Healthy elegances?

[Chrismo]

I've seen an increase in the number of elegance corals sold in my LFS's, and they are all looking pretty healthy. I'm slightly ashamed to say I bought one a month ago too ( I couldnt stop myself), and it is doing great so far. The owner of the LFS said that everyone he's talked to from this batch has had good results... but it has been only a month or 2.

Has anyone else noticed any improvment in elegance disease?

chris

[yoh]

I went to a fish store a couple of days ago and saw a PERFECT and I mean PERFECTLY HEALTHY elegance coral. I mean, it was so healthy looking I couldnt beleive it. It was around 8" and $60. It was mostly brown with green around the mouths. Did I not mention yet that it was PERFECT? I mean, I have seen lots of Elegance corals, but never, NEVER have I seen one this good. PERFECT. If it is still there in a week I am gonna buy it, cause it was like the healthiest coral I have ever seen.

[davejnz]

dont buy them,I've bought 2 perfectly healthy corals for the ECP.One was shipped right away,the other i kept for 5 weeks before I shipped it.Both Elegance corals were very healthy but started showing the symptoms at about the 4-6 wk time frame.These corals are so overcollected,I feel that importers should stop offering them.Maybe after Eric B. finishes his study and we can once again figure how to keep these beautiful corals(my favorite) then they can be slowly offered again to the hobby.By buying them,your just encouraging LFS/wholesalers to sell them

[GraviT]

I fell into the elegance trap when one of the LFS gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. I am charting it's progress to gather as much data as possible in the event of it's demise.

So far, so good, but it's only been about a week:

[yoh]

Hrmmm, the elegance I saw does not look like the one it the pic above. The one I saw Had brown tentacles, with no color other than brown. All I know is, the one i saw looked a heck of a lot different than that one...I wonder...

[xcreonx]

I've had this new one for a few weeks now.. doing very well. the LFS had it for 3 weeks in QT before selling it. looking good!

[O'Coralman]

I have one as healthy as those pic'd and very similar to those pic'd as well. It has been over a month....still looking good. I have tried something different with this one.....maybe an opinion from you others if possible. I have put is at the bottom where it gets MH and pc light but its not getting blasted with MH. I have placed 2 six" airstones accross the back middle(under the glass brace to control spray in a 150gl tank) that gives a lift ,current wise instead of head on blast. In other words its getting gentlly lifted up . Phs on timers give a cross fire type flow as well. its seems to like this. Also I feed it heavilly just about 2 hours after the moon lights come on....everyother day with a mixture of everything.....like Mr. Bs mixture. I also feed it and other corals in the day. Night feedings are done by shutting down the filter(not phs) for an hour. it share a tank with corals that like lots to eat...not sps. Those are in a seprate 125. It virtually never completelly withdraws into its skeleton.....except slightlly after feeding. The tendralls are cosistant in size most of the time. It also looked outstanding when I purchased it(at an LFS). The body...if you will, does not exhibit the swollen look with short tendralls. It looks more like my torches.....extention wise. We shall see.
Steve

[Chrismo]

Mine has bubble tips, like the dark one in Erics book. Is that a common thing? Besides that one in the book, I've never seen pics of one so bubbley.

I noticed in many pics of the wild ones, there was seagrass growing around it, so I put some chaeto, and some halimedia right next to it in the sand, to give it partial shade. I cant say mine is a very aggresive eater. Maybe I'll try krill. It doesnt seem too excited by flake or frozen mysis.

Chris

[O'Coralman]

Originally posted by Chrismo
Mine has bubble tips, like the dark one in Erics book. Is that a common thing? Besides that one in the book, I've never seen pics of one so bubbley.

I noticed in many pics of the wild ones, there was seagrass growing around it, so I put some chaeto, and some halimedia right next to it in the sand, to give it partial shade. I cant say mine is a very aggresive eater. Maybe I'll try krill. It doesnt seem too excited by flake or frozen mysis.

Chris

Chris...... try feeding it a chum like mixture day and night as I mentioned....it will surprise you. Leave off the sump(no need to feed it) when you can for an hour or so......Steve

[dvmsn]

Its a shame. When I got into the hobby 12 years ago, they were common, hardy and cheap. I had an elegance about 11 years ago in a 30 gal under NO florecents. It lived for several years and took up a fifth of my tank. Unfortunately, it was killed by a pair of cleaner shrimp who would pester its mouth until it expeled zooanthelle (sp?) I could have easily saved it by removing the shrimp but was lazy and kept putting it off (hey, I was in college)

[Cruiznblue]

Just because it is the only elegance in the system, does not mean that it will be healthy. I am sure lots of elegance corals have gone through their system within the past few months, and this disease is easily spread through the water column.

I think you found a healthy one if it is still doing well after a few months.

[yoh]

I bought the one I mentioned in the second post on this forum. I mean, I couldnt pass it up. It has a "cone" shaped base, it is NOT metallicy looking, either. It is just green with neon-ish green around the mouth. It was only $60, too. Really good price for the size of it I thought. It is awesome! I will keep you all updated. The store had it for 2 weeks so far, and the wholesaler had it for a week too. It is just SOOOOO healthy looking! I looked at the base, no receding AT ALL. It is literally in perfect condition. The guy at the LFS said that the place that they get their elegance corals from handles them much better than other places and does not stack them in piles after collection. I think, actuall, and what my LFS said, is that in dicideng if your LFS has a "good" elegance or not is to look at the base. He said that if the base is more of a "cone" shape, you have yourself a good elegance. HOWEVER, if your elegance coral has more of a "back and forth" err, like a wall that twirles around in circles and such, you have yourself a "bad" elegance. He also said that the elegance corals that are Metalic looking DIE, and the brown more plain looking ones LIVE. That is just some info that i have gathered from multiple sources, and I think it holds true. If deciding on a elegance, look above and decide what you should get. (i'm done now...)

[davejnz]

Originally posted by yoh
, and what my LFS said, is that in dicideng if your LFS has a "good" elegance or not is to look at the base. He said that if the base is more of a "cone" shape, you have yourself a good elegance. HOWEVER, if your elegance coral has more of a "back and forth" err, like a wall that twirles around in circles and such, you have yourself a "bad" elegance. He also said that the elegance corals that are Metalic looking DIE, and the brown more plain looking ones LIVE. That is just some info that i have gathered from multiple sources, and I think it holds true. If deciding on a elegance, look above and decide what you should get. (i'm done now...)

LFS are a joke sometimes with the info they give.Elegance corals do have a cone shaped skeleton because they're a free living sp. and it doesn't mean they're more apt to get the disease that is killing them.BTW,both cats i had were cone shaped and ended up getting the disease.It also hasn't been established that the pathogen is water-borne so healthy elegance corals cant become contaminated by LFS tanks.
My belief is that some Catalaphyllia sp. harbor this pathogen when they come in and it takes a critical period before the pathogen causes the symptons.Anyways,good luck with yours,if you can make it past a couple months you should be good to go

[kramgnik]

Yoh,
Feed the elegance really well. Feed it small pieces of meaty foods such as squid or shrimp. These animals have many nematocysts (stinging cells) for a reason, that is to capture food. Keep it on the sand and don't blast it with too much current.
It sounds as if your LFS is feeding you a line of bull, I dont believe there is a difference in the expression of certain pigments and fatalities, it is probably related more to collection sites and holding facilities that specimens collected from certain areas go through and aquire the pathogen.
Good luck

[yoh]

I will just say this...

Neon green and pink elegance = dead elegance

brown with drab green elegance = living elegance

That is basically what I have gathered.....seen...read...etc. Is it a quaeincidence that the ones that live are mostly brown??? IMO, no.

[davejnz]

here's a pic of healthy elegance corals with diseased ones in the same holding tank
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...e/figure27.htm

all those interested in buying an elegance should really read this thread

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=310425

[davejnz]

Originally posted by yoh
I will just say this...

Neon green and pink elegance = dead elegance

brown with drab green elegance = living elegance

That is basically what I have gathered.....seen...read...etc. Is it a quaeincidence that the ones that live are mostly brown??? IMO, no.

both of the corals i sent Eric were green and brown,both started displaying symptoms at around the 4-6wk mark

[squidlips02]

Here is a pic of mine I have had it about six weeks now and it looks beter than when I bought it





Here is another pic so you can get a better idea of the size.




This is in a deep tank its 3feet deep and i have it close to the bottom, I dont specifically feed, it what I do is feed the fish over it (brine shrimp) what the fish dont get the Jadinei helps its self too, down under these are some of the easier corals to keep so I'm led to believe.
Steve

[kramgnik]

Squidlips,
Keep us posted on how your elegance progresses. Do elegances have a better survival rate in Australia? I thought they probably pass through less holding facilities and have less of a chance of aquiring the pathogenic organism.

[squidlips02]

We grow em, out here in the bay, and all up along the Queensland coast about 1000 miles of it, this one I have right now is small, a few years ago i had one 3x the size of this guy, but I got out of Marine fish for a while so I sold it and all my stuff, but I'm back again, with a vengence.
To answer you'r Q yer sure I can keep you up to date on it, no problem, the ones we get here are all very healthy and hardy, maybe you guys should import you'r Eligance from Oz.

[yoh]

what I find amazing is their ability to inflate up so big I mean, when i got mine, it rapidly deflated to a small skeleton when put into its bag! I thought it would not fit, but it did, because it deflated so much!

[squidlips02]

When my M/H come on I will see if I can get a better photo for ya's, ok.

[davejnz]

That sure would ne nice to get some from Australia,wont be happening anytime soon with collection bans.I dont think this condition has ever been documented with wild elegance.I really would like to have one,just not going to buy one until they figure out whats killing them.

[squidlips02]

Ok my M/H have been on for about half an hour, so its not completly open yet, but I got a few shots so you can see the size of the exoskeleton and get an idea of the colouration, its tips are realy purple


















I'm not a great photographer, but you get the general idea.
Steve

[yoh]

whats that big metal looking thing with the hole...???

And, the base of my elegance looks exactly like the base of squidlips02...