help with elegance coral!!!

[xsirrusx]

i added an elegance coral to my tank about a week ago. the last four days it hasn't been opening up completely until about the last hour that the light is on. my lights are on for about 8 hours a day. It could be a little smaller than when i purchased it as well. tested my water and all tests came out clear. all my other corals are doing great so i am confused. Any ideas or suggestions?

here are some pics of it in the day and evening.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi xsirrusx. I see you're new to reefs.org, and if no one else has welcomed you, let me be the first.

I'm thinking that your lighting may be more intense than what it had acclimated to. The tank appears to be well lit, by VHO's, maybe? Try putting it at the bottom of the tank (good for all new intros after 30 day q/t) and slowly moving it up.

 

[xsirrusx]

i have two bulbs: one 10,000k 65 watt, and the blue 65 watt. the tank is 20 gallons. this could be a possibility.

 

[Anonymous]

If it's that small you may need to actually shield the coral. A piece of glass or plexi should be enough, I think.

 

[Jiggaboowhat]

elegance coral is very very very tough to keep in a tank. i've gone through about 4 of those corals before i finally got one that aclimated to my tank and it's specifications. But like said before, you should shield your elegance coral and give it a little more current. Elegance likes current. You should also have your Ca and Alk levels high, because SPS (Small Polyp Stony) and LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals love high Calcium Levels.

Hope I could help! :?

 

[monkeyboy]

I doubt that it's being fried by a pair of PC's but it very well could simply be acclimating to the new lighting. Unfortunately, these days elegance coral does not do as well in captivity as it has in the past. Many excelent books list it as a very hardy, even beginners, coral but today, that's just not the case. Some elegance corals are from seagrass environments, so they may do better in a refugium type setup with their skeleton burried in the sand. If the skeleton does not appear to be broken off and it forms a cone, it was from that type of environment.

Borneman wrote an excelent article about these guys and where/how they were collected, i think it was in Advanced Aquarist a little while back, anyone have the link? Hopefully it's just getting used to the new lights and not preparing for its demise.

 

[reefann]

I think that your elegance is not acclimating well to your lighting. Over the years elegance corals have been being collected in deeper and deeper waters. I would try keeping that thing low in your tank. If you have not check out nano-reef.com They have some great info on keeping nano-reefs. I hope it pools through. Keep us posted.
JJ
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Gossip Girl Forum

 

[Garry thomas]

A catalphylia jardinei in a 20 gallon tank. :evil: are you having a joke. This is why, unless you can offer a decent sized tank. leave well alone.

 

[xsirrusx]

thanks for the help. i'll try positioning it low in the tank in the more indirect lighting.

 

[monkeyboy]

A catalphylia jardinei in a 20 gallon tank. :evil: are you having a joke. This is why, unless you can offer a decent sized tank. leave well alone.

Hmmmm... last time i checked, elegance coral wasn't a member of the surgeonfish family, am i wrong? :roll:

:?:

 

[Anonymous]

Gosh, monkeyboy, I'm still checking.

 

[beerbaron]

i've gone through about 4 of those corals before i finally got one that aclimated to my tank and it's specifications

boy if everyone did this with non tank raised species we would run out pretty darn quick .

 

[Garry thomas]

Could be the start of a new police? but being serious, it is a shame if you loose it. It's a prize specimen that many cant even get, it would be better in a larger tank. :roll:

 

[reefann]

Garry if a species is not cramped in a tank why is bigger better??
Are you saying all nano-reefs are a joke?
JJ
_________________
Mercedes Benz 230

 

[Cazreef]

Gary,
Size does not matter

This one came from my 20 and is now in a 50. Doing pretty well, or so I think.


I would think other forces are at work here.

http://www.alltel.net/~jrmoss/images/tank/center2.jpg

 

[Markymarklar]

no one's brough it up yet so i'm just wonderin if you feed your elegence? i've read on other sites that you have to feed them. the site that i was at said they feed theirs 4 silversides a week(it was a big elegence keep in mind). i know that i didn't feed my bubble coral for a week and it shriveled into nothing. that's before i found out that lighting isn't enough. now i feed him every other day and he's tripled in size in less than 6 months! if the repositioning doesn't work, try feeding it. just a thought

 

[Cazreef]

Markymarklar,

Mine has never been direct feed. None of my corals are.
My tank is NOT skimmed however. There are plenty of things
in the water column for it to eat so this might help in my case.

Caz

 

[Markymarklar]

i don't have one so i'm not really sure. i just saw others feed theirs. that's a good question to poll people on i guess.