The Elegance Coral Project

[mars9820]

I just found this thread and read most of it.

I want to share some of my own experience that can maybe help to investigate this further. Reason is that I am located in Asia and there are very short trading ties between my location and the location where the elegant corals are coming from.

Until finding this thread I was unaware of the desease that is battling elegant corals. When I saw 2 elegant corals in my LFS (hard to find elegant corals here in Taiwan) they looked like worth to buy with tentacles of about 10 to 15 mm (0.5 inch).

(the other elegant is still in the LFS and when I saw it a couple days ago it looked fine but tentacles also about 10 mm long and probably will be a matter of days until they will be as short as mine).

The tentacles of my elegant became shorter and shorter with the day and the body started swelling like it is going to explode as a balloon that is filled with water. I placed the coral in another corner of my tank where there is not that much light in the hope that everything would be better.

2 weeks later and some days it looked better than others a couple times a little bit slime/film was formed but it seemed he recovered and I took it as acclimation issues that sometimes happen with new corals. However suddenly 2 days ago it retreated in it's shell almost completely. Tentacles are nearly gone now (1 or 2mm top).

I did a lot of research online and am happy to find this thread in the end however it is too late for my elegant coral (I guess).

I will do more research and visit more LFS to check if I can find some healthy elegants around. I know in the last 4 years I saw a total of 5 and always the tentacles are about 10 to 15 mm I guess they are all in the same condition as mine. The picture looked very alike the one in Eric's 3rd post of this thread (1st sick coral in that message).

I however have some questions and I think they are answered but I want to confirm.

1. If one elegant is sick in a tank it can by waterflow infect another elegant (as I read that Eric lost a healty coral in his tank that had a sick one in his remote (but connected) tank).

2. If a elegant dies in your tank. Does that mean that any future attempts will fail because of the desease staying in the watercolum?

3. Will a sick elegant have any affect on other corals/inverts in the tank or is it a species specific desease that only happen with elegant corals?

Sorry If I ask questions that are answered but in the 24 pages of this thread I got lost a couple times with the information since it is going on for such a long time (more than a year).

 

[poopsko24]

mars9820, thanx for youre addition to this thread. This is what we need here...people from all across the other side of the globe sharing youre experience with this problem. Its good to have someone so close to where the elegance are being collected to give us over here in the states some insight to see if its a problem happining with the shipping or if its even in the collectors tanks overseas. I am not aware if they have this disease in the field, or if it happens when it contacts the collectors tanks. Well its good to have someone so close to the collecting sites to be aboard.

 

[poopsko24]

This problem HAS to be heard by the collectors, we have to get this message over to them. Perhaps as far as they know there is not a problem. We have to find out the collection methods and where these corals are coming from....depth, in mud, higher light, on a reef slope.. .. etc. Must see if their collecting site is really that much different than it was years ago when things were all good with the elegances'.

 

[poopsko24]

I just found this thread and read most of it.

I want to share some of my own experience that can maybe help to investigate this further. Reason is that I am located in Asia and there are very short trading ties between my location and the location where the elegant corals are coming from.

Until finding this thread I was unaware of the disease that is battling elegant corals. When I saw 2 elegant corals in my LFS (hard to find elegant corals here in Taiwan) they looked like worth to buy with tentacles of about 10 to 15 mm (0.5 inch).

(the other elegant is still in the LFS and when I saw it a couple days ago it looked fine but tentacles also about 10 mm long and probably will be a matter of days until they will be as short as mine).

The tentacles of my elegant became shorter and shorter with the day and the body started swelling like it is going to explode as a balloon that is filled with water. I placed the coral in another corner of my tank where there is not that much light in the hope that everything would be better.

2 weeks later and some days it looked better than others a couple times a little bit slime/film was formed but it seemed he recovered and I took it as acclimation issues that sometimes happen with new corals. However suddenly 2 days ago it retreated in it's shell almost completely. Tentacles are nearly gone now (1 or 2mm top).

I did a lot of research online and am happy to find this thread in the end however it is too late for my elegant coral (I guess).

I will do more research and visit more LFS to check if I can find some healthy elegants around. I know in the last 4 years I saw a total of 5 and always the tentacles are about 10 to 15 mm I guess they are all in the same condition as mine. The picture looked very alike the one in Eric's 3rd post of this thread (1st sick coral in that message).

I however have some questions and I think they are answered but I want to confirm.

1. If one elegant is sick in a tank it can by waterflow infect another elegant (as I read that Eric lost a healty coral in his tank that had a sick one in his remote (but connected) tank).

2. If a elegant dies in your tank. Does that mean that any future attempts will fail because of the desease staying in the watercolum?

3. Will a sick elegant have any affect on other corals/inverts in the tank or is it a species specific desease that only happen with elegant corals?

Sorry If I ask questions that are answered but in the 24 pages of this thread I got lost a couple times with the information since it is going on for such a long time (more than a year).

1. Well Erics got the disease. I have one from about Jan. of this year, well I tried another in the same tank as the old one and I saw that the new one looked really good for about 4 days. This new one was at the LFS for a couple weeks looking great. Well I feared my healthy one would get sick also so I put the new one in the tank I'm setting up in the basement. It did make it. And in the meantime I got another one, (yeah I know) but something told me to give this one a try. It had been at the lfs for almost a month and its tentacles still looked like an anemone's. Plus its skeleton looked like it had been part of the reef structure, not like all the other cone shaped ones I have had. Well the sick one that I moved into the other tank was now with the one that looked like it was off a reef wall. So there was the sick one, and the reef wall one in the same tank. The original sick one died and my reef wall one is doing awesome for about 4 months now. I really don't' know with these things, they are a tough nut to crack. But my old one is still kickin....and the reef wall one is too. I think there is a part of the reef wall one that I might be able to frag, it has separated from the main body. Lucky, possibly.
2. I had some elegances die in my tank and it seemed like I could not keep one alive. I don't know if its cause my tank was now infected or what , but I did wait awhile before I got the one that I've had since January of this year.
3. I have not noticed this sickness affecting any other corals , in my experience.

 

[dragon_slayer]

This problem HAS to be heard by the collectors, we have to get this message over to them. Perhaps as far as they know there is not a problem.

to them there is no problem, they collect corals for $$$, they sell then to wholesalers and get their $$$, the wholesalers sell on down the line and the end reefer pays the $$$ for all the middle men on up, this $$$ ALWAYS makes its way back to the collectors so they could care less if the corals are dieing or living, and truth be known if they all die they are always in demand and that is better business for the collector.

getting any information to the collectors is not going to help, maybe starting there and collecting information from that point forward to the lfs where the corals are sold would give an answer.

kc

 

[poopsko24]

true, true, demand for these will be the driving force. It would be beneficial to get collection info on these though, just wish there were a way to enforce it , some way to know that its legit.

 

[sihaya]

Correction: The parasites I found aren't rare. They just go unnoticed and unstudied. Sorry.... don't want to misinform anyone.

 

[MrPike]

If you had a sick elegance and it died in your tank and are planning to experiment with another, it may be beneficial to run a UV for a while to kill any waterborn parasites/bacteria that may possibly be involved.

Great project/thread btw

 

[Reefbone]

Since it took me more than two days to read this whole post I figure I have to add my two cents. As far as adding meds to the skeletal structure ...how about drilling a hole then just plugging it with a rubber stopper ? Whew.... not that thats over I can read some other threads. :eek2:

 

[podeater]

I've read this through (some parts more than once), and I first want to say that this is just outstanding, and very exciting.
If it was mentioned earlier and I missed it than I apologize, but what fungicide would you recommend for treatment?

 

[ColleeninFL]

Exactly my feelings. THe problem is, how will we stop collectors, exporters, wholesalers and retailers from combining them in the same tank??

We have one at each end of our tank. No problems with either one of them. After reading through these posts I wonder if I am now to be frowned upon in reefworld for housing 2 of these beauties in one tank, seperated by LR vs glass. I love my elegance babies and they are happy and healthy, spreading and reaching every day.

I have an abundance of respect for Eric, his books have been an asset to our reefworld. Good fortune in the seek for an answer.

Colleen

 

[EricHugo]

Hi Mars:

Thank you for the post, and it was very good to see experiences from outside the US and also that the condition occurs. I know the Australians are not having any problems, but they aren't getting corals from Southewast Asia. So, this is good confirmation.

To answer your questions:

1. If one elegant is sick in a tank it can by waterflow infect another elegant (as I read that Eric lost a healty coral in his tank that had a sick one in his remote (but connected) tank).

Yes, it does appear to be quite contagious. This actually bothers me because I wouldn't expect a fungal pathogen to be so effective and quick to affect other corals.

2. If a elegant dies in your tank. Does that mean that any future attempts will fail because of the desease staying in the watercolum?

Absolutely not. You can definitely keep elegance corals after having affected ones in your tank. I am doing it right now.

3. Will a sick elegant have any affect on other corals/inverts in the tank or is it a species specific desease that only happen with elegant corals?

I am not sure, but I have not seen any other corals affected except, possibly, Euphyllia. This is pure anecdote, though based on my observations and others observations. It seems to be very specific to the species.

I would not recommend or suggest any treatment at this point and I have not even thought about trying any yet, although I admit I have been looking through vet pharmacology and drug indeces. Any treatment would be at the person's discretion and I only suggest this might be an avenue to pursue by trials in affected corals since they seem doomed anyway. I have yet to see any recover on their own.

Yes, I would like to get this message out to exporters, but its been my experience that most exporters really don't care or don't like to listen very much. The contagious nature, at least, could save many of these corals if it were understood by those in the trade - a species already being collected in some areas at unsustainable levels.

Colleen, I am very touched by your kind words. Thank you.

 

[mars9820]

Thank you for your reply.

Here in Taiwan most corals come from Indonesia (so did my elegant). I have another coral in my tank that is doing badly after the elegant died. I however don't know the name of this one. (sorry but it is sometimes not easy to live in a country where everyone only speaks chinese and me being the foreigner.

I will try to get a picture and get it online somewhere to get an ID on it. I got both corals at the same time. This coral started to show signs after the elegant died. No idea if it is related but I didn't have any coral dying in my tank and this tank is running for a year and a couple months at very stable levels.

 

[sihaya]

Is it possible that other corals are "carriers" of the fungal spores (or whatever is causing the infection)? Or do you think it's strictly and elegance to elegance thing?

 

[Forestal]

if viral pathogens is a possibility (seems more likely than fungal from the symptoms), have you considered infectious prions...these may be tough to detect and possibly species specific...just throwing out an idea i have had cooking for a while...

keep up the good work Eric and thanks for all you are doing...

 

[John75hex]

Well, My Elegance has recovered. He looks like he did before i dosed the Micro-vert. I did 3 water changes about 3 days apart. I have no idea why it freaked out the way it did, but i thought for sure it was a goner. VERY happy to see him with his tenticales out again!

 

[EricHugo]

Dan:

Indeed. We did fix some samples with paraformaldehyde and glutaraldehyde for TEM. I also think this is a distinct possibility. Viruses are very common in the marine environment and there is now a link to them with coral bleaching, as well.

 

[phreebsd]

where are you in Alabama?

I'm in Prattville, AL. - (Just outside of Montgomery)

My Elegance is very healthy at this time. It's in a 55 gallon mixed reef setup. It's on the bottom of the tank under 2 150W 20,000K HQI. I feed it frozen mysis daily. I alternate with Prime Reef/Ground SilverSides Mixture. I even throw in some cyclopeeze.

 

[EricHugo]

Are you sure? How long have you had it now? It's not looking too good to me - like the beginning stages of decline, but maybe its just the time of day you took the shot.

 

[dragon_slayer]

i get the same impression as Eric.

kc