Added an Elegance

[Surefire1]

Got this guy today from the LFS, it was about a 1/3rd of the size you see in their tanks. Got him home and placed it in the tank, came back 30 min later and said "woah". Im a bit embarrassed to say I didn't do a whole lot of research on these, was more of an on a whim purchase. Admittedly, had I read more, I probably would not have purchased it after reading lots of horror stories. But hey, its in the tank now so I want to give it the best shot I can. Is there anything in particular I should be doing/watching out for? I've read different and even conflicting opinions on the care. Thanks in advance for any help!

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk198/Sniperman16/photo-3_zps6b116e22.jpg

[usmc121581]

First take him off the rock, they prefer the sand because the tissue is very fragile and can tear when they blow up from the sharp edges of the rock. I have had my elegance for 6+ years. I would look into dosing strontium, magnesium, alk, and calcium. I dose all strontium, mag, and baking soda weekly, and mrs wages(limewater) with my top off water every other day. Good luck keepin him, I have heard with the last few years they have be Me difficult to keep. Also I have never feed mine up until recently when I tried to feed him a silverside. Most important is to put him in the sand bed.

[gnu]

What he said...Move him to the sand bed. Specially sense you have clowns in the tanks that might try to host him. If they do keep a eye on the elegance sense the clowns can be pretty ruff on them. If the mp10 is blowing right at it I would move it also. They like indirect flow.

How long did the LFS have it?
What type of lighting was it under and what do you have?

By the pic it looks like its a little white?
How long has your tank been setup? They need a very stable tank or you need to be experienced on what to watch for.

[Surefire1]

I'm going to have to consider new places in the tank for him. It seems very happy where it is. I have the vortech on reef mode lower settings, again, all the corals respond quite well with it.


LFS had it for 3-4 day under some sort of HO Led lighting.
The picture doesn't really get its colors right. Its mostly green with brown. My tank is a Biocube 29 HQI (150w MH) with a vortech mp10.This tank is young, my water parameters stay very stable, testing daily.

[gnu]

I'm going to have to consider new places in the tank for him. It seems very happy where it is. I have the vortech on reef mode lower settings, again, all the corals respond quite well with it.


LFS had it for 3-4 day under some sort of HO Led lighting.
The picture doesn't really get its colors right. Its mostly green with brown. My tank is a Biocube 29 HQI (150w MH) with a vortech mp10.This tank is young, my water parameters stay very stable, testing daily.

Sounds good....Just keep a eye out. He might close up in a day or 2. If he does move him away from the light and acclimate him slowly to it. After awhile you can feed him once a week. I have got mine trained to when I take food and hold right by it. They can sense it and closes right up and grabs it. Its really cool to see it happen.

Good luck and enjoy

[Surefire1]

That thing is huge!!!

I'm with ya, much bigger than I thought it would be.

[Surefire1]

Sounds good....Just keep a eye out. He might close up in a day or 2. If he does move him away from the light and acclimate him slowly to it. After awhile you can feed him once a week. I have got mine trained to when I take food and hold right by it. They can sense it and closes right up and grabs it. Its really cool to see it happen.

Good luck and enjoy

Good deal, thanks for your help fellas! Ill keep a close eye on him. What food do they seem to prefer?

[usmc121581]

I feed mine silver sides, I have to stay there until its 3/4 the way in its mouth or the tang will take it.

[ThreeMoneyJ]

Ive had mine for about 2 years. I keep him in the sand and actually fairly close to an mp40, about equivilant to the lower right portion of your picture. I feed large pieces of chopped shrimp maybe once every 2 weeks.

[elegance coral]

Personally, if the elegance is doing fine where it is, I wouldn't move it.

It is an old myth, legend, or wise tale, that elegance corals must live in sand. They do perfectly fine in the rocks. In fact, that's where they all spend their youth, and many remain throughout their whole lives.

There is a small area of the upper skeleton where the tissue overlaps. If this overlapping tissue is pinched between the skeleton and any hard surface, it may cause damage. Damage can lead to infection and the death of the whole coral. If you can insure that this small area is not pressed against the rocks, the coral should do just fine in the rocks. The polyp itself touching the rock is not cause for concern.

HTH
Peace
EC

[gnu]

Personally, if the elegance is doing fine where it is, I wouldn't move it.

It is an old myth, legend, or wise tale, that elegance corals must live in sand. They do perfectly fine in the rocks. In fact, that's where they all spend their youth, and many remain throughout their whole lives.

There is a small area of the upper skeleton where the tissue overlaps. If this overlapping tissue is pinched between the skeleton and any hard surface, it may cause damage. Damage can lead to infection and the death of the whole coral. If you can insure that this small area is not pressed against the rocks, the coral should do just fine in the rocks. The polyp itself touching the rock is not cause for concern.

HTH
Peace
EC

This is all also true. I would just watch the clowns since they can be pretty rough on their host. The polyps can get irritated if slammed against the rocks.

[Surefire1]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I'm going to leave the elegance in the rocks for now, it's has been staying big and happy looking the past few days. It's actually gotten even bigger since the photo. The clowns (for now) aren't paying it much attention, we'll see how that goes.

[strittmatter]

trust what the others have said. Move to the sand. If it gets damaged the chances of it surveying are slim to non. When it gets damaged it's to late to move to the sand.