Help with elegance coral

[TexAgReefer]

I've had this coral for about 6 weeks now. The first month it was absolutely great, always fully open and extended. Just over the last week it hasn't been doing so well and hasn't extended in about 4-5 days. I haven't made any changes other than my normal weekly water change. All basic parms are good other calcium being a little high at ~490 but it's been there or a while. I'm even seeing growth in some of my sps pieces. Any ideas or anything I can do other than hope for the best? I know these aren't the easiest of corals, but it's been doing so well prior. Even my newly acquired RBTA is doing great(they're nowhere near each other).

 

[Guest]

What's your alk at? Is it an Aussie or indo elegance?


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[TexAgReefer]

@kuyatwo wrote:

I believe it's an Aussie. Alk is at 9.0, mag at 1300 and cal at 490; nitrates <.2, ph 8.3, salinity 1.025

 

[JBsmurf]

I hope it pulls through. I ve heard these are called rent-a-corals because they are hard to keep in captivity

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[TexAgReefer]

@JBsmurf wrote:

You and me both! It has been so beautiful and my favorite coral. I know there's so much more going on within the tank than the few things we test for so it's frustrating when everything seems normal and I don't know of anything that has changed from when it was doing fantastic to today. But I hope it settles back in. I'll keep holding out hope until it's gone. :-/

 

[Mike M]

I've had good luck with my elegance but I did pick it up from another club member who had it for a couple of years before I got it from him.

 

[blueseatex]

The elegance is by far my favorite Lps coral. I am not claiming to be an expert on the elegance. I just am sharing my experience with them. I have an Aussie elegance that has been thriving for almost 6 years. The Aussie elegance seem to adapt alot better to a captive environment than the indo do. I'm hoping its not to late in the game sense it's not opening but feeding the elegance I think is a must. Mine gets a mixture of rods food twice a week. They are super aggressive corals and will devour anything. I have to replace my cleanup crew every three or four months because he will snatch them up digest the snails and spit the shell out. I have also noticed mine like alot more flow than most Lps. Not direct flow, but random. Lighting seems to be where the Aussie proves to adapt better to all types of lighting. Mine has always been under LEDs in the 200 to 250 par range. Kuyatwo mentioned alk and that plays a huge roll in any coral. Ime any fluctuations in alk will affect softies, Lps and sps negatively. A stable tank is the best medicine for any reef aquarium. I would see if you can get it to accept food. Start off with small amounts of food 1 time a week to see if there is any improvement. Then gradually increase the the amount of food over the next few weeks. Hopefully it will pull through. Good luck. Keep us up to date.

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[TexAgReefer]

@blueseatex wrote:

Thank you and I hope it comes through as well. I've never fed it before so do you have any tips on how to feed it? You mentioned rods food. Is it a frozen food or flake food? Do you just aim at it with a baster or are you placing it directly over the mouth?

It's funny you mention it eating your snails. I've seen several empty shells near it, but never imagined it would be the culprit. That's very interesting.

 

[blueseatex]

Yes frozen. I use rods food because it has a great mixture and is high in proteins. I thaw it out and use a turkey baster and squirt it on his tentacles while the pumps are off. It only takes a few minutes to funnel all the food to his mouths. A healthy elegance will have very sticky tentacles.

 

[randallftan]

I've bought about 20 elegance corals and have only managed to keep 2 alive. Both now going on 2 years. Like u described they look great for the first 6 weeks then they go to crap. The ones that died were the indo ones. Be it they are much brighter and look better, they don't last very long. Still are my fav coral


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[Guest]

They only elegance I can keep are the ones that are green with purple tips. The ones with pink tips I have never had success with


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[Ben]

@Mike wrote:

And I got that same elegance from Mike almost a year ago and it's doing very well still. So I guess it's been in captivity 3+ years. It's one of my favorite corals.