My options

[MightyMouse85]

I found a guy that just bought a tank with corals and isn't ready to have set up so he is offering them to me. It's a few polyps, elegance, toad stool, and a few other things. I dont have a qt to put them in. Before i pick them up what are my options. Can i do a dip and scrub or would it be a pure chance thing where i can ruin my tank.

 

[BoomCorals]

Dip and scrub for sure. So long as you do that thoroughly your chances are very good. Get rid of the old plugs if you can.

 

[MightyMouse85]

Its all on live rock

 

[BoomCorals]

Its all on live rock

Ouch. You can't dip them as it will kill the rock. You basically have to take it or leave it.

 

[MightyMouse85]

Would killing the rock be much of a problem?

 

[BoomCorals]

Would killing the rock be much of a problem?

Yea it will cause a cycle in your existing tank. Could cause an ammonia spike and crash the tank worst case.

 

[Mikedawg]

Do you know much about how they were taken care of and do they appear to be healthy, etc.? Unless they are really nice and really cheap, why take a chance?

 

[MightyMouse85]

Notta thing. He is giving them away for free. Haven't seen them in person yet

 

[Mikedawg]

Notta thing. He is giving them away for free. Haven't seen them in person yet

So, price is right but I would reserve any judgement until I actually saw what kind of condition they are in now and learned a little more about their husbandry.

Good luck, hard not to turn down free stuff especially if it looks healthy

 

[MightyMouse85]

Any warning signs i should look for. I use to have corals years back and never thought about potential issues and was lucky in the past but now with my larger system i am trying to do things right.

 

[Mikedawg]

I would look for signs of disease (discoloration, banding, white dots, http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/coral-diseases/); bleaching (skeleton showing); presence of hair and other nuisance algae and hitch hikers (flat worms, etc); signs of growth and compatibility with conditions in your aquarium (flow, lighting, proximity to aggressive species) There are some great resources that are species specific (once you know what all you'll be getting) on this site as well as YouTube (e.g. Tidal Gardens) and other standard references.

And as Boom posted, dip and scrub for sure.

 

[MightyMouse85]

Link doesn't work.

 

[BoomCorals]

Link doesn't work.

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/coral-diseases/

 

[jamiec266]

Hi can i get some help with my elegance coral. New to this chat not sure how to start a topic only read them lol anyway my elegance coral has just folded in on itself completly today... i put new zoas in my tank. Could this posibbly be it?? If i did a water change will it help my elegance?? Please if anyone has any clue. Thanks

 

[BoomCorals]

Hi can i get some help with my elegance coral. New to this chat not sure how to start a topic only read them lol anyway my elegance coral has just folded in on itself completly today... i put new zoas in my tank. Could this posibbly be it?? If i did a water change will it help my elegance?? Please if anyone has any clue. Thanks

There are basically two kinds of elegance corals in aquarists' tanks. Those that are sick and going to die, and those that are healthy and will have no problem. Unfortunately yours appears to be the former

The key to buying an elegance is buying one that has been in "captivity" for at least several months and is healthy.

 

[Mikedawg]

They are beautiful, intriguing animals, but doubt if their condition has anything to do with zoas and spacing doesn't seem to be the issue. A quick review of hobbyists' and retailers' sites leads me to conclude that many hobbyists have significant difficulty keeping elegance alive for long periods of time, while suppliers suggest they need only "moderate" care in terms of flow, light, etc. Maybe this difference is explained in part by collection methods - stressed animals thrown into a bucket and then flown many miles will soon/eventually weaken. Like BoomCorals wrote, if they have been fully acclimated to reef tank conditions, have all the signs of healthy animals, etc. your chances of successfully keeping them are much better.

Someone recently wrote on this blog that "elegance belong in the ocean." I think they got a lot of likes!

 

[jamiec266]

There are basically two kinds of elegance corals in aquarists' tanks. Those that are sick and going to die, and those that are healthy and will have no problem. Unfortunately yours appears to be the former

The key to buying an elegance is buying one that has been in "captivity" for at least several months and is healthy.

Hi thanks for getting back to me. Ive had mine for 7 months now i brought the tank with all corals second hand so im not sure how long the last owner had the elegance for before myself. I moved the elegance to the back of the tank amd shes opened back up now seems to be doing better... hopefully i have luck keeping her going longer then others have. Thanks [emoji4]