Help, Elegance dying???

[Cari]

I bought this elegance about 11 days ago. After about 7 days, started to not open. Thought it might have to do with placement, so I researched some more and moved it to the sand, lower light, lower flow. Yesterday it was still closed up. This morning, it looks pretty bad. Is this on its way out? Should I take it out of tank? Here are tank parameters:

90 Gallon display with 30 gallon sump.

SG 1.026
Alk 8.6
Ca 400
Mg 1320
Ph 8.2
Temp 79
Phos .02
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate zero


I started dosing ESV B Ionic about 4 days ago. I feed frozen coral food every other day. I have wall and branching hammer and frogspawn, look fine.
Before I moved it, the elegance was near, but not touching a small yellow leather. No other corals even close to it. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Flanders]

it doesn't look like it's lost any tissue yet. I would run carbon and skim and leave it in the tank. it might recover.

 

[Jacwil]

It's hard to say for sure, but I'd have to disagree with Flanders. In the first pic that you have of it in current condition, it looks like there's receded tissue and you can actually see some bare skeleton. It also looks like there may be some "brown jelly"...it may just be the pic.

We had an elegance once...it wasn't an Aussie and I believe the infamous "Elegance disease" struck our Indian species. It inflated for weeks then finally died off.

Best of luck!

Also, check to see if you can find any "pests" on it anywhere.

 

[Cari]

I would agree in the first "bad" picture, there appears to be some bare skelton along the back wall. I don't know if it's brown jelly...I don't have experience with that, but it certainly is translucent and seems to be "shedding" small particles if current gets it just right. When I look directly down at it, I can see flourescence and one of the mouths. In the center, it looks like its folded in on itself.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

What are you using to test salinity?

 

[Cari]

I have a milwaukee digital refractometer. I used a seatest before that. I tested from the sump, any reason the dt would be different? When I started dosing ESV it was in the sump, but then I read about dosing it in an area of high flow in the tank. I did dose it twice in front of ph in tank,(opposite sided of elegance) could that have caused a problem? I did go back to sump dosing.

 

[jaybfresh]

Do you know if the elegance was from Australia? If not, its only a matter of time before it will wither away. Very few people (if any) have had success keeping an indo-elegance over the last several years

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I killed one once with high s.g. I was using a swing arm; they're accurate if calibrated correctly. I had two that both read the same, but didn't know they both read quite high which wasn't a good thing when I went 1.026. High salinity is the first thing I think of when I see lps failing.

 

[Jacwil]

Pardon me...I meant Indo not Indian

 

[Cari]

I do not know where it came from. I would agree that too high salinity would cause a problem. Do you think 1.026 is too high? I have frogspawn, wall and branching hammer and they seem to be all right....What do you think? Sounds like we aren't sure if it's dying, unless it's from Indo. In researching potential issues, I found articles on recent elegance from Indo (wish I had found it sooner). If this is dying, should I get it out of the tank?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

1.026 is absolutely not too high. That's pretty much perfect.

I agree with Flanders as far as leaving it in unless there is clearly a parasite or disease issue, or unless it's rotting to the point that it is fouling the tank. Many LPS will bounce back from apparently 100% bare, dead skeletons if left in the tank. There's no point in taking it out unless it poses a risk to the rest of the system, and from the photos you've posted, I would not say that it does at this point.

On the other hand, as others pointed out, elegance has a really poor survivability rate in this hobby, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

 

[Cari]

First, thanks to all for your help. Just to update: Came home and checked on it, pieces were floating off of it. Decided to separate it from rest of tank to protect system. The minute I picked it up a lot of the translucent material came off skeleton. Removed it from tank and it smelled awful, that was the final sign...it had to go. Thanks again, I hate it when this happens, it's sad. Wish that beautiful specimen had been left in the ocean.