elegance coral
Member
I have been working on the Elegance coral problem for about a year and a half. I feel very strongly that I know why we are haveing such a hard time with these corals. If you are thinking of buying one of these corals and have any questions, please feel free to ask. I wrote my theory a few months ago and am more convinced about this taday then I was when I wrote it.
Elegance Coral Theory
Let me start by saying that I have a great deal of respect for the professionals in the hobby that have done work on this subject. I would hate to think where the hobby would be without the likes of people like Julian Sprung. My only problem is that I couldn’t find anyone doing research on live corals to find out what we could do to better care of them. All the information I could find was on dead or dieing corals. The professionals seemed content with saying that the problem was a parasitic protozoan living within the tissues of the coral and there is nothing we, the aquarists, can do about it. Dips don’t work and there is no other known cure for the problem. Catalaphyllia Jardinei, the Elegance coral is by far my favorite coral. I could not except that this is the fate of this beautiful coral, so I started my own experiments into this subject.
I started out by designing a stand that would hold a large sump/refuge and plenty of room for lights and other filtration equipment. Because Elegance corals are small when you buy them, and they don’t move around, all I needed was a small tank to house them in. The system is described bellow.
About 14 months ago, after the tank was up and running and finished with all the new tank issues, I started buying up all the Elegance corals I could find. 11 to date. In this time I have done many experiments with these corals. Different lights, water flow, food, and placement in the tank. I have come up with many theories in this time only to prove myself wrong. I now feel that I have a good understanding of what these corals are going through and how to bring them through. I have much more work to do, but after talking to friends, I have been convinced to post my findings a little prematurely. So here it is.
I do not believe that “the problem” is the protozoans living within the corals. My corals and many others around the world have recovered from this illness. I believe that the protozoans are opportunistic, attacking a week and stressed animal. I read about the theory that the problem was with the corals being collected from greater depths then they were years ago and that they were having problems adapting to the brighter lights of our aquariums. I originally dismissed this theory because the Elegance corals I have dealt with were wonderfully adaptable animals. With what I have seen in my own tank I have had to rethink my stand on this issue. These corals are having a very hard time adapting to low Kelvin temp lights. Even 10,000 K with actinic supplemental lighting seems to be to bright. I believe that the shrunken tentacles and overly inflated oral disk is a symptom of light exposure. A sun burn for corals. Just as you and I would need time to heal after our first day at the beach for the summer, an Elegance coral once it shows these symptoms will need time to heal even after it has been removed from the light. If the coral remains under these bright lights it probably wont make it. There seems to be one more symptom relating to these corals being collected at greater depths. This is where some people will disagree with me. The tissue or skin of these corals seems to be thinner than the shallow water corals. I believe this is an adaptation to the lower light levels at greater depths. This allows more light to penetrate the corals tissue and reach its zooxanthellae. We know that T. clams require more light as they grow due to the skin on their mantels becoming thicker with size. I know that this is not the same process that I am describing here, but the results are the same. I don’t know if this has ever been documented in other species or not. I can not, or will not, prove this point. In order to prove this one would have to sacrifice several shallow water corals and several deep water corals to examine their tissues under a microscope. I’m just not willing to do this. It is enough for me to compare the two living animals. A healthy shallow water Elegance has thick skin. I have seen tangs, clown, and other animals harass these corals with little or no damage. The deeper water corals will be ripped open by the slightest assault. The only coral I lost during this experiment so far was due to a Coral Banded Shrimp walking across the oral disk of the Elegance. The shrimps little pointed feet would puncture the corals tissue. By the time I got the shrimp out it was to late. I have had tangs and clowns nip at these corals causing small holes in the tissues. Even fish with parasites can cause holes by scratching themselves on the coral.
So, It is my opinion that if you want your Elegance to live a long healthy life in your aquarium there are a few things you must do. First be very gentle with them. They can be damaged very easily. Find a spot in the tank away from low Kelvin temp lights. This will be the hard part. I have two bleached corals from insufficient lighting. (They are recovering nicely though.) To much light will burn them and not enough will cause them to bleach. Separate them from any stress in the beginning. This means no tangs or clown fish or anything that may harass the coral. For their long term success I believe that they should be acclimated to the brighter lights. This is a very, very slow process. Once the coral has adapted to the brighter light it should be just as hardy as the corals of old. I believe that their skin will thicken up given the time to do so. At this point I don’t fear any of my corals dieing. I still have 10 in different stages of this situation. In time I believe they will be large, beautiful, and healthy. One more thing, Feed your coral small pieces of shrimp or fish. NOT from your grocery store. They add preservatives to our food that may not be good for our corals. Buy from your LFS. Don’t try to feed your coral when its tentacles are withdrawn. This will only stress the coral. Feed once a week if the coral is healthy enough to feed.
Good luck and thanks for taking the time to read about my theories.
Darrell Sutton,
AKA Elegance Coral
Elegance Coral Theory
Let me start by saying that I have a great deal of respect for the professionals in the hobby that have done work on this subject. I would hate to think where the hobby would be without the likes of people like Julian Sprung. My only problem is that I couldn’t find anyone doing research on live corals to find out what we could do to better care of them. All the information I could find was on dead or dieing corals. The professionals seemed content with saying that the problem was a parasitic protozoan living within the tissues of the coral and there is nothing we, the aquarists, can do about it. Dips don’t work and there is no other known cure for the problem. Catalaphyllia Jardinei, the Elegance coral is by far my favorite coral. I could not except that this is the fate of this beautiful coral, so I started my own experiments into this subject.
I started out by designing a stand that would hold a large sump/refuge and plenty of room for lights and other filtration equipment. Because Elegance corals are small when you buy them, and they don’t move around, all I needed was a small tank to house them in. The system is described bellow.
About 14 months ago, after the tank was up and running and finished with all the new tank issues, I started buying up all the Elegance corals I could find. 11 to date. In this time I have done many experiments with these corals. Different lights, water flow, food, and placement in the tank. I have come up with many theories in this time only to prove myself wrong. I now feel that I have a good understanding of what these corals are going through and how to bring them through. I have much more work to do, but after talking to friends, I have been convinced to post my findings a little prematurely. So here it is.
I do not believe that “the problem” is the protozoans living within the corals. My corals and many others around the world have recovered from this illness. I believe that the protozoans are opportunistic, attacking a week and stressed animal. I read about the theory that the problem was with the corals being collected from greater depths then they were years ago and that they were having problems adapting to the brighter lights of our aquariums. I originally dismissed this theory because the Elegance corals I have dealt with were wonderfully adaptable animals. With what I have seen in my own tank I have had to rethink my stand on this issue. These corals are having a very hard time adapting to low Kelvin temp lights. Even 10,000 K with actinic supplemental lighting seems to be to bright. I believe that the shrunken tentacles and overly inflated oral disk is a symptom of light exposure. A sun burn for corals. Just as you and I would need time to heal after our first day at the beach for the summer, an Elegance coral once it shows these symptoms will need time to heal even after it has been removed from the light. If the coral remains under these bright lights it probably wont make it. There seems to be one more symptom relating to these corals being collected at greater depths. This is where some people will disagree with me. The tissue or skin of these corals seems to be thinner than the shallow water corals. I believe this is an adaptation to the lower light levels at greater depths. This allows more light to penetrate the corals tissue and reach its zooxanthellae. We know that T. clams require more light as they grow due to the skin on their mantels becoming thicker with size. I know that this is not the same process that I am describing here, but the results are the same. I don’t know if this has ever been documented in other species or not. I can not, or will not, prove this point. In order to prove this one would have to sacrifice several shallow water corals and several deep water corals to examine their tissues under a microscope. I’m just not willing to do this. It is enough for me to compare the two living animals. A healthy shallow water Elegance has thick skin. I have seen tangs, clown, and other animals harass these corals with little or no damage. The deeper water corals will be ripped open by the slightest assault. The only coral I lost during this experiment so far was due to a Coral Banded Shrimp walking across the oral disk of the Elegance. The shrimps little pointed feet would puncture the corals tissue. By the time I got the shrimp out it was to late. I have had tangs and clowns nip at these corals causing small holes in the tissues. Even fish with parasites can cause holes by scratching themselves on the coral.
So, It is my opinion that if you want your Elegance to live a long healthy life in your aquarium there are a few things you must do. First be very gentle with them. They can be damaged very easily. Find a spot in the tank away from low Kelvin temp lights. This will be the hard part. I have two bleached corals from insufficient lighting. (They are recovering nicely though.) To much light will burn them and not enough will cause them to bleach. Separate them from any stress in the beginning. This means no tangs or clown fish or anything that may harass the coral. For their long term success I believe that they should be acclimated to the brighter lights. This is a very, very slow process. Once the coral has adapted to the brighter light it should be just as hardy as the corals of old. I believe that their skin will thicken up given the time to do so. At this point I don’t fear any of my corals dieing. I still have 10 in different stages of this situation. In time I believe they will be large, beautiful, and healthy. One more thing, Feed your coral small pieces of shrimp or fish. NOT from your grocery store. They add preservatives to our food that may not be good for our corals. Buy from your LFS. Don’t try to feed your coral when its tentacles are withdrawn. This will only stress the coral. Feed once a week if the coral is healthy enough to feed.
Good luck and thanks for taking the time to read about my theories.
Darrell Sutton,
AKA Elegance Coral