Elegance Dead within 2 weeks

A

aalhait

New member
OK, any idea why Elegance corals die (They start dissolving and flesh peeling off) within a week or 2 after mail order delivery.

I've had this happen a few times before.

My theory is that the skin may have been injured in the transportation and after there's a cut in the skin, it starts "dissolving" and a nasty smell comes out of it, ultimately becoming just a skeleton.

What can cause that to happen?
 
packer... Wow! So there's no chance of getting a clean one. And since my tank already had one, I can never add another? As far as I understand I do not know how it's propagated... Does a dead one mean that the disease is in the tank for good?
 
It was as far as I know the first real study done. I tried a few more after the demise of my long term one. None survived. They likely came in already affected, as Eric states the holding facilites water is more then likely saturated. The fact that my long term one died solidifies the fact whatever is going on with them is spread via water also. How long will it survive in a tank who knows. But the main issue is that almost all coming in will already be infected by the time you can purchase them. I have watched the LFS ones come in great and any that remain unsold all wither and die in a short time.

I would definately wait some time for your tank to clear itself, if it ever will? Then I would not purchase another that has not remained in good health for at least a month at the LFS. That would be the best chance to obtain a healthy one, and then not add another. But the chance of the LFS having one for an extended period without being sold is a long shot also.

Its sad as they really are an incrediable coral. I have not had one for over 1 1/2 years now. I assume yours went thru the signs, as in tenticles withdrawing and tissue swelling?
 
It was as far as I know the first real study done. I tried a few more after the demise of my long term one. None survived. They likely came in already affected, as Eric states the holding facilites water is more then likely saturated. The fact that my long term one died solidifies the fact whatever is going on with them is spread via water also. How long will it survive in a tank who knows. But the main issue is that almost all coming in will already be infected by the time you can purchase them. I have watched the LFS ones come in great and any that remain unsold all wither and die in a short time.

I would definately wait some time for your tank to clear itself, if it ever will? Then I would not purchase another that has not remained in good health for at least a month at the LFS. That would be the best chance to obtain a healthy one, and then not add another. But the chance of the LFS having one for an extended period without being sold is a long shot also. And it would need to not have any new arrivals within the same tank, shared water source as in two seperate tanks run on the same sump.

Its sad as they really are an incrediable coral. I have not had one for over 1 1/2 years now. I assume yours went thru the signs, as in tenticles withdrawing and tissue swelling?
 
you know i have heard so much of these issues with keeping elegance. but while i worked at a fish store i was able to keep them alive for a long time probly i think the longest i had one was for about 6 months before it was sold and when i sold it it was totaly fine. nothing different was done with the maintiance so i cant really tell you what the trick is just its been done. i dont really care for elegance and thats why i never took one home but i am sure that i would have been able to keep it alive at home too. not sure but good luck either way
 
a little time with the search button would have revealed that this coral is all but impossible to keep even for advanced tank keepers...

A novice ? you are just throwing away money and killing a coral that is becoming more and more scarce...

keeping one long term is not 6 months, it might be 6 years...
 
The primary problem with elegance corals is their natural environment is the total opposite of most home aquaria. In the wild, elegance corals are found in areas with moderate light, low flow and very high nutrient content in the water, almost to the point of murky.
 
My elegance came close to dying when I first got it but I moved it to a less bright area of the display with far less flow.

I almost took him out thinking it was dead but slowly it is coming back.

Almost all of it's tenacles rotted away but they are beginning to grow back. They're between 1/4 and 3/8 inches long now. Before they were not visible at all.

I have to say that I was extremely disappointed to see it struggling so much, but I have high hopes that it will recover.

I've read alot about them and one theory that sounds possible is that originally the elgance corals ending up in the LFS were found closer to shore where conditions are closer to our aqariums (brighter light, higher flow). Due to excessive harvesting, though, people are having to go to deeper waters to find them where it is darker with less flow. Also, these deeper elegance corals are found in muddy, silty substrate which is far different from our aquariums.

Since mine is making a comeback, I see that this could be true. Maybe it just takes alot of time for them to grow accustomed to the bright, turbulent, clean environments that we are putting them in.
 
I researched em a few months back as I wanted one myself. I remember reading that the ones from AUSTRALIA are what you want. make SURE it comes from AUSTRALIA

That's about all I remember...
 
There's a very good thread in the LPS forum about keeping Elegance corals. The key is to get an Aussie Elegance (versus Indo) and your chances of keeping it alive are actually very good. I have had mine since August and it is fine and healthy. There is a thread where a bunch of people keep them and keep them just fine. Take a look ....
 
yes the signs are correct. The same exact signs were there (short tenacles, Enlarged body and then tearing off of flesh and shrivling up) I took it out (and I guess killed it) when it was stinking the tank. I guess I will not be buying one for some time.
 
I've had mine for over three years and it's doing great. I'm not sure where it originated from, but it is darker in color and the tentacles are longer than most of the other Elegance Corals that I have seen.
 
aalhait: You did the right thing as it would have continued to make a mess of your tank water.

While many comments here list many variables as to keeping them, where they come from, and conditions needed to sustain them, please read the study by Borneman. We are not talking long term conditions causing death, but rather distinct signs for reasons put forth in his study. If a supposed healthy " Aussie" one is in a tank with other non aussie ones or an infected system, it wont matter where it originated from. Be extremely careful when purchasing these corals.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/eb/index.php
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12176454#post12176454 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by packer
Actually, a very easy coral to keep except for the disease infecting them.

Read this. It is why almost all newely aquired elegance corals will die. I had one for a few years and when I added another that died in a few weeks, my old one also died within a month. Highly contageous.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/eb/index.php
Click to expand...

I had the exact same experience. My first one was very healthy and hearty before the second was introduced.

I have confidence I could pick another healthy one in person, but would not trust mail order on these guys.
 
There are different positions on the Elegance corals and what happens to them. The thread I mentioned is contributed to by Darrel who has put ailing elegance in with healthy ones and not only did the healthy ones not die but the ailing coral healed. There is never one answer in this business. The Indo ones that are being collected today are from deep water and Eric's article describes the lack of corals in a lot of shallow water areas where they used to be abundant. The Aussie ones are collected in shallower waters. Just remember, there is more that we don't know, and will never know, about why these beautiful creatures live or die. But there is a lot of discrepancy in different people's experiences.
 
does not make much difference IMO...

if the vast majority die after collection (and why really does not matter to a responsible collector) then leave them in the ocean..

Leave the science of making them live to experts until they can give a comprehensive solution to captive husbandry...

anything else is just irresponsible husbandry on the part of the home collector..

That is unless you can justify yanking them out of the ocean, distributing them to home tank keepers that likely have little or no chance of keeping them alive...
 
I said it once, well, maybe 100 times, and I will say it again - if we stop buying these corals, vendors will stop selling them. They are very, very hard to grow.
 
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