj/Picture0

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11102372#post11102372 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
Thanks--I was hoping you would answer my post--you are the expert

I think he said it was from indo pacific and was more hardy--but that seems to conflict what I have read in this thread.

Is it placed ok--or should I move it right down on the substrate(only about three or 4 inches) I realize the lighting maxes out at the 18 inch point and I am well below that.

I don't know about being "the expert". I'm just someone that really really likes Elegance corals and has been keeping/studying them for a long time.

I think someone is a little confused. Almost all of the Indo Pacific Elegance corals have suffered some damage by the time we get them. The Australian Elegance corals are much healthier when we get them.

Because we are not sure where your Elegance came from, I like where you have it. Part of it is shaded while another is exposed. The coral is large enough for you to keep a close eye on it and see which end fairs best. It is hard to tell from the pic, but it looks as though the tentacles that are more exposed are withdrawn. The tentacles that are shaded look to be more extended and not so curled up. this could be caused by the light, the flow, the GSP's, or just the posture it was in when you took the pic. After observing it in its current position, you can slowly move it so that most of the coral is getting the amount of light that it does best in.

If your Elegance is an Indo Elegance it is a healthy one, in comparison to most. These frags come from shallower water than the cone shaped Elegance from the Indo, so they are not as light sensitive as the cone shaped are. The problem seems to be that they are stored in the same containers with the other Elegance corals as they fall victim to infection. The infection can then spread to the fragged corals. I don't see any signs of the typical symptoms in your pics, so hopefully it is clean.

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11104822#post11104822 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trojank
I have an elegance coral in my tank for over a year. When I got it it was about the size of my hand fully open now it is about the size of a football. I have never fed my elegance coral I do feed phyto for my tank one or two times per week. I also feed the four fish I have formula one daily but I feed very little. Do you think if I were to feed my elegance I would see better growth? I would love to see it it larger then it is. my tank is 120g I run 2 175 watt 10k Hamilton MH and 2 65w PC. My elegance is in the bottom of the tank in the sand bed. I have never seen an elegance other then the local ps so it is hard for me to gauge what one should look like after a year. In the pic I posted does it look healthy? It does to me but I could br wrong. The only time my elegance has tried to feed is when I have accidentally touched it with my hand cleaning my tank I have never seen this happen with the phyto or the fish food. So with all that said I wonder should I feed my elegance?

You have a beautiful Elegance, and yes it is healthy. You do not have to feed your Elegance. It can sustain itself on the nutrition it receives from photosynthesis and the dissolved nutrients from the other feedings you do. However, you do not want your Elegance to sustain itself. You want your Elegance to expand, grow, and become much stronger. For your Elegance to obtain its full potential it should be fed. They are not filter feeders. The small particles that you feed your other inhabitants are not large enough to cause a feeding response from your Elegance. I like to think of them as ambush predators. They hang out with their tentacles waving in the current, looking all innocent. Then some small fish or shrimp makes the mistake of bumping into a tentacle. The Elegance quickly begins to inject its venom into the prey and consumes it. If your Elegance is fed one or two chunks of fish or shrimp every week, Its polyp will begin to grow much larger. Its sting will get so strong that its tentacles will pull off on your skin if you bump into it. It will start laying down calcium at a much faster pace. It will turn into a monster before you know it.

I have one small suggestion. You may want to think about moving the Elegance or the GSP. Elegance corals really don't like GSP. Especially when the GSP gets ticked off and starts discharging toxins. It even looks like your Elegance is withdrawn right next to the GSP. This may just be the camera angle though.

 

[trojank]

Thanks for the tip I did not know that the two did not get along. I moved the GSP it is just a frag I need to take in to trade. I don't think I want to mess with my elegance I do not want to upset it. What type of fish do you feed your elegance? I will start to feed it this week and post an update as it gets larger. Thanks again for your advice.