Will an Elegance coral be fine in a nutrient deficient tank?

[McCrary]

I have a 110 SPS tank and really wanted to throw a purple tip elegance coral in there, but I am concerned that the water might be too clean for the coral. Would the heavy skimming be a problem with the elegance?

 

[benray4fun]

Just hand feed it a couple times a week with krill, silversides or some other meaty food. It eats much like an anemone except it can't move.

 

[McCrary]

Do you think the lack of nutrients in the tank will cause problems with its overall health and appearance? The reason I am concerned is because I have tried open brains in the tank and they never seemed to inflate and slowly wasted away, this was a problem with a favia I bought as well.

 

[benray4fun]

The elegance natural habitat is somewhat rich in phosphates as it lives
in shallow murky waters believe it or not.

There's also many possibilities as to the open brain coral, you could've picked a sick puppy, diseased or any number of things could've factored in...

Are you OVER skimming?....meaning to the point where you're pulling out clear water

 

[blueplanet]

Yes. in general. it will be compromised somewhat.
If you feed them enuf to sustain... (not too much), then some SPS will lose some lustre... but SPS will still thrive, only a bit more "brown". .

A balancing act. worth it?

 

[McCrary]

I was kinda hoping to have my cake and eat it to. If I fed it a lot would it have enough nutrients in a tank that doesn't have phosphate or nitrate?

 

[snorvich]

Well, Elegance corals originating from any location other than Australia have a poor chance of making it at all. There have been studies about this animal and there may be hope in the near future. However at the moment, the odds are slim and none for it surviving.

 

[benray4fun]

Hand fed twice a week, I can't see why it wouldn't thrive. keep it in the sand facing up as it's found in nature also, out of direct light, but not in the shade. Read more about it here...

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=461

 

[McCrary]

Snorvich- Why do they fare so poorly? Is there are reason for their poor survival rate?

 

[sabodish]

if anyone could answer that, they would a very rich person!

these corals used to be very hardy...then something changed about 5 years ago when noone seemed to be able to keep them alive more than 6-8 months or so...i, for one, have killed 2 in 6 years and will never buy another one.

 

[McCrary]

Well, I am starting to think that maybe a elegance isn't such a good idea. I was going to put it into my tank on the assumption that it was one of the hardier LPS and would be resilient. But if it is just going to die then no point spending hard earned money on it.

 

[IndyMatt]

Yep, save your money until they figure out what is going on. I had a beautiful purple tip that was awesome but did not live.

 

[SDguy]

I agree with sabodish. I had two in my very first reef tank. Lived through EVERTYTHING...years. Now, I tried one...it didn't last a month. And I have a pretty high fish bioload in my tank...definitely not nutrient poor. So no more for me.

Not sure if it makes a difference, but my originals were kept under simple NO bulbs :eek1:

 

[snorvich]

No, the issue is that in the last four to five years, a bacterium (we think) has affected several types of corals, elegance being one. The ones from Australia are unaffected but those from the Indo Pacific don't make it. It has nothing to do with your tank SDguy. There is a product being formulated called Revive which theoretically combats this problem with a dip but I am skeptical until it is proven.

 

[McCrary]

So are they dying in the oceans as well?

 

[marcsmith73]

I think this is a good question. I think sometimes people over look where the coral maybe thrives in the ocean. The Elegance thirives in a high nutrient water. In the wild it is found in the shallow, murky waters. One of the biggest reason it has not done well in captive tank is because of all the filtration, and nutrient removers. Ie: Fuges, Phosban reactors, and wonderful RODI water.

 

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9437136#post9437136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marcsmith73
I think this is a good question. I think sometimes people over look where the coral maybe thrives in the ocean. The Elegance thirives in a high nutrient water. In the wild it is found in the shallow, murky waters. One of the biggest reason it has not done well in captive tank is because of all the filtration, and nutrient removers. Ie: Fuges, Phosban reactors, and wonderful RODI water.

There's more to it than that though. Something changed in these corals and it's not just our tank conditions that have changed. 15 years ago people ran bare bottom tanks with big skimmers, RO/DI, and undetectable phoshates and nitrates and we could keep this coral no problem. Today even setting up a specific tank with them in mind leads to an elegans dying.

 

[vijaym85]

I asked a question regarding Elegance coral disease to Liveaquaria, check it out

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1058516

 

[McCrary]

Wow, I had no idea they were so difficult to keep. It would be interesting to find out what could effect a coral so drastically in just 5-10 years.

 

[scunan]

Interesting, I have had my elegance for like three years now and the thing just keeps growing. My clown also hosts this elegance, he must think it is an anemone lol.