Let me see your elegance corals!

[matttaylor]

I've been wanting to get an elegance for years (since my previous one died over 5 years ago), and haven't seen any locally for a while. After talking with another local reefer (pv1191) today, i'd like to see if anyone has any others around here. SO... post pics if you have one.

Matt

 

[funman1]

This was about 2 months ago.
It died after my anenome exploded in the tank.

 

[duec22]

There were quite a few of them at O street earlier in the week when I was there. I even asked the guy about them. A few of them were melting in the tanks, and I asked if any ever made it. The guy said that if they lasted two weeks then they were good. I asked if they worred about the disease spreading from one to another, and he said that doesn't happen (I guess he hasn't seen Eriks research). So I asked if any were older than two weeks, and he couldn't tell me.

 

[funman1]

I got that one above from YourReef and John said it had been in the store for about a month and a half, so it was good to go.

It lasted in my tank 2 months and then after the explosion it went down hill FAST.

 

[MrMikeB]

Steve, that is terrible about the elegance. I really enjoyed seeing it in your tank. I was actually really surprised it did so well given its reputation. I think once you get past that first couple of months in your system, you are golden - well as long as nothing catastrophic goes wrong.

 

[mpoletti]

O st gets them in at least once a month.

 

[matttaylor]

I may have to make a trip to O street then. I usually don't go down there, but i really want to get one.

 

[pv1191]

I didn't realize these things had such a bad rep. Ive had mine for about 2 months or so. Its doing great. My clown adopted it.

 

[pv1191]

Here are a couple pics of mine. Sorry for the poor qualitypics but my camera sucks. The pics are really washed out. But you get the idea.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e165/pv1191/elegance2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e165/pv1191/elegance1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

 

[Bdimas]

[/IMG]

 

[DrDNA]

My picture-taking skills stink too Have had it for like 3 months, it has doubled in size since I got it.

 

[Nu2SW]

LOL there is the NON camera Shy TANG..... She likes pictures....

 

[Bdimas]

DrDNA, did you get your clowns before or after you got your Elegance? I was thinking of getting a pair so they can go in my Elegance.

 

[matttaylor]

It's good to know that there are so many local elegance corals that are doing well. Does anyone have any insight into the care and or maintenance of them? I plan to get one soon, and any advise would be appreciated. Do you dip them prior to introduction, or quarantine them? The last one i had several years ago bailed out of the skeleton, and i have been leary or trying another one.

 

[Bdimas]

I didnt dip mine or qt. I just feed it brine and mysis every couple days. Its in medium light with moderate flow.

 

[DrDNA]

Mine is just sitting in the sand bed under a 250w halide. Has enough water flow to make the tentacles move. I haven't been direct feeding it in awhile, but may start giving it small pieces of silversides again since it usually ate them readily.
I did get the clowns after I got the coral.
There are healthy elegance corals around, the one I got had been in the dealer's tank for a couple months or more.

 

[H20Sidhe]

There are a few healthy elegance corals around. Unfortunately, very few. At this time, several experts recommend not trying to keep a wild caught Catalaphyllia.
http://www.tidalgardens.com/pages/coral/catalaphyllia.html
In conversations I have had with Eric Borneman, he indicated he does not consider a Catalaphyllia 'healthy' until it has been thriving in captivity for at least a year.
I have had conversations with LFS owners who consider it a 'success' if a Catalaphyllia lives for 9 to 12 months.

This is a controversial topic that reefkeepers are passionate about, BUT Catalaphyllia is one of the organisms where statistics actually show that the dismal survival rate in captivity has led to overcollection & a decrease in the population of the animal in the wild. There are consequences - please refer to the legislation thread on this forum posted by Mr. MikeB.

If you insist on purchasing a Catalaphyllia now, before we understand the mystery factor (disease?) which has changed this from a beginner's coral to one that has a very, very low survival rate: 1) recognize that your purchase is fueling a demand which leads to over-collection, and 2) try to keep it in an appropriate environment. Catalaphyllia prefers different conditions than SPS.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm

If you have a healthy Catalaphyllia that you have had for over a year, consider fragging it for distribution to other reefers, or contribution to the Elegance Coral project.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=319263

A healthy Catalaphyllia is a beautiful coral. If we can successfully fill the demand of our hobby through captive propagation of this coral, we will have taken a great step toward responsible reef-keeping.

 

[matttaylor]

I understand the controversy / problems associated with keeping these corals in our aquariums. In fact, i am one who regularly takes hard to keep corals in an attempt to discover ways to help understand and care for these animals. I am also in the process of developing a website to help promote what i discover. At the same time i do not want to promote the wild collection of these animals until a better understanding of their care is determined. However, there is no way to help determine the proper care requirements of these animals without some wild collection.

If an elegance is already in captivity and has been thriving and is then "fragged", then there is no way to tell why so many of the wild colonies are dying. It's one heck of a double edged sword.

I've read some of the current research, and the preliminary data seems to show some sort of parasite or infection. However, why is this only the case of certain individuals? It could be the location they are collected, or something in one collectors holding tanks. I believe that is responsibility of all reef keepers to work together and share information freely to help further our hobby. The major problem is that it takes time to find problems and diagnose them. However, i feel that if someone does find something of interest, they have an obligation to share the information as soon as possible and if it turns out to be irrelevant so what, at least the finding was explored. My observations of current investigation, is that the people conducting the research are either unwilling to share their findings, or are to cautious to reveal something before they have a definite answer.

 

[H20Sidhe]

I am glad that you are a responsible reef-keeper. I felt a disclaimer was important for anyone who may be reading this thread and might be tempted to run out & buy a series of doomed critters.

 

[matttaylor]

I agree. I probably should have included my intent from the beginning, but i wanted see how many in the area are doing well, and how many have not survived. I also wanted to get input from the people who have had them and their experiences with these corals.