Elegance coral

[akhuneteru]

Does anyone have an elegance coral? How hard are they to care for and what level of experience should you have? Thanks.

 

[mrdc]

IMO they are hard to keep and I have never had one. I've read that they are hard to keep, big time eaters and are aggressive. I have seen some very nice ones in the LFS store only to die very quickly. I compare that to all the other corals the LFS store gets with the same order which seem to do well up to purchase.

 

[fedukeford]

you should be highly experianced, they have a VERY low survivial rate

 

[dogstar]

I dont think it matters how experianced you are. They just dont survive long term in captivity ANYMORE. Used to. No one knows why.

 

[viper_930]

Elegance corals do best in a shaded muddy lagoon-type environment. Our clean, clear, and bright tanks are just not the right place for them.

 

[ophiura]

Experience is not necessarily key in keeping them...there appears to be a disease that is causing the most trouble.

 

[laddy]

No prettier coral in my opinion, but as stated above, not a good candidate for our tanks.
Maybe someday that Borneman guy will save the day and figure a way to keep healty this species.

 

[alyssia]

I'm glad I read this. I was just looking at an elagance coral.

 

[mrdc]

Yea, it's toob bad these corals seem doomed to die yet the LFS are still selling them. Anything for a buck! They should only let people special order them and that is after informing them of the low survival rate.

 

[akhuneteru]

Wow, Thanks! It is a good thing I asked. Another place said it was moderate and for beginner through expert. I think I will try something else. Does anyone recommend something that looks similar, but more hardy? What about tooth or torch coral?

 

[ophiura]

At one point in time, these corals were moderate level of care. But not anymore...very few people have success because whatever infection they get seems to be highly contagious, and the handling of specimens effectively promotes the spread.
As for other suggested corals, I would ask more about your tank parameters -
Age, filtration, inhabitants, water parameters.

 

[akhuneteru]

I have a 55 gallon with live rock. My tank is only 7 months old. I have a coral beauty (doesn't bother the corals), 2 blue reef chromis, 1 long fin fairy wrasse, 2 percula clowns, 2 shrimp (got rid of my peppermint ) a scarlet and blood, several crabs (mithrax, boxing, marshall island electric, a couple fan worms, many hermits and snails, 1 fromia star, 1 sand sifting star, 1 serpent. I have some other critters that came from live rock, a baby longspinned sea urchin (so cute), a baby brittle star, some clams that look like mussels, some little clear bug looking things, and I saw what looked like a mix between a shrimp and one of those clear bug things it was really fast and didn't like the light (have no idea what that was). Ph is 8.2, everything else is at 0ppm and I am not sure what my calcium is right now, out of that test kit and need to go get more. I have VHO compacts. My only experience in coral so far is star polyps, a pipe organ, mushrooms and zoos. I thought I would try something a little harder. All my coral have been doing fine and my zoos and stars are multiplying.

 

[ophiura]

Well, for the LPS corals, there are several that I consider pretty tough and good. Candy corals are a favorite of mine, as are frogspawn (and relatives - torch, hammer, anchor). I have a scolymia that has been relatively hardy as well as a bubble coral.
How much lighting total do you have, BTW?

 

[akhuneteru]

192 watts (2-96 watts) Actinic and 10,000K

 

[akhuneteru]

Oh, sorry forgot to tell you about the filtration. I have a canistar filter and protein skimmer, both good for up to 100 gallons.