Elegance placement

[BigJPDC]

Hello - I currently have my elegance on the sand and am wondering if it should be placed higher in the tank for more lighting. It closes up after a few hours of actinic only and then completely overnight. I run 4x39 T5 with SLRs, 2 11K AB and 2 A+.

Here are a couple of pictures as it is now. I don't know enough about this particular coral to know if it should be higher, or if more lighting would be bad for it.




thank you!
jp

[pink_floyd]

very nice specimen.. i believe they like intense lighting but i could be wrong.. i never have luck with them though... i heard they are extremely hard to keep..

[BigJPDC]

thank you pink, I watched this one in the LFS fora weeks before making the plunge, and it opened up twice as big in my tank.

I've read that they need light and also that they should remain on the sand, so I don't want to move it up to injure it in the process. Hoping to hear from some LPS pros out here.

jp

[Grand Wizard]

Hi Bigjpdc yours will be fine on the substrate it will feel more at home there, as they belong on sand beds amongst reeds etc.
Iam in the uk and they have been on cites for years, but there now trickling into the uk, these have been mari cultured and hope you agree are stunning.
Mine is on the bottom of a bare bottom tank and every few days i just blow the rocks round him as a bit of detritus will make them feel at home

[BigJPDC]

Nice wizard! I saw your post before but RC was crashing when I tried to reply. It indeed looks like we have a similar elegance, yours being much bigger.

I thought I was crazy when I shut off my skimmer while doing some modding and it looked like it got bigger, I'll try the rock blowing thing.

I have mine places outside my flow pattern, in a place where food will settle during regular feeding - would you recommend more flow, direct flow? One piece of it is exposed to flow and while it can't catch the food zipping by, those 'arms' are the longest.

thank you,
jp

[Hormigaquatica]

I would keep it on the sand for sure; if it is on rockwork, it may tear its own tissue as it tries to expand which is often a death sentence for these animals. Youre light at the bottom of a 65 is likely a bit dim compared to what I normally recommend, but there are C.jardinei collected in deeper waters, so it may be able to adapt. Keep it well fed; every couple days try to target feed with small meaty bits- mysis, shredded fish, etc. They will accept larger pieces of food (like, silverside sized) but generally have a difficult time digesting it and end up leaving a lot of waste. Small meals regularly will serve you better than large once once in a while.
Elegance have become rather difficult animals to keep alive over the last few years, for reasons noone is really sure of yet. They can do well for several months, and then start to die off. Keep a close eye on it, and keep your tank in good shape and hopefully yours will be one of the successes...

Check out THIS thread if you like.

[redFishblue]

I read somewhere that the elegances coming in now are collected from deeper water and they don't do too well under very bright lighting. But that could be just conjecture.

[redFishblue]

I read somewhere that the elegances coming in now are collected from deeper water and they don't do too well under very bright lighting. But that could be just conjecture.

[Grand Wizard]

I thought I was crazy when I shut off my skimmer while doing some modding and it looked like it got bigger, I'll try the rock blowing thing.

I have mine places outside my flow pattern, in a place where food will settle during regular feeding - would you recommend more flow, direct flow? One piece of it is exposed to flow and while it can't catch the food zipping by, those 'arms' are the longest.

thank you,
jp [/B]

Mine just gets a bit of flow enough so his tentacles get a nice turbulence backwards and forwards i feed him bits of mussel cockle quite small so he can digest it easily, in my oppinion they appreciate good mature tanks but seem to appreciate small regular water changes, and i only skim when the lights are out

[spsgtr]

you can surely move it up higher just be aware of its spread because it'll win the battle against many other corals