My GF surprised me when I uploaded pics of my sea snake.

[caferacermike]

She is so proud of me for keeping my, this, elegance coral alive. I've gotten 3 of them in the past and they all melted within 3 days. Basically I was told each time that they were probably damaged in shipping (none were at lfs for more than 2 days and one was sold at a discount cause it's mate had already brown jellied). I've had this one for 2 months now. I can rememebr how mad she was when I got it because she made me swear them off. But this little guy was only $25 and had been there for 2 weeks. I took the chance. Little did I know that she was taking pics of it all last week to show her friends at work.

http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/data/500/100_1282.JPG

And.
http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/data/500/100_1285.JPG

She rates my entire reef keeping abilities on this one coral as they are supposedly so difficult to maintain.

[hammondegge]

here is some good reading on your coral
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=310425&highlight=elegan ce+coral

[gjuarez]

Congratulations on being able to keep the elegance for two months now. IMO, long term success for a species like this doesnt start until about nine months or so. Its just very weird how difficult it is to keep. I know some people who have some of the best water quality and are not able to keep them. I in the other hand, kept one for almost a year and a half under less than perfect water quality, isnt that weird. Same thing goes for goniporas. I know I didnt do anything special, I just got lucky I guess. There has to be a factor other than water quality in being able to keep a species like this. This is a very nice piece. Hope you continue to have great success with it. Keep us posted

[gjuarez]

Oh and one thing, it didnt die on me, I sold it to another very experienced reefer. It died on him three months later. As nice as it is, I dont think I could be able to keep one again.

[caferacermike]

From what I've read in the past is that they come from (of course everything I read says they come from everywhere) high nutrient runoff areas. Suggested that the best places to find them back in the day was in muddy swamp lagoons. I've read many a theory that todays modern tanks with huge skimmers, loads of rock, high currents and very strict feeding schedules tend not to fare well with elegance.

[GaryP]

That might explain why some of the old coral books say they are easy to keep but most modern reefers have exactly the opposite experience with them.

My suggestion is to feed him a lot.

[caferacermike]

That's right it's been a long time..

http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/data/500/100_1457.JPG
http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/data/500/100_1456.JPG
http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/data/500/100_1455.JPG

[Ross]

Looks sweet!

[caferacermike]

Thanks Ross. I just wanted to update it about 2 months later.

[caferacermike]

One more time.

Emerald crabs beware the ninja coral.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/emeraldelegance.jpg

Finally got a decent shot of me tank.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/75gtankshot.jpg

And one good macro.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/macroacro.jpg

As long as I'm getting it. Here's one of my anemones that I was told "I'll kill it in minutes". It's been hanging tough for 6 weeks.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/maganemone.jpg

What do you all think?

[cpreefguy]

Mmmmmm efflo.....
Lookin good Mike!!!

[caferacermike]

Oh hey Sean, thanks. That Efflo died months ago and is in fact covered with a combination of green hair algae and both purple and pink cyano bacterias. I think it looks way better than when it was alive.


Ok no that's an untruth. Man is it ever growing. Some of the spires we were looking at when you stopped by are now 1/2"-3/4" tall and are branching out. It's like tiny acro colonies all over the main table. The edges are grwoing faster as well. They are branching out and curling up. I'll bet I could frag 10 1/2"-3/4" pieces that would mount nicely. Remember how when you got it it had no skin on the underside? I am proud to say that the skin now touches that rock it is sitting on, 3" below the main table. It gets a deeper green everyday. The edges are super purple with a hint of turquiose. The polyps are a combination of white, blue and brown. The blue and white polyps are about 1/4" long and stick out from any towers or branches. The brown ones are very small and add a fuzzy appearance to the main table between the towers.

[TexasTodd]

/sexy!

Super nice Elegance. Another thing I've heard, besides the nutrients thing, is that back in the day, most elegance corals were collected from shallow water and use to very high light, now they are more scarce and most are deeper water taken and have a ton of problems adjusting to higher light.

EFFLO CLOSEUP PLEASE!!!!!

:)

TT

[caferacermike]

I'll try to get a closeup of the efflo. It sits about 10" back in the tank and my photo skills suck supreme. The pics of it I get are just green blobs. I could draw you a better pic on Paintshop. I need me one of those fancy acrylic photo periscopes like Ace makes. Oh and that maroon clown is as big as my hand laid flat. It's spike is 1/2" long.

[TexasTodd]

Believe me, I'm no photo wizard either, try taking a pic with the camera about 8" from the glass. For some reason mine blurrs more when it's super close to the glass.

Todd

[hobogato]

great looking tank mike - cant wait to see what you do with that big one :)

[caferacermike]

Thanks Ace. recognize the millie? lol. You know in person it looks awesome and almost inspiring. In pictures it looks hilarious because it's all SPS frags. In person they all look the part but in that pic the frags look tiny. That means only one thing....... Need more frags... The part I'm waiting to laugh about is when I have to fill the 400 with colonies and the pics will llook just like that. Colonies will look like frags in my 75g.