Elegance Coral in trouble?

[Fay]

[Pies]

As I suspected from the beginning, I think there is a 99% chance this coral is dead. Notice how the body is bloated but the tenticles are very short. This is 'typical' behavior as described by Eric Bourneman of the condition that is effecting these corals.

As I have already stated, moving it to another tank will not do anything other than polute someone elses tank.

Cross you fingers, but as soon as the skelleton is visitble through the flesh (as the infection rots it off), pull it from the tank, as it will make a mess and cause some water condition issues (partuculary in a small tank).

Sorry to paint such a negitive picture of the situation.

Pie

[RnB]

what has happened?

[petplanet]

Is that a night shot? Looks like it is putting its tenticles out to feed. If it is then drop some food into the tenticles. My pearl bubbles go like that every night.

If it is dying and starts rotting then I would just sypon off the rotten bits regularly that way you can save the actual rock. Moving a rotter can be worse. It could fall to bits and land on other corals.

[Pies]

Its not feeding, its bloated and dieing.

Pie

[Fay]

Chris, How is the coral going we haven't heard from you. Try not to blame yourself if it is dieing I lost one of these corals too. I blame the importers for bring in such beautiful corals with such a poor success rate, should be left on the reef. P.S. it cost me $200

Hows yours reef is it still alive?

[reef]

Mine is fantastic, 6 months and still going strong, I am aware that another 4 are also still going, but thay are all also feeding reef soloution

Feed mine reef soloution which is a varied of vitamins ,minerals etc,

Chris would have lost his due to his water quality,should not have been put in a tank that was not fully matured.

Once damaged they will never come back.

blame the importers for bring in such beautiful corals with such a poor success rate, should be left on the reef. P.S. it cost me $200

Thats a tuff call, As if that was the case then no fish and coral should be allowed in as most of it dies within the first year.

[Pies]

Reef - So yours and 4 others are alive. How many have you brought in? Whats the survival rate? 50%? 25%? 75%?

Anyone else in here got one? I have only ever seen one, and thats in Reefs tank.

Pies

[Ira]

If someone provides the coral I'll be happy to provide another data point...

[reef]

Brought in about 15 over 12 months, Survival rate about 75% . But when they arrive you can see that some are not looking that great.

Once they are slightly damaged they dont seem to recover.

Cataphyllias do need some form of food and do seem to like tanks that are not skimmed much.

Low light and med current. should be placed on sand bed.

[Ira]

Cataphyllias do need some form of food and do seem to like tanks that are not skimmed much.

Low light and med current. should be placed on sand bed.

Sounds like one would likely do well in my tank then.

[Fay]

Its a pity, I wasn't given this info from the retailer when I purchased this beauty I wouldn't have got it as my tank was also new. It died within a week it's not the $200 that upsets me, its the fact of killing something.

[Fay]

Chris were you advised of the above info at purchase did the supplier know how old your tank was and did they give you feeding tips lighting tips and how much did you pay for this coral. If not a refund should be given and then suppliers would think twice!!

[Pies]

Fay - You should read the Eric Bourneman articles on Reefcentral.com about these corals. Basically he is doing a worldwide study of the survival rate of these corals in captivity.

The results are not encouraging. Infact stastically there was little chance at all of it surviving.

You should return the coral, quote your rights as a consumer and demand your money back, showing the LFS the articles on how the chances of keeping corals is so slim. He sold you a lemon, another example of a how most lfs support the hobby...

As reef sais they need to be fed and do survive better in a lower skimmed tank. But thats not what killed you coral, it was propably dead long before you got it, NOTHING you could have done would have saved it and there is nothing wrong with your tank. According to the articles it takes months for these corals to starve, and it is considered an medium-easy coral to keep, once its establised itself.

Reef - Interesting you think the survival rate is 75%+, according to Erics Articles and studys the survival rate past 6 weeks is less than 15% and he belives its actually a lot lower than that.

Pie

[lduncan]

Pies - from what i've read this is a contagious disease, which is uncommon in the wild. The corals apparantly catch whatever it is from the exporters holding tanks. So survival rate depends on who your buying from I guess.

Layton

[reef]

Reef - Interesting you think the survival rate is 75%+,

When a coral is fully open why would it be dead?

Layton you are on the money, I think it comes down to who the suppliers are and how long they have had the coral at the holding station.

There could be many factors why these coral die, maybe to much light. Not enough food etc, too high nitrates etc etc, the list can go on.

I could say the same thing about copperbands , acropora just to mention a few.

How many of these are alive? Not many.

[dan_from_nz]

interesting thread but isn't one of the passions of reef keeping the fact that you can keep some of the most rare, difficult and least adaptable species in the world right in your living room? obviously if this is true you can't blame the importer

[JoeBlog]

I bought one from Alois via Organisms about 3 weeks ago, and it is definitely on its last leg.

So, I guess that drops the percentage a bit.

[jetskisteve]

mine lasted about 6 weeks- not from organism.

[Fay]

dan from nz well what do you think now I think it's total irresponsible :evil:

[reef]

It appears only advance reef keepers can keep them. So I can’t see how it is irresponsible. Not everyone has lost them.

I still have mine and have explained that it appears that they need some form of nutrients.

Many corals die once they leave the shops and most die due to the irresponsible hobbyist for trying to save money by buying cheap equipment or making diy equipment that does not work.

Goniopra is another coral that has the same problem and I was totally against bringing them in until I started to try a few and know after 6 months I still have mine..

Acropora were in the same camp but until I started to educate hobbyist that you need good equipment more hobbyist are keeping them. I actually find them easier than leather corals to keep.

Saying that I am irresponsible for bringing them in seems very short sighted. What about the other 10-20 species of coral/fish that we get that are hard to keep.

It’s only hard to keep if you don’t have the experience or don’t invest enough money to buy the correct equipment

I am not saying that the cataphyllias died due to incorrect equipment filtration in this case as many years ago they were very easy to keep but it would be of good value it everyone who lost them or has one explain what sort of filtration they have, how much light does the coral have etc, etc. this way we might be able to see what conditions the coral is doing best in and pin point the problem.

I can keep almost every coral/fish that come in and that is because I have spent years gaining experience.

If anyone is going to get them in the future I would get some reef solution and see if we get more people that have success with these coral.

Sometimes i dont know why i bring fish in as 60-70% of them die within a year.

The only way this is going to improve is to educate hobbyist , however we are very limited in NZ with experianced hobbyist and this will take some time.

[Fay]

Well shops should advise that these corals are for ADVANCED REEF KEEPERS ONLY and not sell them to the likes of me. I suppose I can say I am irresponsible for the purchase in the first place, none of my equipment is DIY and each purchase was made on the advise of the shop. I was not advised of any special requirement for this coral at purchase if nothing else I hope this post will bring it to the attention of others when offered this coral. I do not wish to offend any importer I think you do a great job I am just concerned for the future of our great REEFS

[lduncan]

The reefs face much bigger problems than the ornamental hobby trade.

Layton

[reef]

So true.

[AW]

No matter what you do, how good your system is, any living creature taken from its natural enviroment and placed into a artificial one will suffer from stress. Some die , some don't

Most marine creatures require a high level of care / experience.

As far as being told what difficult to keep and whats not, thats a big can of worms!

Just a few thoughts:

The hobby is a continuing learning experience and education for everybody involved, even the experts.

There's a lot that people ( and i mean everybody in general) don't know or understand about reefs / corals etc.

If people didn't try to keep the impossible to keep corals / fish in cavity, then the technique / husbandry of keeping these animals alive could not be learnt.

Gonioperas are another tricky one to keep.

I kept one in my early days of reefing, Kept it for almost a year. It was going great but ffom what I read , this was the same for everbody that kept them. They go great for a couple of years and then fall over :-? Thought I do away with the sadness of it dying in my tank and sold it on to the pet shop. They are a beautiful coral.

Heck, I road my RGV250 down to Rotorua to get it (from AK). Had ot ride back in the rain. I can tell you, a coral + water in a sholder bag starts to get real heavy! I really liked that coral.