Elegance Coral

[dirk_brijs]

have been trying to put some Elegance Coral now twice as it looks real great when it works but for some reason it doesnt seem to work The first time I put it in some heavy current area so it let go of it skeleton dying now I placed a new piece inan area with much less current but it still seem to be letting go if its skeleton so what is going on?
can someone tell me how to make a Elegance Coral extremly happy
thanks

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by dirk_brijs
http:///forum/post/3191213
can someone tell me how to make a Elegance Coral extremly happy
thanks
By leaving it in the wild! J/K (partially)
They're not easy corals. The hardiest are Aussie Elegance Corals, but with them comes price. They're one of the few corals that I've noticed need to be acclimated over a few hours and once added to the tank, need the lights and power heads kept at a minimum for a little bit (try to add the coral at night and keep the power heads and lights off 'til morning). They prefer low-medium intermittent flow and indirect light. They really do best when fed at least every other day with little mysis, food for filter feeders or baby brine shrimp. If they're not getting enough food and calcium, they'll pull away from their skeleton and wither away. I should also mention that their skeleton is rather fragile, which is deceiving to the eye, and if it's not bagged properly during shipping (to the LFS, or from LFS to house) or it's handled to roughly, it will also perish. Unless you can be positive that it's an "Aussie Elegance," don't waste the money. Also, they prefer soft sand to rock work, so if you've been placing it in your rock work, you may have been damaging, or irritating the skeleton.
If you do decide to get one again, best of luck with it

 

[dirk_brijs]

They have been placed in the sand now yes as I found out they dont need too much light so they are downinthe sand and without any direct flow now.
As for the transport the problem is when bought in Bangkok they just bag it so I guess that might have cause some serious damage allready?
Alsowould be advisable to go to the shops there maybe with a sort of cool box with a sand bed of my tank and get the shop to place the Elagance in it and fill the cool box with his water and get it home like that?
Dont know if it is Australian or not though?
I tried a few small ones but eventualy I want to go for a realbig one one day?
any more advise or know how sharing?
Thanks

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by dirk_brijs
http:///forum/post/3191320
They have been placed in the sand now yes as I found out they dont need too much light so they are downinthe sand and without any direct flow now.
As for the transport the problem is when bought in Bangkok they just bag it so I guess that might have cause some serious damage allready?
Alsowould be advisable to go to the shops there maybe with a sort of cool box with a sand bed of my tank and get the shop to place the Elagance in it and fill the cool box with his water and get it home like that?
Dont know if it is Australian or not though?
I tried a few small ones but eventualy I want to go for a realbig one one day?
any more advise or know how sharing?
Thanks

How long did you have your Elegance up higher in the rock work?
The shipping is the hard part to really know about. It sounds like yours is NOT an Aussie.
The smaller elegance corals are more difficult to care for since their skeleton is young and not as strong (not that any of them are really all that strong). Usually with more delicate corals (Fox, Bubble, Goniopora, Elegance, etc) I bring a Tupperware container and ask the LFS to place my coral in that instead of a normal bag. I try to keep a couple containers in my car since I basically live at the LFS's in my area (I have many within 30 mins of my house, it's dangerous). The most damage to coral happens while trying to place them in the bag, especially one that is to small for them, or if you get someone working at the store who doesn't know what they're doing and is just there for a paycheck.
Have you tried feeding yours at all? If so, what? Did it accept it?
Also, you don't have a fish that trying to host or perch on it do you? Clowns are notorious for substituting them for anemones and most times the coral can't handle it. I have a blenny that likes to perch on them and even that makes it mad.
As for it being an "Aussie" Elegance, most LFS's usually advertise it as such if it truly is one. There's still a chance it's not, but that depends on how much you trust the store you're dealing with. A true Aussie will demand a higher price. On many online sites including the "drs", you'll fine regular Elegance under their normal corals (price range of $60-$90) and the Aussie will be under the Eye It and Buy It or What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) sections with a much higher price tag ($130+ for the same size piece as the $60-90 regular).