Elegance Coral..... Concern?

[DarthSimon]

So I tried a bunch of elegance corals years ago. Never really had any success... Took a break from reefing for about 3 years and now I’ve been back in since last summer.

I bought this Aussie Elegance coral this past Sunday. He was under Radion lights same as mine and about the same distance away from light. He looked great at store.
He was fully opened within 2-3 hours of being in my tank...
At his best he looked like this:

He also ate very well from target feeding and sucked in a bunch of small pieces of reef frenzy. Looked like this:

Then today he looks like he’s angry:

Should I be concerned?? Possible take a full day to digest food??? I did notice the base was moved slightly but the flesh wasn’t touching anything.

Thanks in advance
Steve

 

[DarthSimon]

Look at this:

 

[UCF Alum]

Ok. Not for nothing, but I will share from experience. I too, use reef frenzy. I would break off chunks and stick them in the area of the mouth of the coral with long tweezer like tongs then let him close up around the food and I’d let go. The first time I did it, he looked EXACTLY like yours for several days. I thought it was just a fluke, but I was wrong. I fed him reef frenzy the second time, he shriveled up again, then slowly started to die.

I done feeding reef frenzy to ANY of my LPS. I use reef roids on occasion but that’s it. Be careful with the RF chunks as I don’t want to see that same thing happen to you. Good luck.

 

[DarthSimon]

I don’t feed the chunks, I use fish and the reef... I think I used the fish blend when I fed, but thoroughly thawed the food..: I can tell you it took in a nice amount, as you can the feeding response was excellent, the flesh folded over and closed up, then back open....
This is what it look like right now, did your elegance rebound after the first time??

 

[UCF Alum]

I don’t feed the chunks, I use fish and the reef... I think I used the fish blend when I fed, but thoroughly thawed the food..: I can tell you it took in a nice amount, as you can the feeding response was excellent, the flesh folded over and closed up, then back open....
This is what it look like right now, did your elegance rebound after the first time??

I wouldn’t say he completely rebounded, no. He never fully opened back up again. As satisfying as it is to see them take in large amounts of food, err on the side of caution. Small portions 2 times a week is fine.
Good luck. Been there!

 

[DarthSimon]

So this is what it looks like today:
Any better?

 

[ajhudson15]

I have one as well but when mine eats he never closed up around it like that. he sucks it down in but his tentacles always remain out a flowing. mine only closes up almost like that at night.

 

[DarthSimon]

So I had my Radions on 70 Percent power. I called LFS where Elegance came from, He stated he was at 20 Percent and around 50-75 par on the elegance when it was there. Possible I put way to much light on him? Height wise, where coral came from and mine is about the same. I turned my power down to 25 percent today max. Well see how it goes...

 

[Quinn123]

Look like she is not going to make it!! I had an elegance coral for three, grew from 3” to about 6”, out of no where just die on me.

 

[DarthSimon]

Here it is right now, looks like the flesh is open out of the skeleton, but the tentacles won’t extended, I have this on sand bed, and radions in 25 percent power... should I move it or leave it alone? Elegance looked great for first 3-4 days...

 

[UCF Alum]

.

 

[UCF Alum]

So I had my Radions on 70 Percent power..

How big is your tank? Are they 15’s or 30’s

Are you running custom program or off a template?

 

[ajhudson15]

I have my radions on 30% power. Maybe try moving it to some shade until it can recoup and then slowly move him back out into the light.

 

[DarthSimon]

Custom, I have Xr15’s.... Red Sea Reefer 250

 

[Memphis]

I have an Elegance that I've never really directly feed anything. It just gets whatever scraps it can when the fish get fed. Mine is a fairly large one. I would say larger than a basketball. It shrivels up at night and about once a month or so it will act up like that and stay shriveled up for a few days, then go back to normal. Attached a pic showing mine on a good day. I don't have any of it on a bad day. Mines in a standard 48" 120 gallon under two AI Hydra 52 HDs that run at ~80% at peak. Hopefully yours turns around!

 

[DarthSimon]

Beautiful Tank Memphis!!
So I gave the coral an RX dip tonight, look at what came off, what are these little tiny snail shells??? Could these be the culprits?

 

[swensos]

Those look like colonista snails (or maybe baby trochus). I don’t believe they’re anything to worry about. I would just leave it alone and let it recover under reduced lights for a week and then slowly increases light. It’s probably just a lot of changes all at once and elegance are finicky.

 

[Mal11224]

How are your tank parameters? Might be too much light. Looks like it's trying to detach from its skeleton. Try not to move it around and let it get used to its setting as long as the flow and lighting is good. I keep mine in the sand too and in the front corner of my tank. Low flow and low light. Hopefully it will get better.

 

[UCF Alum]

So I gave the coral an RX dip tonight, look at what came off, what are these little tiny snail shells??? Could these be the culprits?

Are you sure that’s not what came off the bottom of your coral from laying on the sand?

Turn the lights down and stick him in some shade for now. Don’t feed him. Hopefully it’ll turn out better than mine did.

 

[DarthSimon]

Could be. So here is today. Moved to other side of tank and under some shade :