Elegance coral - freshwater dip fail?

[RockBox13]

A freshwater dip is warranted when the elegance gets the elegance disease ONLY. Mine does NOT like high mag- 1330 is where mine is at. Elegance corals require moderate light to support photosynthesis which they require. You want to aim for a PAR of about 80-120. Water flow should be moderate. You don’t want the flow to be too high or too low but allowing the tentacles flowing gently. Too little flow and elegance corals will not make it. Too much flow and you risk tearing the polyps. Proper flow brings food and nutrients to the polyps which should drift in the water flow.
Elegance coral is photosynthetic, which contains photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside its tissue and provides nutrition by converting the energy by light. They require regular feedings. with foods such as krill, Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, or small pieces of fish, and shrimp.
Elegance corals ARE prone to elegance coral syndrome (ECS). If your coral has this disease, you’ll see swelling around the oral disc and unopened polyps or a white mucus coating.

Here is mine:

Plus one for this take on elegance with the magnesium and everything else. Also, the picture of a beautiful and healthy Elegancia! I call my favorite Cataphyllia jardinei Elegancia! Look how it’s set up to catch food and opened up to the flow.
This is the dipped look.

 

[RockBox13]

I can’t remember the details, but a long time ago someone explained to me why it was better to buy Australian Cataphyllia and I always tried to stick to that.

 

[RockBox13]

ECD or elegance coral disease responds to fresh water dips. In that situation the Coral tissue looks really swollen and super puffed up and the tips are not very apparent. This doesn’t sound like what your elegance had. The fresh water dip disrupts the osmotic pressure inside the elegance and for ECD it seems to reset the coral. In any other situation it just hurts. Elegance are beautiful but very sensitive to unstable parameters, as others have said, perhaps better to stick to hardy corals like ducans or zoas (the cheap, easy, fast growing variety) for a little bit.

Your post reminded me that I had the picture of an Elegance that was dipped and put into the holding flat. It is stressful to them and they have such a dramatic way of expressing themselves with so many different looks. I think flow and substrate make a difference. They love my refugium with mineral mud and caulerpa. I have a tray of mineral mud and fine sand for small ones.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Your post reminded me that I had the picture of an Elegance that was dipped and put into the holding flat. It is stressful to them and they have such a dramatic way of expressing themselves with so many different looks. I think flow and substrate make a difference. They love my refugium with mineral mud and caulerpa. I have a tray of mineral mud and fine sand for small ones.

Interesting! Mine is in a lower PAR zone in my tank (~100) and gets low to medium flow. I want more, love them to bits. Wish I had more space, they do require quite a bit! Behaviorally I’ve seen it done all sorts of very random things from swelling to the point I thought it would burst (now I think it was trying ti expel detritus) to completely closing up. It has even caught a small crab carcass. Super neat corals. Love your collection!

 

[InvictusReef]

Morning folks! I’ve been reading former posts about elegance coral and apparently they can be a mystery when they get sick. I read that a freshwater dip can sometimes help remove unwanted critters that maybe an iodine dip/coral rx dip might not have.

My situation is mine has been looking puny with tentacles withdrawn for a couple weeks.

During the last week I dipped in Coral Rx and it looked a little better for a day or two. A few days ago I tried Seachem Reef Dip that seems to be mostly iodine. Yesterday I read here about freshwater dips and tried it last night. Lots of little critters/tiny worms came off. I let it soak for 7 minutes.

When I pulled it out to rinse and get back in the tank it was utterly pathetic. It just looked like a smooth ball of wet tissue. It broke my heart to see it and think I screwed up. 10 minutes later I checked and it was coated with slime. Some was waving in the glow.
This morning I took the picture you see and at least you can see some little nubs of tentacles. Just by that it looks like maybe there’s hope.

Any advice. Leave it alone? Anything I can do to help it more. Right now it is under blue and white lights in mild flow.

Last night I tested salinity 1.027 and PH is 8.1. I was going to get a test at my LFS today. I’m including the last full test I had from last Wednesday. Also I did a 2.5 gallon water change 3 days ago as well as last night. I’m trying to get my magnesium up as well.

Tank is Fluval 13.5 and was set up beginning of October 2023.

Your magnesium is also super low. LPS like it high around 1350-1450. Mine is currently at 1490 and all the LPS look fluffy and happy. I’m sorry for your loss but that could really help your next coral.

 

[Koty]

IME Elegance coral should be introduced to a tank that is at least a year old. Also, the stability of alkalinity is next.
I killed three before I got these two about two years ago. They need a decent flow, and they should be fed. Mussels are their best treat (IME).

 

[RockBox13]

IME Elegance coral should be introduced to a tank that is at least a year old. Also, the stability of alkalinity is next.
I killed three before I got these two about two years ago. They need a decent flow, and they should be fed. Mussels are their best treat (IME).

So healthy! That tank looks like it’s grown a lot of coral. Healthy looking fish. What a pretty looking Scopas. The red Goniopora is pretty sweet. The placement for light and flow look ideal. I could be wrong, but are these under T5’s? I learned under T5 and metal halide and those had differences of course and LED is different too, but T5 and LPS/Zoas worked well together. I agree with you about stable alkalinity as it relates to pH as well.

 

[Koty]

Thanks.
It's pure LED. Maxspect 200. I post images mainly because I do not do water changes. So, I need to prove my claims for folks to safely learn from and keep from being anecdotal.
Thats my lights:

A recent image:

 

[mdpitts]

It might be the number of dips in a short time. I tried keeping elegance on and off for 15 years with no success, they all seem to die the same way, squished up and waste away. The last one I had I did the FW dip and by gosh it survived and that was a couple years ago. I am a big fan of FW dips for elegance but perhaps it was too many dips or something else is off.

I thought about that and almost didn't do the FWD but it was looking so bad that I thought I didn't have much to lose. As of this morning it is still hanging in there. Closed up but not clenched and a his little tentacles are little buds instead of smooth and fully sucked in.

I'm leaving it alone - poor thing.

 

[mdpitts]

ECD or elegance coral disease responds to fresh water dips. In that situation the Coral tissue looks really swollen and super puffed up and the tips are not very apparent. This doesn’t sound like what your elegance had. The fresh water dip disrupts the osmotic pressure inside the elegance and for ECD it seems to reset the coral. In any other situation it just hurts. Elegance are beautiful but very sensitive to unstable parameters, as others have said, perhaps better to stick to hardy corals like ducans or zoas (the cheap, easy, fast growing variety) for a little bit.

Ugg. I hate learning a lesson at the expense of a living thing. Thank you so much for this. I'm printing to keep in my aquarium log for future ref. And yes, I am not jumping ahead after this.

 

[mdpitts]

Inexpensive because most average reefers myself included will lose corals the first year. Avoid $500 torches get a cheap frogspawn or hammer instead. Get the torch after your tank matures and stabilizes. Your wallet will thank you. Zoas, duncans, leathers, frogspawn, hammer, shrooms, acans, favia, etc... there are a ton of nice Inexpensive corals that are hardy and will make your tank look nice. I still have some of mine going on 3 years now.

See - you're tank is what I'm aspiring to. OK, what I'm learning - especially on this thread - is to slow down grasshopper and have patience. New saltwater tanks are just so puny looking when everything is a baby.

 

[mdpitts]

Thanks.
It's pure LED. Maxspect 200. I post images mainly because I do not do water changes. So, I need to prove my claims for folks to safely learn from and keep from being anecdotal.
Thats my lights:

A recent image:

WOW. Really beautiful elegance. It's a kick in the gut (half joking) seeing this picture because I lost my Bengaii Cardinal a little while back and now my elegance is going. Weird coincidence or cosmic thunderbolt??

 

[mdpitts]

^^^ This!

It’s hard in that first year because you want the color sticks and other creatures that need stable parameters. I know because I’ve been there.

Try to concentrate on getting your parameters stable. Don’t rely on algaecides or other gimmick chemicals to solve problems. Use natural means. Don’t do like I did for a long time and chase numbers. Concentrate on stability. Once you get near the 1 year mark and your parameters have been holding steady, maybe try some easy SPS like Montipora. I’d wait about the same amount of time to try elegance again.

Of course your elegance might just pull through but no more dips. Leave it alone for a couple of weeks. Of course if it starts disintegrating then get it out. Otherwise let it do its thing.

Thank you, very sound advice. I agree about chemicals. I don't like to over use in my "dry" life. I've been a gardener for forever and don't use chemicals there. I'm about to go get tested and see if I'm doing better on my parameters. I bought 4 Salifert test kits but I'm an ultra maroon (Bugs Bunny) using those kits and don't trust my color deficient eyes or turning the syringe and seeing those tiny lines to see what is left in there so I go and pay for a test. Anyway, thank you.

 

[mdpitts]

Yep. That is what I am going for. Variety of cheap torches, hammers, acans and other LPS or softies the first 6 months. Maybe add some cheap SPS at the 6 month mark. One year mark maybe acros (if parameters allow) or elegance / other fun stuff

Yeah sound advice. I have most of that except for hammers/torches. This is a common theme with me. I start out with something small (in this case a tank) I love the hobby and want ALL the things and then I get over fun. I have about 25 frags and small purchased corals and hopefully they will hopefully stay healthy and grow. I might be overcrowded in a year and need to scale up. Thank you for the advice!

 

[mdpitts]

A freshwater dip is warranted when the elegance gets the elegance disease ONLY. Mine does NOT like high mag- 1330 is where mine is at. Elegance corals require moderate light to support photosynthesis which they require. You want to aim for a PAR of about 80-120. Water flow should be moderate. You don’t want the flow to be too high or too low but allowing the tentacles flowing gently. Too little flow and elegance corals will not make it. Too much flow and you risk tearing the polyps. Proper flow brings food and nutrients to the polyps which should drift in the water flow.
Elegance coral is photosynthetic, which contains photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside its tissue and provides nutrition by converting the energy by light. They require regular feedings. with foods such as krill, Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, or small pieces of fish, and shrimp.
Elegance corals ARE prone to elegance coral syndrome (ECS). If your coral has this disease, you’ll see swelling around the oral disc and unopened polyps or a white mucus coating.

Here is mine:

Wow. Goals! I have a little tank and I think he's getting light. I might be falling short of flow though. I'm having a hard time with the placement of an additional wave maker type deal. My tank is a Fluval 13.5 and even a small one blows the living daylights out of my tank. Only my clownfish likes it. And he REALLY likes it. I'm going to move him into a better flow spot tonight.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wow. Goals! I have a little tank and I think he's getting light. I might be falling short of flow though. I'm having a hard time with the placement of an additional wave maker type deal. My tank is a Fluval 13.5 and even a small one blows the living daylights out of my tank. Only my clownfish likes it. And he REALLY likes it. I'm going to move him into a better flow spot tonight.

Not an ideal coral for a mini tank but doable. Light should be adequate if above 30 watts

 

[Lavey29]

See - you're tank is what I'm aspiring to. OK, what I'm learning - especially on this thread - is to slow down grasshopper and have patience. New saltwater tanks are just so puny looking when everything is a baby.

The most important element of this hobby.......patience.....took me awhile to grasp this also

 

[crabgrass]

The most important element of this hobby.......patience.....took me awhile to grasp this also

Ditto. It is so hard to not want to add stuff (a fish, coral, chemical). I would say I have a 95% failure rate in wanting to try and fix a parameter quick. It fixes one thing, and almost always causes an unforeseen chain reaction somewhere else.

 

[mdpitts]

Ditto. It is so hard to not want to add stuff (a fish, coral, chemical). I would say I have a 95% failure rate in wanting to try and fix a parameter quick. It fixes one thing, and almost always causes an unforeseen chain reaction somewhere else.

I'm stashing that one front and center of the ol' memory banks. I can see that being a problem because I am a fixer. Plus, as a newby I always think something is going to die right away if I can't get it right.

 

[mdpitts]

Not an ideal coral for a mini tank but doable. Light should be adequate if above 30 watts

I absolutely hated the clunky lid/light that came with this Fluval tank. I am an Amazon Vine reviewer and 3 small reef lights came up for me to try so right now I have a 50 watt Hygger hanging above the tank and a Current Orbit Marine 16 watt clipped on the back of one of my chambers. Not ideal but it's ok. I need to read more about lighting. I might have been overdoing because I was keeping mostly whites for about 10 hours then I would go blues and ramp down until I turned them off. Now I'm thinking people mainly keep their blues on. Maybe I stressed it out by too much light. Hmmm, you've got me thinking. I just checked that Hygger light and I had originally wrote that it was 30 watts but now I see it's 50. The display part of the tank 18" long and only 12.5 inches tall.

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