Elegance Coral being eaten by my Scarlets?

wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
Everyday I remove 2 to 3 Scarlets from my Elegance Coral for the past 4 days. Are they eating my elegance or cleaning it? Everything else in my tank is fine...... But my Elegance has been looking good since the Scarlet crabs have been hanging around him. I tried moving it from low in my DSB and high to my upper LR work. But they just seem to find their way back to the Elegance Coral. Should I be worried or let it ride?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
let it ride. Most crabs just pick at things and clean things. Though, if it has some dying tissue, they are eating the matter, which can also be a good thing.
Elegance corals, (you should have or have gotten an aussie) need rather dirty water because they are shore corals that live in those conditions.
Anyways, if you need any other help, feel free to PM me.
 
wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
This is my 1st one so I'm not sure... Since I have been leaving it alone the scarlets are still picking on part of him. He has been fully open in like 3 days now....
 
sula

sula

Member
Elegance corals are not for the faint of heart. They used to be considered easy to keep, but over time more and more people were finding them delicate and not living long after purchase. There have been lots of theories for this, ranging from changes in reefkeeping (more skimming making the water "too clean" ) to changes in collection methods to pathogens contaminating the holding tanks kept by importers.
Since importing from Australia has begun, elegance corals from that region seem to once again be the hardy coral reefers were used to.
The consensus seems to be that you can buy an elegance collected in Indonesia and expect about a 5% chance of survival, or get an Aussie with a 90% chance. You pay more for the Australian one, but the difference in survival expectations makes it worthwhile for most.
wwf, can you post a picture of your elegance?
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
I had a Indo and it did well for about a month.Then it started swelling ,followed by beginning to form mucus.Shortly after that it disintegrated.Elegance are as said "Not for the faint of heart"I tried keeping mine the shade,low flow,in sand bed......
RIP
 
wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
Sry I cannt do pics. No camera. I do skimm alot and have a small amount of corals. I might try to have my skimmer on a timer and see what happens. Maybe letting it skimm for like 8 hrs of the day rather then on 100% of the time. And my elegance looks nothing liek the one above. It is more yellow with little green lines in it. Kinda opens (when it is open) more of a mushroom look.
 
sula

sula

Member
wwf, everyone has a different opinion on this so I am not in the least implying that I am an authority, but I personally do not think your skimming will make any difference. Most people who successfully keep an elegance feed it meaty foods on a regular basis. Does yours take food? Something like mysis maybe? Were you trying to say earlier that it has not opened in 3 days, or that is has? Does it expand and extend its tentacles? - Like the rather large one pictured here?
 
wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
Yes it looks really close to that one when open. And yes it hasn't been that opnen in like 3 days. I figured because the Scarlets are right on the edge. Kinda looks like they are eating part of him or something. I have been feeding mine Brine Shrimp. I asked the lfs what they have been feeding em and he gave me a small package of the brine. I'm trying to feed every day. But not sure how much he/she is taking since its not fully open. I beleive it is dying tho. After takeing a closer look it doesn't look right I guess. I figured that I'll ride it out and see what happens.
 
gohabsgo

gohabsgo

Member
Mine did the same thing!He was nip by my lemonpeel angelfish,so i had to put it in my new 82 gal that was only 6 weeks old!!After a couple of days he came around !!He seem he just needed peace !!I hope yours get better!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top