Help me not kill an elegance!?!?

[MoshJosh]

I have only ever had one elegance coral. . . it limped along for months and died after a tank move. . . seeing as this is a favorite coral of mine I was pretty upset. Since then I have been hesitant to try again, BUT I am placing a coral order and saw one on a great sale so I decided to try again.

Any tips and tricks I should know?

 

[Wrassenaround]

I have had one for 2-1/2 years and it looks the best in my tank in lower to medium light with low flow actually. I have it between my 2 rock structures so it can really puff up.

 

[MoshJosh]

I have had one for 2-1/2 years and it looks the best in my tank in lower to medium light with low flow actually. I have it between my 2 rock structures so it can really puff up.

Do you target feed?

 

[Wrassenaround]

Nope on target feeding. It only gets pieces of mysis that my fish don't eat and it can pull out of the water column. Now if I do have a small fish die I feed it to the elegance.

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve had 2 dinner plate size Elegance corals in my reef for years. First, I’d suggest you order an Aussie one instead of an Indonesian one. The Aussie versions have a much better track record of survival.

Mine are at opposite corners of the tank, on the sand bed and in lower light and pretty good flow. I actually believe they do better in enough random, indirect flow to move their tentacles a good bit.

No need to target feed but they do seem to appreciate the occasional broadcast feeding of zooplankton. I give all my corals an iodine dip when they first come in, and Elegance corals that aren’t doing well usually respond nicely to them.