Elegans Coral

[Moonfruit777]

So here is my situation:

I got this new Australian Catalaphyllia a few days ago.
I ordered it online - the photo in the shop was top-down.
When It arrived it turned out, the coral was freshly cut on two sides and the bottom.
I could not believe it at first but they really shipped a freshly cut Cata to my doorstep.
It is known that those kind of LPS are really risky to "frag".
They are prone to infections, brown Jelly, tissue necrosis etc...

But the shop has no problem with fragging it and expects me to take the 50/50 risk of it dying.
When it would die in MY tank they probably deny it being their fault because "the light" "the water" "the something the shop just made up" is not quite right in my tank.

Maybe I'm overreacting a bit but I really am scared to just have wasted a ton of money on it.

I already figured a somewhat good/bad solution out with the customer support (who of course claims to have done everything right and the coral came out of the ocean like this )


Have you guys had similar experiences like this when ordering online?

Would you be mad or cool about it?

Should a freshly fragged LPS coral like this one be sold?

What do you think the chances of it surviving are?

 

[Gablami]

Aussie elegance are often cut on one or both sides. They are collected as large specimens. It’s actually a good sign as Aussie elegance are more likely to survive than Indo (though less colorful, generally). Yours looks like it’s got some nice color. Is it expanding?

 

[terri_ann]

Freshly cut?! You bet I would be very concerned! Fresh cuts of anything are risky. Watch it closely and act fast if it shows any problem. I would also contact the seller right away explaining your concern.

Personally, I would not order from the seller again. IMO, a reputable seller would not ship a freshly cut coral. 1 week should be the minimum for a cut coral.

 

[Gablami]

It is not freshly cut. The soft tissue has healed at the cut.

 

[Brian1f1]

Definitely not freshly cut... can see it has grown tentacles across the cut section.

 

[Moonfruit777]

@Brian1f1 @Gablami Indeed one side seems more healed, but the other side is not. Even more odd tbh.
It opens just a bit at the moment, you can see it even better that one side is missing all the tentacles :/

 

[Gablami]

You have photographed both sides. Neither appear freshly cut.

Elegance corals are notorious for being touch- and-go early on. You purchased an Australian specimen, which is favorable in terms of success rates. It does not look fresh cut — in fact, the skeleton looks a lot like mine did when I first got it. Purchasing an expensive coral known to be touchy, online, (I assume sight unseen) is risky and I don’t think the seller should assume all the risk. I would not blame the seller in this instance. Hopefully it was fully expanding and looking healthy before shipping.

It’s still quite early on. Elegance can retract and not fully expand for a few weeks. Just keep things stable and don’t move it around.

 

[Brian1f1]

I’ve actually stayed away from them because of all the trouble they sometimes have. How much is expensive? It looks pretty small, not an outrageous color. Shouldn’t have been that bad?

 

[Gablami]

OP is in Germany, but here in California, I’m guessing it would run ~180-200 USD?

 

[Danny_M5]

beautiful coral but they are so sensitive

 

[hybridazn]

Keep your parameters stable and that elegance should be fine. It's been cut, but is healing nicely. I wouldn't be too concerned if I got that piece personally.

 

[Danny_M5]

I agree on that but for some reason they never do good in my tank

 

[Brian1f1]

OP is in Germany, but here in California, I’m guessing it would run ~180-200 USD?

More than I thought.

 

[Syed123]

To the Op. Make sure there is no fish in the tank that will potentially pick on it. Also when handling be gentle with it. You don't want the flesh to be ruptured. Elegance corals are finicky and often perish in the first year. Lucky for you yours is an Australian. So your chances of success is much higher than if you started with an Indonesian Elegance.

Also as mentioned these corals can stay retracted for a long time before they start expanding. Take it slow with the coral and don't try to move it. I find disturbing them to be counter productive.

 

[Moonfruit777]

Thanks for all the comments
I knew there would be many different opinions on this topic, that's why I opened the thread

OP is in Germany, but here in California, I’m guessing it would run ~180-200 USD?

@Gablami Good guess, just in €

Keep your parameters stable and that elegance should be fine. It's been cut, but is healing nicely. I wouldn't be too concerned if I got that piece personally.

@hybridazn If I may say so myself, I'd say it is in good hands. I have a few other Aussi LPS sitting in the same corner of the tank for 2-4 years; one of them is another elegans coral which does really good

To the Op. Make sure there is no fish in the tank that will potentially pick on it. Also when handling be gentle with it. You don't want the flesh to be ruptured. Elegance corals are finicky and often perish in the first year. Lucky for you yours is an Australian. So your chances of success is much higher than if you started with an Indonesian Elegance.

Also as mentioned these corals can stay retracted for a long time before they start expanding. Take it slow with the coral and don't try to move it. I find disturbing them to be counter productive.

@Syed123 Good call, some fish would probably love to nibble on it. Fortunately I do not have any fish that would do that

It does look better already and cut sides look nothing like when I received the coral... Algae and coralline algae started to form after 2 days...
I might feed it in the next LPS feeding and drop 4 or 5 LPS Pellets on it.
What do you guys think about that idea? Will feeding support the healing or will it cause more harm than good? LPS Pellets or Mysis?

I really hope this ends in a success story, I would feel honored to keep a yellow tip elegans coral in my tank. I have never seen one in person before nor have I seen any for sale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Syed123]

Thanks for all the comments
I knew there would be many different opinions on this topic, that's why I opened the thread


@Gablami Good guess, just in €


@hybridazn If I may say so myself, I'd say it is in good hands. I have a few other Aussi LPS sitting in the same corner of the tank for 2-4 years; one of them is another elegans coral which does really good


@Syed123 Good call, some fish would probably love to nibble on it. Fortunately I do not have any fish that would do that

It does look better already and cut sides look nothing like when I received the coral... Algae and coralline algae started to form after 2 days...
I might feed it in the next LPS feeding and drop 4 or 5 LPS Pellets on it.
What do you guys think about that idea? Will feeding support the healing or will it cause more harm than good? LPS Pellets or Mysis?

I really hope this ends in a success story, I would feel honored to keep a yellow tip elegans coral in my tank. I have never seen one in person before nor have I seen any for sale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Feeding it will help. If it grasps the food easily that's a good sign too.

 

[Moonfruit777]

OK a quick update:

The coral expands more now.
one feeding a week ago - some FM LPS pellets
one feeding today - some krill

I took a photo when it expanded a little bit more



I also took a photo today with my new D-D (Polyplab) lenses.
You can clearly see that the coral has still got some regenerating to do but we are on a good route.
This side was the "freshest" cut and looks a lot better than on day 1 :')



I'm just happy to say that the color under blue LED is just mindblowing
The yellow tips are the same color as a golden torch - just crazy!

 

[Rajil]

wow the yellow tips are nice. that's one of the best looking ones I've ever seen.

OK a quick update:

The coral expands more now.
one feeding a week ago - some FM LPS pellets
one feeding today - some krill

I took a photo when it expanded a little bit more



I also took a photo today with my new D-D (Polyplab) lenses.
You can clearly see that the coral has still got some regenerating to do but we are on a good route.
This side was the "freshest" cut and looks a lot better than on day 1 :')



I'm just happy to say that the color under blue LED is just mindblowing
The yellow tips are the same color as a golden torch - just crazy!