Has anyone found the problem with the elegance corals deflat

[cvarcher]

Is this happening all over the country??Any ideas other than blaming poor collecting methods.(Assuming the tank conditions are good of course)

 

[slojmn1]

I have read a lot of posts regarding the decline in general health of elegance corals over the past few years. I have had one in my 120g reef for about 8 months, not really that long, and it is doing exceptionally well. The thing is huge. The base which I stuck in the sand is about 4" by 2" with a sort of swirled U shape to it. The coral itself expands to 1' by 8" during the day. It is expanding so much it is hitting the aquarium walls in the front and side. I hate to move it as it is so happy. It seems to adjust by curling up the wall of the aquarium. I think a lot of people have trouble. I read in one post that someone was surmising that collectors are having to go to deeper water farther out in the reefs to collect these corals as a lot of the lagoon areas where they were so prevelent are bare. No more elegance corals in these areas. I don't know if that was true or not. This might be an interesting topic to put in "The Industry Behind the Hobby" forum here on reefs org and see if some of the wholesalers have any info from the collectors they deal with.

 

[Anonymous]

Elegance corals are not normally found on the reef - they come from lagoons and they have had a poor track record in captivity for the past 5 years. It is nothing new. They used to be great but in reality a reef aquarium is not their normal environment. They are usually found half buried in the mud of a lagoon - not on a reef thus a reef is not the proper environment. Most likely the decline has been from more and more efficient nutrient processing in our aquariums. Especially as protein skimmers have become more powerful the C. jardini's have just not been getting enough nutrition.

 

[EmilyB]

My green elegance is huge as well. It has a monstrous appetite. I have only had it four months.

I just picked up a purple tip yesterday at a nearby LFS. It was almost totally closed, but the price was too good. The first thing I did was feed it and it was starved. My other elegance arrived much the same way. I hope that this one will do as well as the other is.

I do know that the first one came from an LFS which has very healthy imports. I don't know if timing is involved, but they arrive in beautiful condition.

I am glad I have a large tank..

 

[leeks]

MINE DID THE SAME THING BIG FOR THREE WEEKS AND SLOWLY WILT AWAY.

 

[cvarcher]

Perhaps we can ask those that have healthy elegance corals to try and frag theirs to sell to others .I have a friend that lost 4 in a row from differant stores.My track record is one good and healthy and two that died.Tech I and fresh water dips didnt help or trying to feed them.

 

[THEFishHead]

I hope everyone out there is listening. I have written about the elegance coral problem in my FAMA column Reef Notes (more than once) and have spoken about it at my various lectures. I don't know why my advice on this point has fallen on deaf ears.

The problem with elegance coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) that has only occured the past several years is caused by bacteria.

If you first treat the coral in either Nitrofurazone or Doxycycline for about four or five days it will not suffer the shrinking and wilting/rotting then dying problem. Corals suffering the problem can be cured by treatment if it is initiated early enough.

The problem is NOT caused by starvation. Please do not continue to spread that myth as it results in the death of more coral.

Tom, you are an excellent aquarist running a great shop. Please treat the elegance corals with antibiotics in a quarantine system. Please post your results here, preferably renewing the topic every week, until a few people in the industry get a clue. Apparently I alone cannot tell enough people that when something is on fire they should try to put the fire out. This is such an easy problem to solve.

I have visited may wholesale facilities and recommended that they treat the elegance corals. No one does it though. Dealers could also easily do this to help their customers.

Another point- if you place a sick elegance coral in a tank that contains a healthy one, the disease is contageous. Both may die. It can also be passed to other corals, but usually remains confined to elegance. That is a fascinating point, worth studying.

I hope no idiot gets on this forum and accuses me of creating a false story about bacteria and elegance corals. I have no interest in stirring up controversy- my interest here is to answer the question correctly and to help improve the hobby.

I believe that it is irresponsible to receive elegance corals and not treat them with antibiotics. Their chance of survival lately without treatment is very slim. With treatment they become very hardy, as they used to be.

I cannot explain why this disease suddenly became a problem a few year back. All I know is that it did, and continues to be a problem today.

Regarding where elegance corals come from- it is true that they are lagoon dwellers, but that has no bearing on their success in aquariums with regard to nutrients. They can be found in shallow seagrass flats and on deep reef slopes (yes, on reefs). I have seen them in various habitats in Australia, the Solomon Islands, and in Japan. They do usually occur with their base in mud or sand, sometimes on coral rubble.

Sincerely,

Julian Sprung

 

[yellow_dog]

Thanks for the clarification Juilian. I have seen a bunch of purple tip elegance corals pop up in the midwest lately (Chicago distributors must have had a shipment come in) but have been reluctant to get one. I may try the antibiotic treatment and post results here if I can find a suitable specimen.

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

A few questions;
1)Where is a source for the mentioned antibiotics?
2) Should follow-up treatments be administered periodically?

Thanks!

Paul

[ January 24, 2002: Message edited by: Paul A. Ifkovits ]</p>
_________________
1920 recession

 

[Sea Serpent]

I just bought some Doxycycline on line at: http://www.healthpluspharmacy.com/index.htm
No prescription needed - (although I have a problem with that . . . ). Cheapest price that I could find. Now, how to dose, how to dip and for how long?
I would really like to save my elegance, although it might be too late.
Any suggestions?
SS

 

[EmilyB]

^^

 

[iReef1]

Which issue of FAMA will I find the article about bacteria on elegance coral. I'm not a subscriber to that mag. but I try not to miss many issues. Hopefully I have the one with the article.

Is this information posted in detail anywhere on-line?

I'm starting to setup my 120 and would like to have an elegance coral once my tank has matured so I would like the information on how to dip it properly, and for how long.

Thanks for the help.
iReef

 

[JeremyR]

I will try this protocol here in the shop, as I have not been importing elegance much for the last few years due to the aforementioned problems, and I will post the results.

 

[npaden]

There are a couple threads at Reef Central suggesting that there may be a parasitic shrimp or crab infesting some of the elegance corals that might be causing some of the problems as well.

Here are some links:

Thread in Eric's Coral Forum

Thread in Ron's Forum

The "parasitic" creature may be what causes the initial infection and the bacteria then kills off the elegance.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[jdeets]

^^^

 

[-JB]

Anyone know how much Nitrofurazone or Doxycycline to dose in the quarantine tank?? I am assuming you must get it in liquid form, yes??

 

[EmilyB]

Does reef central not want to make it's information available to the public ? I am not a member, nor do I choose to be.

 

[toyfreek]

The info on reef central is free to the public. use an AKA if you dont like signing up for stuff. quit being a victom.

 

[jdeets]

Well, I had bought a new elegance coral the day before I came across Julian's post last week. Since I introduced it to the tank, it has begun to shrink and stay closed. Yesterday, it was completely closed, although the tissue has not yet begun to detach from the skeleton and it doesn't smell like it's rotting.

I went to the LFS last night and rifled through the fish remedies and found some nitrofurazone capsules. I started treating the coral last night with a small amount of the antibiotic in a bowl of water that I float in the sump.

I don't have a hospital tank so I put the coral in the bowl floating in the sump overnight--that way temperature isn't a problem. I moved it back into the main tank this morning, and I'll treat it with the nitrofurazone again each night for the next week and see if it turns around. I'll let you all know how it goes.

If anyone is looking for nitrofurazone, it is sold by Aquatronics under the trademark "Furacyn." It should be available at any LFS.

 

[Anonymous]

James-

I've seen posts (can't remember where, maybe newgroups) that detailed sucess with the deeper water elegance using lower light levels and lower temp 76-78 degrees in conjunction with the antibiotic treatment.

-Greg