Indonesian Elegance Coral vs. Australian Elegance Coral

[bacon5]

So looking through some older threads, it seems that Indo ECs have a bad reputation for being much more difficult to keep than their Australian counterparts. Is this still true today?

Also, does anyone have any tips for picking a healthy EC specimen?

I hope to pick up my first one soon

 

[Budman422]

There are several out there that are being fraged. Those will be your healthiest. I have both indo and Australian. It is all about how they were handled. When placing one in your tank I feel they do best with a mature stable tank. Place in sanded give gentle flow and start low light. Let it adjust they take a while.

 

[jacksonpt]

There are several out there that are being fraged. Those will be your healthiest. I have both indo and Australian. It is all about how they were handled. When placing one in your tank I feel they do best with a mature stable tank. Place in sanded give gentle flow and start low light. Let it adjust they take a while.

While I don't have a TON of experience, I tend to agree. An animal that's healthy and strong when you get it will have a much better chance at doing well in your tank. If it's weak, unhealthy, etc etc, then you're fighting an uphill battle.

Find a good, reputable dealer who has good, healthy corals and you're 75% of the way there. I had really good luck with an aussie a few years back... but I think that was as much due to the condition he was in when I got him as it was where he was from.

 

[bacon5]

Awesome thanks for the advice! So it seems that it is not so much the origin of the coral as it is how it was handled right? I guess for a while, from reading other threads, the majority of Indos were handled very poorly? I should be checking out one this week, will update this thread if I end up picking one up

 

[jacksonpt]

If handled/treated correctly, anecdotal evidence does suggest Aussies are more hardy... but there are so many variables with live animals that I personally have a hard time putting a whole lot of blame on any 1 thing (unless there's an obvious problem/issue in play).

That said, if I was trying to give myself the best chance at being successful with an elegance, I'd try to find an aussie from a dealer I trusted, and either meet the supplier at the store so the animal only had to transition once, or ask the LFS to hold it for a period of time to ensure it was strong and healthy before I put it in my tank.

 

[syrinx]

Its a much more complex situation than handling. If you are trying indo- lighting is an issue as well- modern reef lighting is too bright for them. Indo EC were super easy to keep back in the day- did the handling get worse- not likely.