Elegance Coral husbandry advice...considering purchase

[Salty O'Shen]

Okay, so my LFS has an elegance coral that is about 7" across with 6-7 large polyps...my price $28...it looks very healthy, it's on hold for 24 hours for me while i look into whether or not i have a high enough level of comfort with being able to keep it successfully....my tank: 55g, 4 x 54w T5(2 -12k & 2 actinic), 20g sump/refuge, coralife 220 needlewheel skimmer, approx 2700 gph flow with areas of high flow and low flow along the bottom...

NO4, NI, 'trate, PO4 all undectectable
Ca: 420-440
Mg: 1350
PH: 8.1
dKH: 10
Temp: 81-82.5F in summer, 80-81F in winter
Sg: 1.0235

Livestock:
2 ocellaris (pair)
Orchid Dottyback
Banggai Cardinal
Green Mandarin
Yellowtail Damsel
Tomini Tang
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Large Brittle Star
Long Spine Urchin
Nassarius, Turbo & Astrea Snails
Condylactis
Carpet Anemone
Several Blue-legged and Scarlet Hermits
2 Emerald Crabs
Lettuce Sea Slug


my questions are:

1) Is the lighting right?

2) How do I target feed an elegance? Is a syringe with brine like i do for my zoos proper way to do it? Other suggestions?

3) Are the tank params good for the coral?

4) Am I missing any params I should consider prior to purchase?

5) Any livestock conflicts with the elegance anyone sees?

This is one of my "5 Musts" for my tank so if I don't have what it takes now, I'm needing advice to bring my tank into line to add one someday...

Much love to all the family on TRT getting my tank to this point, you all have saved me tons of disappointment and money...

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by Salty O'Shen

Okay, so my LFS has an elegance coral that is about 7" across with 6-7 large polyps...my price $28...it looks very healthy, it's on hold for 24 hours for me while i look into whether or not i have a high enough level of comfort with being able to keep it successfully....my tank: 55g, 4 x 54w T5(2 -12k & 2 actinic), 20g sump/refuge, coralife 220 needlewheel skimmer, approx 2700 gph flow with areas of high flow and low flow along the bottom...
The Elegance at your LFS is most likely from Indonesia. I would pass of that one. Look for one from Australia. Trust me, there is a huge difference.
NO4, NI, 'trate, PO4 all undectectable
Ca: 420-440
Mg: 1350
PH: 8.1
dKH: 10
Temp: 81-82.5F in summer, 80-81F in winter
Sg: 1.0235

Livestock:
2 ocellaris (pair) I've never been able to keep an ocellaris out of an Elegance if they're in the same tank. There are a few exceptions, but this relationship usually doesn't turn out well for the Elegance.
Orchid Dottyback
Banggai Cardinal
Green Mandarin
Yellowtail Damsel
Tomini Tang Tangs will feed on the remains of Elegance coral meals. In time they may associate the Elegance with a food sourse. Once this happens, the Tang may begin pecking at the coral causing it to withdraw and creating little white bit wounds on the coral.
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Shrimp can also associate Elegance corals with a food sourse. This too can cause problems for the coral.
Large Brittle Star
Long Spine Urchin
Nassarius, Turbo & Astrea Snails
Condylactis
Carpet Anemone
Several Blue-legged and Scarlet Hermits
2 Emerald Crabs
Lettuce Sea Slug


my questions are:

1) Is the lighting right? I'm not a T5 person, so hopefully someone else can chime in. I keep all my Elegance under MH.

2) How do I target feed an elegance? Is a syringe with brine like i do for my zoos proper way to do it? Other suggestions? Elegance don't feed on tiny particles. They will feed on chunks of marine meat about 1/4"x1/4".

3) Are the tank params good for the coral? Everything looks pretty good to me. You do run your system a little hotter than I like to run mine.

4) Am I missing any params I should consider prior to purchase?

5) Any livestock conflicts with the elegance anyone sees? I listed some above. I'm not saying that you will run into these problems. They're just things to keep an eye on.

This is one of my "5 Musts" for my tank so if I don't have what it takes now, I'm needing advice to bring my tank into line to add one someday...

Much love to all the family on TRT getting my tank to this point, you all have saved me tons of disappointment and money...

These corals require surprisingly little flow. Just enough to move the tentacles but not the polyp itself. Finding the proper flow is probably the hardest part of keeping these corals.

Everything you read about these corals will tell you that they need to be placed in the sand. I do not agree with this. Elegance corals do best when conditions are constant and they are not disturbed for long periods of time. If they are in the sand, the sand must be kept clean. If not, detritus can accumulate around the skeleton. This can cause phosphate issues and ultimately polyp bailout. To keep the sand clean you would need to constantly disturb the coral. I find it much easier, and healthier for the coral, to keep them with their skeletons wedged into rocks.

[Salty O'Shen]

i had a feeling you would be the guy who'd give me the first/most advice EC. thanks for taking the time to go through the post...

is there a way to determine where the coral came from? (other than trusting the answer from the LFS)

if i decide to get this or another elegance, how to i go about delivering the meaty supplemental feeding? does it grab like my anemone or, do i need to hold it there for a longer period?

if I notice the tang or shrimp hassling the coral, they're probably headed back the LFS, they're not in the "5 musts" so that's an easy choice....the clowns however are now a part of the family and i'm going to have trouble with that situation...i may have to start a second tank in my son's room to keep the ocellaris around, they're not in the list of "5 musts" but they're so darn cute!!

is the only risk posed by the ocellaris hosting the coral and it being irritated to the point of withdrawal? if so, that's something that can be alleviated with a new tank for the 2 stooges...i just don't want to have the coral harmed in the meantime.

[Salty O'Shen]

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by Salty O'Shen

i had a feeling you would be the guy who'd give me the first/most advice EC. thanks for taking the time to go through the post... No problem

is there a way to determine where the coral came from? (other than trusting the answer from the LFS) Not really. If you're not comfortable with your LFS you can try LA's Divers Den, Zepplins reef, or that new coral auction site. They all carry some real nice Aussie Elegance corals. Larry from Zepplins reef probably has the most inexpensive Aussie Elegance you will find, but they are a little small. He does insure they are healthy before they ship out though.

if i decide to get this or another elegance, how to i go about delivering the meaty supplemental feeding? does it grab like my anemone or, do i need to hold it there for a longer period? Please don't get this Elegance. Let it die in the LFS's tank.

I had a video of me feeding some of the sick Indonesian Elegance corals on Sharkle Video. I just went to copy the link to post it here, but the site is no more. Now my videos are gone.

Elegance corals feed on small critters like baby fish. If you take a small piece of marine meat like fish or shrimp and wiggle it in their tentacles, they will do the rest. Try not to touch the tentacles to much because they will come off on your hands. Elegance won't feed on tiny particles like filter feeder foods.

if I notice the tang or shrimp hassling the coral, they're probably headed back the LFS, they're not in the "5 musts" so that's an easy choice....the clowns however are now a part of the family and i'm going to have trouble with that situation...i may have to start a second tank in my son's room to keep the ocellaris around, they're not in the list of "5 musts" but they're so darn cute!! Ya, I kinda have a thing for clowns myself. Fortunately you don't need an elaborate system to keep clowns. I've kept ocellaris in a 10gl tank with some LR and a HOB filter.

is the only risk posed by the ocellaris hosting the coral and it being irritated to the point of withdrawal? if so, that's something that can be alleviated with a new tank for the 2 stooges...i just don't want to have the coral harmed in the meantime.
Clowns can actually kill an Elegance coral. Some clowns are worse than others. The female ocellaris I have now will bit the tentacles off of Elegance corals if she gets the chance. Others can cause damage by rubbing the delicate coral tissue against the sharp skeletal structures of the coral.

[Salty O'Shen]

thanks again for the info EC, i'm going to the LFS tomorrow to talk with him about the source for the elegance. i'll probably let this one pass and see how it does in their tank until someone buys it. he has 3 of them right now and they're all looking very healthy so i can probably keep an eye on them for a few weeks til they sell. worst case scenario i wait a little longer to add #4 on the "5 musts"...no big deal. once i have them all i'm not sure what'll get me excited as an addition so i'd rather prolong the anticipation

all i have left that i had my sights on from the beginning are the Elegance and a sea fan...after that it's just filling in the "holes" with random appropriate corals...then, i'll stare at it for about a year and get the itch to go to a 150g...

[Elegance Coral]

I'm sorry. I'm talking to someone else online about their Elegance and I got the two conversations mixed up. You never said anything was wrong with the EC at your LFS. It's the other conversation that has the sick EC at the LFS.

How is your price only $28? Most Aussie Elegance will cost the retailer more than that. The Indo's are much cheaper. If you can be reasonably sure that these EC's came from Australia and they seem relatively healthy, then I see no problem with purchasing them. If the LFS doesn't know where they came from, you should pass on them. A good test of their health is to have the LFS feed them while you are there. If the polyp remains fully open and it grabs the food with its tentacles and moves it to a mouth pretty quick, then its in pretty good health. The weaker they get the slower their feeding response gets. You can also look very close at the tentacles. White rings around the tentacles is another sign of good health.

Hope that helps and sorry for the confusion.

[Elegance Coral]

Here's a couple of shots showing the white or light colored rings to look for.

[Loverotties]

Great info!

[Salty O'Shen]

thanks for the images EC...i'll talk with the owner and see if he can help me with source info...i can get good info from the employees most of the time, but the for the critical info i always ask the owner, Ted. the owner does give me ridiculous prices on the livestock, he said he'd rather give me a deal on the livestock cause he knows the nicer pieces will be well taken care of by me...nice compliment, he said he'd rather give me more livestock so i have to buy more supplies...LOL!!

thanks again for the help!!

[cutietwo]

beautiful elegance coral, Elegance Coral