Detatched Elegance Coral

[DarkReefer]

Hi all,

A few months or more ago my gold tip elegance decided to let go of it's base. (Suspect perhaps due to dino's issues I was previously having the 6 months prior).
When it first happened I hoped it would just stay in the lower corner but the flow eventually made it travel around the tank and eventually get sucked up to the powerhead. Thankfully only a few polyps got hit by it and it recovered well. Since then I have been using a large separation box to keep it safe but it's quite large and takes up a lot of room at the top of the tank.

The elegance has been very happy since being kept in the box however I'm having a GHA issue in the tank which I've been battling so the box fills up with GHA that I have to clean out every week or two. It's a pain in the butt and the box itself at the best of times isn't very 'appealing'. I'll deal with the box (perhaps purchasing a slightly smaller one) if I have to as I want to keep the elegance as it's still a very beautiful coral and would be a shame to get rid of it just because it floats around.

Just wondering what people have done when theirs has let go of it's skeleton to keep it safe & secure but happy and healthy.

 

[o2manyfish]

The elegance can hang on for awhile. But I haven't heard of any without a base that lasted a truly long term. Given that there is a 99% chance this coral is doomed, you could try something strange like using a needle and thread to stitch it into a big deceased clamshell. Or 2 rocks glued together to make a protective base for it.

But I wouldn't beat yourself if any of theses methods, or no method at all leads to the death of the elegance.

Sorry.

Dave B

 

[Rugops]

Yikes, do you have pics?

 

[DarkReefer]

The elegance can hang on for awhile. But I haven't heard of any without a base that lasted a truly long term. Given that there is a 99% chance this coral is doomed, you could try something strange like using a needle and thread to stitch it into a big deceased clamshell. Or 2 rocks glued together to make a protective base for it.

But I wouldn't beat yourself if any of theses methods, or no method at all leads to the death of the elegance.

Sorry.

Dave B

Yeah, not too sure about stitching into a coral. Sounds like a way to butcher it haha
I've not read anything positive about them being kept long term after bailing out but... we'll see...

Yikes, do you have pics?

Sure see below!

 

[DarkReefer]

So the elegance is still going strong. I found an old pico tank in my garage on the weekend and I'm considering setting this up purely for the elegance so I can get rid of the horrible separation box from the main tank.
Thinking bare bottom, no other livestock.
If I'm pulling water directly from my established tank, will I still need to do the cycle process?
Was thinking maybe running it for a week or so to get it settled and then putting it in or am I asking for trouble doing this ?

Would I also need to 'feed' it or would the water changes be enough to do that ? I currently don't feed it at all and haven't for months.

I think the pico is only a gallon or something of water so it's not very big at all.

 

[Gretchacha]

How is it going with the elegance? Did you set up the pico?

 

[DarkReefer]

How is it going with the elegance? Did you set up the pico?

Elegance still going great but I haven't set up the pico yet and have just left it in the tank in in the separation box.

It's a pain because I need to clean it every 1-2 weeks to get the GHA off of it and doesn't look flash but it's happy there for now.