opinions on elegance coral

[zemuron114]

I have heard mixed feelings with elegance coral, from they are very easy to one of the hardest to get to live past a few months and thrive. Has anyone had any experience with these?? All the online vendors say they are very easy... Thanks !!!

[Lyzann]

Don't believe it! I had 2 of them & both died (shriveled right off the skeleton) within 2 weeks. I have even seen them start detiorating in the LFS.

[Puffers]

Check out the thread in the Responsible Reekeeping fourm. (I don't know how to link the thread to here). I've had one and it died within 1 month. Not sure if I wasn't feeding it what it liked or something else.

[sulp]

Funny thing is that a few years back Elegance Corals were considered very easy and usually thrived. In past years they have become very difficult and the exact reason is unknown. With todays filter and skimmer technology could we be removing something that the Elegance needed to survive? Or could it be some sort of additive or elements found in new brands of salt causing them to die? As far as I know.....No one knows....Yet.

[zemuron114]

they are such beautiful corals. its a shame they do poorly now. I read that it might be because they are collecting them from deeper waters now, and light isn't an issue anymore, and there is less nutrients in out tanks then where they are located. hmmmm...

[fishinchick]

Originally posted by sulp
Or could it be some sort of additive or elements found in new brands of salt causing them to die? As far as I know.....No one knows....Yet.

AFAIK people with NSW tanks experience the same problems from what I've seen.

[Drewpy]

Not to jinx myself... But i had one for three months that is always perky anf bubbly when the lights go on... I have had my fingers crossed the whole time i guess... There is also one in a local LFS around here that has been there for quite some time...

[dj synystr]

mine lasted for about 6 months then slow death.

[Puffers]

Funny thing is that a few years back Elegance Corals were considered very easy and usually thrived. In past years they have become very difficult and the exact reason is unknown.

I hope that this is NOT a trend for the corals, animals and such we can easily keep now.

In regards to the elegance I know some people may think, again think it might be some sort of bacterial issue. I myself was wondering what it might be considering they were doing well years ago. The only thing I've come up with is perhaps years ago the local divers did not use gloves when grabbing the coral. Perhaps there is some "secret" that the "old timers" did/do that would result in a healthy coral. Maybe there is some material they are allergic to that we are using now and don’t even know it. This might help explain why some people can have success and others don't.

[rtc_reefer]

Mine seems to be doing fine, even through the transfer from my 46 to the 120! It definitely likes the MH lights. It began to die when I did a dumb thing and put a lemonpeel angel in with it.

It is the most striking coral in the tank right now. It expands to about 6 - 8 inches wide with purple tips. I do not intentionally feed it. It gets the drifting food once in a while. So my experience is positive.

[swclown]

I had one for about three years and he did very well in poor water at the time. That was about 10 years ago though. I really want another, but have been leary because of the new "trend" of them not last very long.

[clavery]

Someone posted a few months back that they were having better luck with "white tipped" elegance corals than the "colored tipped" elegance corals. I had one of the purple-tipped ones, and it died within a month of purchase.

Cheryl

[Puffers]

Refresh my memory what are they supposed to eat, size, type, duration etc.

I had one for about three years and he did very well in poor water at the time.

Poor as in water levels or nutrient rich?

[Gisho]

Originally posted by sulp
Funny thing is that a few years back Elegance Corals were considered very easy and usually thrived. In past years they have become very difficult and the exact reason is unknown. With todays filter and skimmer technology could we be removing something that the Elegance needed to survive? Or could it be some sort of additive or elements found in new brands of salt causing them to die? As far as I know.....No one knows....Yet.

I agree with Zemuron's response. I can't remember the source, I believe it was wetwebmedia.com (Fenner, et al), that said it was because they were being collected from deeper waters and that they were therefore less capable of adapting to aquarium life.

I have had two in the past, one in my 46 gallon (which lasted several months before slowly shriveling up/receeding and dying)
and one in my 260 gallon (which lasted only a month). From what I have read about them, generally they have dismal survival rates and need a specialized tank to thrive; one with large beds of sea grass/macro algae, low water flow (in other words, do NOT point a powerhead right at them), and low light intensity. I believe they have a lagoonal tank such as this at the Waikiki aquarium where they successfully house elegance corals.

Beautiful coral, but one best left in the wild or in the hands of experts.

[swclown]

Originally posted by Puffers
Refresh my memory what are they supposed to eat, size, type, duration etc.



Poor as in water levels or nutrient rich?

Mostly nutrient and bad tap water.
Back then I didn't know much at water chemistry beyond the intitial nitro cycle. I didn't use RO water. My tap has a HEAVY concentration of metals as well as some phosphates which I knew about, but solutions were very limited at that time.
I had so much hair algae at times, it looked like I was intentionally growing it

[Puffers]

I know the feeling, still growing it...

[Mook]

I've had my elegance for 2 years now and has thrived. was 5cm when purchased now 40ish cm. I work for a LFS which has sold 20 with all doing well and thriveing from all reports. I've heard of no problems with australian elegances in general. maybe we (australians) are still collecting from shallow waters.

[swclown]

Originally posted by Puffers
I know the feeling, still growing it...

LOL

hang in there.