Elegance Coral theory

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by dla2000
Here's the pic.

I think it was just expelling its waste. What do you think.

It's hard to tell, but given the amount of food you gave it I wouldn't be surprised if it was just waste. They can withdraw quite a bit when they expel waste, so hopefully this is what it was doing. I would still drop the lights some more. I would bring them down at least half way and see how it reacts. We can be pretty confident that it's not receiving to much light at this time. If it was discharging algae it would most likely be caused by not enough light. It looks pretty good in the last pic you posted .

[dla2000]

Ok. I lowered the lights some more.



The next I will put the legs back on the light fixture and put it on top of the tank.

[elegance coral]

This is a video of my aquarium. On the right side you will see a very swollen Elegance with it's tentacles withdrawn. Right next to this coral is a larger very healthy Elegance showing no signs of this condition. The coral front and center looked like the one on the right at one point. Most of these corals are healing from the Elegance coral problem. The one in the back, where I tried to zoom in, was ill to the point that an infection set in. You can see the portion of the skeleton where the infection killed the polyp. This took place in this aquarium with the other Elegance corals. It is healing nicely now. I zoomed in on the bleached Elegance trying to show that the algae and the photosynthetic pigments are coming back. It doesn't show up very well on the video though. Most of these corals have been very ill in this tank with the other corals. I have added these sick corals over a long period of time. Outside of the three I bought at once, these corals have been added one at a time. There are 10 all together in this 29gl tank. I have never had a swollen Elegance cause the other corals to begin swelling. This is not the environment that would lead me to believe there is a highly contagious species specific pathogen at work. None of these corals have or will become ill because the swollen Elegance is in the tank.


http://sharkle.com/video/137873/

[John Kelly]

Great video Darrell! Your research is coming along nicely. Working out a solid theory and creating a good portfolio of time-based evidence makes it REAL HARD to argue against.

.....We'll eventually see who the "Joe Plumber" is. (inside joke)

[Mental1]

Hi Darrell -- I enjoyed looking at your video. Thank you so much for posting it! Mine is still looking good but I am not confident about whether or not it is eating. Several times a week I cut up small pices of krill and get it caught in the tentacles but then it seems as if I see the pieces walking away in the claws of a hermit. I have not seen it expel waste since the time it did it because it was unhappy. It also gets some food when I feed the fish as it is right under where I put the food in. When they are starving -- do they do the same thing? Withdraw and get short tentacles? It looks happy most of the day but as you mentioned -- towards the end of the day it starts to expand and the tentacles get short. I added the actinics for an extra hour and it was not happy with me! The actinics are on for 10 hours now and full light is only on for 4. The lights are still 6 inches above the tank, it's 24 inches deep and it is on the sand bed. I just hope that I am doing a good job!

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by Mental1
Hi Darrell -- I enjoyed looking at your video. Thank you so much for posting it! Mine is still looking good but I am not confident about whether or not it is eating. Several times a week I cut up small pices of krill and get it caught in the tentacles but then it seems as if I see the pieces walking away in the claws of a hermit. I have not seen it expel waste since the time it did it because it was unhappy. It also gets some food when I feed the fish as it is right under where I put the food in. When they are starving -- do they do the same thing? Withdraw and get short tentacles? It looks happy most of the day but as you mentioned -- towards the end of the day it starts to expand and the tentacles get short. I added the actinics for an extra hour and it was not happy with me! The actinics are on for 10 hours now and full light is only on for 4. The lights are still 6 inches above the tank, it's 24 inches deep and it is on the sand bed. I just hope that I am doing a good job!

Crabs are evil ! All my hermit crabs have been evicted and sent to the refuge/purgatory. They will steal food from your Elegance every chance they get. You will most likely continue to have this problem until they are separated. I'm not sure if you have seen this or not, but this is a video of me feeding my Elegance. Maybe it will help. A little wiggle of the food in the tentacles usually helps.

http://www.sharkle.com/video/132056/

Your coral isn't swelling after the reduction in photo period is it? You are doing a good job. The coral seemed to have improved after you moved it, and you are doing all that can be expected to provide it with a good home.

[Mental1]

It seems to be adjusting to the light -- the full lights are only on for four hours versus five but the actinics are on for 10 versus 9. It still looks a bit unhappy at the end of the day but hopefully it will adjust. Maybe if I push the food down closer to the mouths the crabs won't get it! Thanks for the reassurance -- I need it! What are the signs to look for if it is not getting enough food?

[elegance coral]

Maybe if you gave the crabs some food before feeding the Elegance it would give your coral time to feed. I would simply remove the crabs. Can you post a pic of the Elegance at the end of the day when it is unhappy? Healthy Elegance corals will begin to withdraw somewhat at the end of the day. This is normal. They will remain this way until the lights come back on in the morning. If it is swelling at the end of the day, then it is getting to much light.

[Mental1]

That's what I did yesterday -- gave them food but it takes the Elegance so long to get the food down to its mouth that the crabs ate what I gave them and then robbed the Elegance! I will post a picture later today when I get home ...

[dla2000]

My elegance coral is looking not so good, should I bring the lights back up?

Here's a pic of the elegance coral at about 3 am this morning


Here's a pic of the elgance coral at 12 noon


It's not swelling up I don't think and no brown stuff are coming out of it's mouths. I read somewhere that they go thru phases, is this one of them?

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by Mental1
That's what I did yesterday -- gave them food but it takes the Elegance so long to get the food down to its mouth that the crabs ate what I gave them and then robbed the Elegance! I will post a picture later today when I get home ...

How about a little cage, like a strawberry basket to protect it during feeding?

[John Kelly]

If your coral is anywhere near as brown as it looks, that reaction has got to be caused from recently moving yours lights closer. The same retraction reaction from an increase in light also occurs in several species of Goniopora. That just shows an example of how sensitive Elegance is to light.

Originally posted by dla2000

[dla2000]

Well, the lights going back up just a little lower than were it was from the start.

[Mental1]

Gresham -- I was thinking about something like that. I cut the bottom out of a big rubbermaid container that might work -- might be too big though. I will find something.

[Mental1]

Hi Darell -- here's a picture today -- it doesn't look too bad!

[Mental1]

Hi Darell -- here's a picture today -- it doesn't look too bad!

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by dla2000
My elegance coral is looking not so good, should I bring the lights back up?

Here's a pic of the elegance coral at about 3 am this morning


Here's a pic of the elgance coral at 12 noon


It's not swelling up I don't think and no brown stuff are coming out of it's mouths. I read somewhere that they go thru phases, is this one of them?

It's hard to tell much about an Elegance corals health at night. They all withdraw at night, so the 3am pic is not surprising. It is a new coral to captivity so we can safely assume that its health is not at it's best. The 12 noon pic shows that the coral is in a little trouble. This is where your adjustable lights may come in handy. It's all about trial and error. At first it seemed as though it was not getting enough light. Then you moved them down and it seems as though it was getting to much light. Finding the proper placement between these two points is the hard part. When I get a new coral to my tank, I normally have to move it several times before I find a spot where the light is just right. John is right again, about the color of your coral. If the pic is a good representation of it's true color, it will be easy to provide to much light. It has a huge population of algae in it's tissues. That much algae could oxidize the cell walls of the coral in no time.

I can't help but notice what appears to be a diatom bloom on the sand. How's your water quality? I have to ask, was the tank cycled before you put the Elegance in? Are you using tap water for your tank? Contrary to popular belief, Elegance corals do not like poor water quality. The first thing I would do is vacuum the sand bed and change some water, after moving the lights back up a little. I have been known to get a little lazy or to busy to change my water like I should. When this happens my Elegance corals are always the first ones in the tank to let me know they are unhappy. After I change some water they lose the attitude.

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by Mental1
Hi Darell -- here's a picture today -- it doesn't look too bad!

You're so proud of your Elegance you had to post it twice! Seriously though, you should be proud. That coral looks very good. If you can get those crabs under control that coral is going to be a monster. Good job!

[Charles Ward]

I was wanting to go from 10k 250 watt MH to 14k 400 MH. I figured the elagance would like the blue tint of the 14K but I am worried that the 2 400 watt bulbs may be to bright. Any ideas about how I should go about this?

[dla2000]

My tank's

pH = 8.0 in the morning

Salinity = 1.023 SG (stable)

Alkalinity =9 dkh

Calcium = 400 ppm

Nitrate, Phosphate, Nitrite and Ammonia = 0 mg/l

Temp = 76-77

That's not diatom on the sand, don't really know what it is.

I was only doing 1 gallon water changes. I just did 2.5 gallon water change today and got most of that stuff off the sand.

The color of the elegance is that brown.

No tap water

[Mental1]

Darell -- I was so impatient to load it up for you to look at I hit the send button multiple times! I know it is going to be huge but my tank doesn't have the room. I have been contemplating putting a big fuge and sump in the basement but need to find the money. I also just resuced and yellow finger gorg from horrendous conditions in a LPS that should probably be in a low light fuge too. It has not extended yet -- I got the tank temp down but it spiked back up when the weather changed yet again and I have not been able to get it down again. Then, I will just have snails in the fuge --- no crabs! Those are my plans...

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by Charles Ward
I was wanting to go from 10k 250 watt MH to 14k 400 MH. I figured the elagance would like the blue tint of the 14K but I am worried that the 2 400 watt bulbs may be to bright. Any ideas about how I should go about this?

If your Elegance is still doing well after several months under your lights, I believe it will do fine with the lighting change. I believe that only a shallow water Elegance could survive for long under the lights you have. These corals can adapt to a wide range of light. I would change out one of the lights and see how your animals react. After a week or two, if all is well, I would change the other light. This way the change would not be as sudden and drastic as changing them all at once. Good luck, and let us know how it goes if you do this.

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by dla2000
My tank's

pH = 8.0 in the morning

Salinity = 1.023 SG (stable)

Alkalinity =9 dkh

Calcium = 400 ppm

Nitrate, Phosphate, Nitrite and Ammonia = 0 mg/l

Temp = 76-77

That's not diatom on the sand, don't really know what it is.

I was only doing 1 gallon water changes. I just did 2.5 gallon water change today and got most of that stuff off the sand.

The color of the elegance is that brown.

No tap water

I'm sorry for asking. I just wanted to rule out other possibilities for the corals stress. I believe that once you get the lights in the right spot this coral will be fine. Good job.

[hobogato]

great thread - like many, i tried a couple of elegance corals long ago and when they died (because i followed the advice in those old coral books) i decided not to try again. recently, after some discussion with other locals, i decided to try again and basically did what you suggest (even tho i hadnt found this thread yet) the smaller one has been in my tank for about 6 months. it is in my 240 mixed reef (sps dominant) in an area of low flow and low light (for the tank). it has doubled in size since getting it. the larger one, i just got yesterday, but it already seems very happy. i think it was getting too much light at the lfs, but hopefully it wasnt drastic enough to cause damage that the coral cant overcome.

before you comment on the cyano, let me say that my system went thru a mini cycle a while back because of rearranging some rock work, and the cyano is now on the decline.

[dla2000]

How long does it takes the elegance coral to go back to normal.

If it was a light issue.