Elegance coral — should I be worried?

Sharkbait19

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Hello,

I went to the LFS today to buy a pair of clowns for my nano tank after a long fallow period. While there, I wanted a good host coral for them. I looked at various corals, and was going to get a large purple frogspawn. However, the employee at the LFS advised an elegance coral over the frogspawn in terms of care and clownfish hosting abilities. I was reluctant, as I knew little to nothing about them. However, I was persuaded enough to go for it. After much research, I think I made a mistake. I am reading about how sensitive these corals are, and also about ECS and how common it is. I can’t let this happen to my coral. I am going to need as much advice, experience, and expertise to keep this coral alive. I think I took a foolish leap without looking, but I guess that’s part of reefkeeping. So I’m going to do everything I can to keep it alive, and definitely would like as much help as possible. Thank you all in advance.
 

Saltyreef

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Generally, these corals will not host clownfish long term due to the agressiveness of the fish in conjunction with the more sensitive nature of lps corals with a stoney skeleton.

You may experience polyp bailout/coral death and forsure hyperpigmentation on the clowns IE coralburn.
 

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Hey there, sorry about the bad advice from the LFS. Elegances need stable water parameters, but they can tolerate higher nutrients as they come from dirtier waters in Australia/Indo. My first elegance didn't make it, although it might have been a result of my angelfish pecking. If your tank is really new, I would reach out to the store or some local reefers to see if they can hold it for you for a while.
 
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Sharkbait19

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It’s starting to open up. How does it look? Could I get an ID?
61701A87-0E61-4FBD-AA0B-2D4F93F26344.jpeg
 
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Sharkbait19

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6229D977-1695-4933-91AC-D09A3E454F29.jpeg
As it is opening, I notice that it’s perhaps too big for where it is. I will likely swap it with the Xenia. It does look very good so far. Maybe I’ll be able to keep it alive. I’ll keep this thread posted.
 
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Sharkbait19

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Looking great today!
57714607-D21A-4682-8A54-F8E636C14586.jpeg

It’s much larger than I remember at the lfs. It’ll have to be moved. I’m going to call and ask the lfs where the elegance is from. I’ve read that the Australian ones are pretty hardy. Is this true?
 

X-37B

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I have had this frogspawn for 3.5 years. Gave away half of it.
It started in my 25 nano. Was moved to my 120 for a year and has now been in my frag system for 6 months.
The clown has been with it since it was small.
It has done well hosting the clown.
Both are getting big.
20210112_184119.jpg
 
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Sharkbait19

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I have had this frogspawn for 3.5 years. Gave away half of it.
It started in my 25 nano. Was moved to my 120 for a year and has now been in my frag system for 6 months.
The clown has been with it since it was small.
It has done well hosting the clown.
Both are getting big.
20210112_184119.jpg
That’s awesome! I wish I got the large frogspawn, only because I already know how to take care of Euphyllia and thought my clowns would host it. They certainly look cool doing it! I was told though an elegance would be less irritated than a Euphyllia. I think the guy I talked to at the LFS was fairly new though.
Really what my clowns host I guess is up to them. Right now they’re hosting a PVC pipe in quarantine.

Yesterday I rearranged my tank to keep the elegance coral happier.
20E963B2-B733-4990-9005-B5E8EF2FEEBC.jpeg

It’s no longer front and center, but here was yesterday’s result:
8393457F-B413-43FB-B9A4-356875CF2A1F.jpeg


This morning, I found the coral completely retracted and shriveled, but is probably just stressed from the move. I’ll give it a day or two to open back up.
 

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its not dead yet. I would shade it and watch. If it continues this way for a couple days you might want to consider treating it with antibiotics as some have reported success treating it. Its probably just ticked at you. low light for these guys until they acclimate.
 
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Sharkbait19

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F60AC239-158E-4C9D-8BCE-810E7A308C54.jpeg

It’s back and bigger than ever! I still, unfortunately, think that it won’t last forever in my tank, and as much as it pains me to lose it, I am likely going to trade it back to the LFS, so someone of much more experience can keep it alive for a very long time.
 
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