Is this excellence too far gone?

[fatoldsun]

I got this last week. It came from a 50g nano under a single 250 MH

Its in a 90 w/ a coralife twin 150 HQI fixture. I've had it for 10 days. After about 5-6 it looked like this

I believe the culprit is/was my Singapore Angel. She'd always left LPS alone -just zoas and palys. Well I guess this seemed enough like a paly for her liking. Shes now in the fuge and is pending to a new home. Question is: any chance the elegance opens after a few days of not being harassed?

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

Those stubby tentacles is not a good sign. It usually means the coral is on it's way out. If you go on RC and search for "the elegance project" there's a lot of information on unexplained elegance coral death.

 

[fatoldsun]

Thought that was a few years back and really the coral from Indonesia. The stuff from australia was supposed to be better and I didn't think the small ones came from Indonesia. I guess if it's that disease it's done. I was just thinking it was from the angel nipping at it and if so could it recover.

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

The problem is you don't know what other coral it's been exposed to between Australia and NJ. Corals get put together with other corals in wholesalers tanks from all over the world any can be exposed to all kinds of foriegn bacteria.

The Angel may have stressed it more by nipping at it. Try dipping it a few times over the next week or so and see what happens. As long as it's still alive it has a chance to recover.

 

[fatoldsun]

Try dipping it a few times over the next week or so and see what happens. As long as it's still alive it has a chance to recover.

Is CoralRx an adequate medicinal dip? I have it for new stuff to help with pests but I didn't know what others applications it has...

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I've never used it, but I've read that others have used it for dipping stresed corals. I assume it's just a diluted Iodine solution which should work if it's a bacteria problem.

 

[fatoldsun]

Just an update to this – here is the excellence after a few more weeks – it really looks the same – it is not dead but it is not happy looking either. I can’t figure how it’s hung on this long – any of the diseases that seemed to pop up with the Indonesian excellence (from what I read) took them out VERY quickly and fully left nothing but a skeleton. I was told this is an Australian excellence so it should be ok in terms of that mystery disease but the Singapore angel that I believed to be the culprit has been gone for about 2 weeks+. I’ve also done a few CoralRx dips to try and kill off anything that may be stressing it (not too many because I don’t want the dip to cause too much stress) and anyway, here it is after a few more weeks….

 

[reefsandrotts]

whats your water params at?
by looks of the sand your water may be the problem,how much flow is it in they like low-med flow

 

[fatoldsun]

whats your water params at?
by looks of the sand your water may be the problem,how much flow is it in they like low-med flow

I'm due to test tonight. Last test phosphates (Hanna) and nitrates (red sea) were zero. I had a HA problem that I traced to phosphates in my new salt water. I've addressed that and with water changes I've gotten rid of 70% of the HA. The cyano has been more stubborn though. I know it wouldn't be there without nutrients so I'm still working on solving it. The excellence was really a victim of the angel though. Caught it in the act more than once before I rehomed it
Do you think it can recover without the angel present if perams improve?

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

it looks better than it did. I'm wondering if its getting too much light the way it's tucked in like that.

 

[reefsandrotts]

The elegance will for sure have a better chance to recover without the angel picking on it and your perams improve,
I agree with Jeff about the light I would find a somewhat shaded low flow zone to put it in till it recovers

 

[fatoldsun]

I thought I had it tucked back out of direct light from the HQIs but the tanks in an all glass sunroom there's really no way to effectively shade it from natural light. I'll try to look for a better spot back further or more in the shade

 

[reefsandrotts]

this may sound a little strange,
but is there a way to put an umbrella in the area of the elegance to help shade it?

 

[downbeach]

You might find some info in this article or FAQ's:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm

 

[fatoldsun]

this may sound a little strange,
but is there a way to put an umbrella in the area of the elegance to help shade it?

I have to admit, that DOES sound a little strange - I got a good laugh and then started to think about putting a small cocktail umbrella in there. Add a miniature beach blanket (the cyano could work for that) and one of those bubble treasure chests for the “cooler” and it could be elegance, the beach bum. Anyway, I have some cocktail umbrellas but they're wood (tooth pics) and paper - not sure they'd make it very long and I have to guess the dyes wouldn’t be good.

You might find some info in this article or FAQ's:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm

Interesting article Jim. Funny what I took away from reading it... could my tank be too clean? - doubt it.... Anyway, maybe it would do better in my sump/fuge - less flow, less light and all the chaeto might mimic the grasses that surround it in the wild – in never would have occurred to me that moving it down there would be helpful. And if it does well the perc down there may host in it - bonus

 

[reefsandrotts]

lol....
no you said the tank is in a sunroom,shade that area the tank with the umbrella most elegance corals are collected in deeper areas and often times they are on the edges of the reefs.
Here is a pic. of an elegance I had years ago was almost 36" left to right and stood about 20-24" high notice the low light

 

[fatoldsun]

That does look quite a bit different. I tried moving it under a ledge and in the morning/early afternoon shadow. If in a week it doesn't turn the corner I'm trying the fuge.

 

[fatoldsun]

Good call on the cocktail umbrella. Sure likes the shade. No tentacles yet but it's puffier every day.

Hard to see here but I have to get pics off the point & shoot's card.

 

[fatoldsun]

progress? A little blurry.

 

[reefsandrotts]

And you thought I was crazy.....