Healthy Elegance?

[Airborne12B]

I picked up an Elegance which I believe to be an Indo based off the shape of the skeleton. To my untrained eye everything looks fine, but I wanted to get some second opinions since I have never kept Elegance before. I attached some pictures of it. The first picture is in the LFS, and the others of it are in the tank six days later.

http://imgur.com/a/PdkLD

I posted pictures but they were huuuuge, so here is the url to it.

[saf1]

Looks like it is spreading out and open. Healthy. Good placement. I'd say you have a good one on your hands. Great coral. Loved mine.

[Airborne12B]

The giant rock casts a shadow over about 3/4 of it, and I figured it's perfect timing to get one since I just got this light and am acclimating everything to it.

[HammerLover]

I wanna try an elegance soon so I've been reading about them for the past few days.

Indo ones hate to be in high light. If possible keep t on a fairly shady place at first with a decent amount of flow. The flow should be enough to move the polyps but not too much it looks like a flag during a storm.

Too much light will make it swell. Since Indo elegances were found in deeper waters, the light they were before is low. With lower light means more zooxanthalae (sorry for the wrong spelling) and exposing them to high light will make the coral produce more oxygen due to the increased number of zooxanthalae. The coral can't handle too much oxygen and it will soon puffed up looking swelled and will soon die due to tissue necrosis.

So now keep it in decent flow and low light. Once it's already settled for around a week or two try feeding it some shrimp. Smaller food like mysis and brine wasn't usually accepted since they like meaty foods. Based on what I've read they feed it with chopped raw shrimp. Cut them into sizes around the size of a pencil eraser. Gently swish the shrimp meat at the elegance's polyps near the mouth to entice it. Slowly it will grab hold of the shrimp and push it in its mouth. They typically need feeding twice or once a week of meaty foods to keep them happy.

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes it looks very nice and healthy. I love mine!

[Airborne12B]

Originally Posted by HammerLover

So now keep it in decent flow and low light. Once it's already settled for around a week or two try feeding it some shrimp. Smaller food like mysis and brine wasn't usually accepted since they like meaty foods. Based on what I've read they feed it with chopped raw shrimp. Cut them into sizes around the size of a pencil eraser. Gently swish the shrimp meat at the elegance's polyps near the mouth to entice it. Slowly it will grab hold of the shrimp and push it in its mouth. They typically need feeding twice or once a week of meaty foods to keep them happy.

I actually started feeding after the first night. I alternate between small feedings of Spirulina w/ brine and then reef roids cut with oyster feast everyday. I noticed it was sticky and it tried to eat, so I've been giving it what it wants. It seems to be helping. I'll be working it up to fresh salmon.

[Dkuhlmann]

I would feed it no more than twice a week, with the exception of what food you feed your fish falls into it. All you will end up doing is raising your nitrates

[HammerLover]

Originally Posted by Airborne12B

I actually started feeding after the first night. I alternate between small feedings of Spirulina w/ brine and then reef roids cut with oyster feast everyday. I noticed it was sticky and it tried to eat, so I've been giving it what it wants. It seems to be helping. I'll be working it up to fresh salmon.

A sticky elegance is a happy healthy elegance
You got lucky with your Indo one! Most die within a short time

[Airborne12B]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

I would feed it no more than twice a week, with the exception of what food you feed your fish falls into it. All you will end up doing is raising your nitrates

I will eventually dial back the feedings once I'm actually feeding things of more substance. Food seriously helps corals (or any plant or animal) adjust to new surroundings, and as long as I'm getting an almost instantaneous feeding response from it I'll keep feeding.

Originally Posted by HammerLover

A sticky elegance is a happy healthy elegance
You got lucky with your Indo one! Most die within a short time

I'm super lucky! I snagged that baby up for $70, and it's about as big as my fist. I have gremlins at all the local stores who text me when cool stuff comes in. I bought it the day after they got it, and I'm thinking that might be part of the success. If left there for much longer I can almost guarantee that it would have died given the lighting and placement I found it in. With that being said, I could be completely off base, and it isn't actually an Indo. Either way, I'm super happy that it seems to be doing well.

[HammerLover]

If I can just have someone here who I can share an elegance with. Last time I swinged at my LFS, they were selling purple tipped elegance around the size of two palm hands.

I wish I can buy it but I don't have enough money and its way too big

I hope I can have one someday

[HammerLover]

And good job on your coral! Post pics once it's fully settled and happy

[Felipe Senna]

it is very healthy.

I always had this coral, I really like.

the important in my opinion is the water has diluted nutrients and always feed with solid food such as small pieces of shrimp.

I had one for eight years and it was the size of a soccer ball.

[Airborne12B]

Thanks for the input guys! My main concern at this point is the tentacles. Do they seem deflated and/or stringy?

[HammerLover]

Originally Posted by Airborne12B

Thanks for the input guys! My main concern at this point is the tentacles. Do they seem deflated and/or stringy?

They should have normal expansion, not too puffy and not too receded.

If it gets really puffy and expanded that's when something is wrong. As longs as it's eating and its sticky it will be fine

[Dkuhlmann]

It looks fine and healthy! The tentacles are fine.