FAQs about Elegance Corals
3
Related Articles: Catalaphyllia Coral, Caryophyllids, Large Polyp Stony
Corals
Related FAQs: Elegance
Corals 1, Elegance Corals
2, Elegance Coral
Identification, Elegance Coral
Behavior, Elegance Coral
Selection, Elegance Coral
Compatibility, Elegance Coral
Selection, Elegance Coral
Systems, Elegance Coral
Feeding, Elegance Coral
Disease/Pests, Elegance Coral
Reproduction, Caryophyllid ID,
Caryophyllid Compatibility,
Caryophyllid Systems, Caryophyllid Selection, Caryophyllid Behavior, Caryophyllid Feeding, Caryophyllid Disease, Caryophyllid Propagation/Reproduction,
Stony/True Coral, Stony Coral Behavior, Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef Corals, Stony Coral Behavior,
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Elegance Coral... rdg. 1/31/13
Hi Crew, I have a question about a elegance coral. I think I might made
a boo boo. I went to my local fish store and bought this coral. It is
green with purple tips, and is gorgeous. Well I don't think it is the
version from Australia, I think it the other. So think I made a mistake.
Should I take it back?
<See WWM re Catalaphyllia>
It has been in my tank for about six hours now. I tried to feed it Mysis
with a turkey baster and did not want food, and it did not stick to the
tentacles. Is this a bad sign or is it still acclaiming and I am
freaking out over nothing? Should I use tweezers to feed it next time?
Here is a picture of it. I am just getting back into the reef tank world
again. I bought a 29gallon biocube from a friend to start out before I
went bigger.
Thanks for your time.
<... read, heed. BobF>
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Re: Elegance Coral 2/2/13
Bob, How do you get them to take food? I have feed mine twice now. Mysis
<Need meatier, larger fare>
yesterday when lights were on and tonight when lights are off. I used a
Turkey baster both times and read a lot of articles about them being swelled
up, short tentacles, but still lost on feeding. I got him in the sand
horizontal , with very little flow going his way. I do not want to pollute
my tank with wasted food. There are only two inquires under Elegance feeding
on WWM.
<Really? Just checked and you're right... Not to worry, this species is a
voracious feeder when it's ready, healthy. Have patience. Bob Fenner>
I read lots of articles, but not what i am looking for. Please help
Re: Elegance Coral 2/3/13
Bob, thank you I feel much better. Have a good day.
<Thank you Jim. Did you see/read my olde article on keeping the species:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm
Harder to keep specimens from Indo. nowayears. Bob Fenner>
Re: Elegance Coral
2/3/13
Bob, Yes I did. I did not try to feed him yesterday, but will try again
today. I will let you know what happens. Thanks, Jim P.S. Go Ravens!
<Heeee! I take it this Corvus reference has to do w/ spectator sports.
Cheers, B>
Re: Elegance Coral 2/3/13
My lights just came on and the coral is swollen with white snot on it. I
read a post back in 2006 somebody wrote in and you said it could affect
other corals. Should I remove and take it back to my lfs and throw it at
them? This is why I only by <buy> from live aquaria and not my lfs. Jim
<Likely too late to be moving... I'd leave in place. B>
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Re: Elegance Coral
2/4/13
Ok thank Bob. Fish are so much easier. This is why I have a 180 Fowlr and
not a 180 reef. 29Gall biocube is fun for getting back into reef. I should
of read more about the elegance before I bought it. Happy diving!!
<Cheers, BobF> |
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Elegance coral care and orientation 5/20/09
Hi all - thanks for this great site, it is fabulous.
< Hello ,and thank you. >
Two days ago I was talked into purchasing a "very healthy"
elegance coral. I had done a bit of research and at first all of
the sites that sell corals said this is a easy to moderate coral for
caring for, so it seemed perfect.
< I would say moderate. >
However, now that I dug a bit deeper I have found out all about the
Elegance coral disease, etc. So, now I am wondering what I should do. I
can't return the coral and don't have anyone that can care for
it better than I can. So it looks like I have to do the best I
can. First: What is the proper way to orient the coral in the
sand. Bob's advice on here is "horizontal" but I
can't picture what that means. Does that mean cone down in the
sand, mouth and tentacles flat all pointing up? The LFS told me to put
the coral so that the mouth and tentacles are more angled so it
doesn't defecate back into itself. A really clear picture would be
great here, I can't seem to find anything and I've been
searching a lot...
< It should be placed in the sand with the cone pointed down. No
angle. If you have the proper amount of flow any waste should be pushed
away. >
Second: I can't seem to find a straight answer on if I should feed
it or not, some articles say yes once a week - is that what you
recommend?
< Small meaty foods (mysis, enriched brine etc.) three or more times
a week depending on size. >
Finally: any other advice on caring for this guy, or links to
consistent advice, would be great.
< Elegance corals are found in areas with higher nutrient levels. So
pristine water could actually be detrimental to its health. Indirect
water flow is recommended. As well as regular feedings and properly
maintained calcium levels. The Elegance corals sting packs a pretty
good punch so be sure to give it plenty of room.
http://www.asira.org/catalaphyllia(elegancecoral)
It may also be beneficial to visit a few reef keeping forums to get
first hand info from successful Elegance keepers. >
My tank is 100 gallon, I have a sump, large protein skimmer, 2x Koralia
3's for water flow. 2x 175 watt metal halide and 4x55 watt VHO (I
think) actinics.
150 pounds live rock
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate all undetectable (granted the test tube tests
might not be perfect, not sure)
Ph 8.2-8.4
calcium 400-460
carbonate hardness 8-9
I have a bubble tip anemone, a few small polyp frags, hammer coral,
colt coral, star polyps, and pulsing xenia 1 maroon clownfish, 5 blue
chromis, and a bunch of hermit crabs and turbo snails thanks for your
help, any advice is appreciated.
< You are welcome GA Jenkins >
John
Re: Elegance coral care and orientation 5/20/09
Thank you so much for the advice and the link, I really appreciate the
help.
< You are very welcome! That's a great site for coral care info.
GA Jenkins >
John
Elegance coral question for Bob Fenner
5/10/09
Hi Bob,
I have a pair of elegance corals.
<Mmm, Catalaphyllias are near the top in terms of physical
stingy-ness...
And don't mix well often with other specimens that they're
"unfamiliar with"... Have you read on WWM re...?>
I have a pink tip frag from a 19 year old colony that's been with
me for about 6 months and is growing rapidly.
Currently he is the lone inhabitant of my tank with a 3.5" DSB
established for almost 2 years and about 14 blades of seagrass- shoal
grass I think. I picked up a frag of an Australian purple tipped
elegance at MAX '09 in Costa Mesa about 5 weeks ago and has been in
QT since. He is eating well and looks 'happy.'
a) I'm not sure about the length of QT required for ECS to manifest
itself.
<...Elegance Coral Syndrome? See WWM re the health of this species
period>
b) Will there be a problem if the pink tip elegance and purple tip
elegance touch each other?
<Yes. Very likely>
They expand so much! The pink tip appears to have a stronger sting than
the purple tip when food is presented.
<They should expand and contract somewhat... That one/both are doing
this a great deal is symptomatic of "warring">
c) As I mentioned I have 14 blades of seagrass that have been there
since Jan '09. As new ones grow, old ones die -a turn over of about
3-4 leaves a week. I was hoping for more blades of grass!!!
<What do you think are the limiting factors here? Light, some
nutrient/s?>
I started using FW plant fertilizer tabs buried 2" below the DSB
by the roots per Eric Borneman's advice at MAX '09, but I see
no change.
<Does take time... Could be summat else>
Thank You,
Narayan
<Be chatting, Bob Fenner>
Re: Elegance coral question for Bob Fenner
5/10/09
Hi Bob,
Thank you very much for your reply.
a) The purple tip elegance coral is still in QT. The pink tip and
purple tip elegance have not been in contact yet. The expansion and
contraction is based on light. The pink tip reduced it's size by
50% at night. The purple tip basically withdraws completely in to its
skeleton at night -from being 6" across down to about 1"!
<Mmm, vigorous... again, I would not likely "mix" the two
specimens in the same system/water>
b) I don't know how long to QT the purple tip to ensure that it
doesn't suffer from ECS. Is 6 weeks enough?
<See WWM re... I don't "believe" in such a syndrome...
there are ways to strengthen this and other Scleractinian, Cnidarian
species re too-easy mortality. These are adequately covered/archived on
our site>
c) As for the shoal grass, they grow fast enough. The old leaves just
die off just as fast as new growth! That's what I need to stop.
Currently I get 3-4 new leaves a week, same as the death rate! So I
guess I have a stable population of shoal grass leaves. They are
planted in a mature 2 year old 3.5" DSB, in 12" of water
under a 20K 70W metal halide bulb. They only problem I see is that
since I'm also fishless, and have been so for 2 years, there are
ton of different pods left over from my live rock days that now hang
out on the grass blades. I wonder if they are my problem!
Thanks a lot!
Narayan
<Couldn't say... but I do think both you and I could devise an
experimental method to test this hypothesis... Mmmm? Bob
Fenner> Catalaphyllia jardinei (Elegance Coral)
2/6/09 Hello crew! <Hi Kai> I am very happy today
because I have just bought myself an Elegance Coral. Yes yes I know,
this coral generally don't do well in captivity, <Mmm, can be
moderately difficult. On a 1 to 10 scale, I'd say a 5. I've had
success with them.> but I have done A LOT of research, read up
everywhere, (especially here), checked out videos of this coral, and
had a long chat with my LFS owner about the care and attention it
needs. I purchased one slightly larger than a 6" specimen when
fully expanded from end to end, and I must say it is absolutely
stunning. <Yes, is one of my faves.> I have read up on the
requirements that this coral needs, and this is what I have given it.
Would appreciate it if you could give me some feedback as to how I am
caring for it :) Firstly, I have placed it on the sand away from other
corals giving it some space to expand. <Good, placing it on sand is
less likely to irritate the soft tissue on the bottom of the coral.
Allow plenty of room as these corals will double their size during the
daytime photoperiod and are very potent stingers. Is perhaps why
clownfish favor this specie of corals if no anemone is present.> The
flow is low/moderate, enough to wave its tentacles and gently move the
body of the coral. I do believe it could be too much? <Doesn't
sound like too much.> So far, I have read that the amount of flow
should only be high enough to sway the tentacles. The amount of flow I
am giving it does just that, but it does gently sway the body of the
coral as well. Very lightly, but please do advice on this, as I am
quite unsure. <Sounds OK to me. I personally prefer the Hydor
Koralia propeller type pumps. They move a large volume of water
throughout the tank without the jet stream effect as in standard power
heads. As an example, the Koralia 4 can gently circulate 1200gph
throughout the tank. The downside is that they cannot be used with most
wave makers, but not being able to pulse them has never been an issue
in my use.> So far it is doing well, have expanded within 2 hours of
introduction. I have fed it a small piece of shrimp and it seemed to
enjoy it. <Best to let the coral acclimate for a few days before
feeding.> Is it normal if it swells up a bit just after a meal?
<I've witnessed this, but not 100% sure if it is the norm.>
While I was at my LFS, they had many choices, ranging from about this
size, to maybe 8-10" specimens (very big I must say), to colours
like intense blue-green which glowed under actinic. The blue-green one
was expelling some sticky white stuff and there seemed to be some
tissue rejection.... a pity as I really liked that colour, but I
figured I should pass, given its current condition. I ended up getting
a rather plain looking one, yellow-brown with pink tips on its
tentacles. <The yellow should turn to a golden color.> I still
love it though :) One of my all time favourites. It is nighttime now
and I have turned off my tank lights. The elegance coral looks very
weird when it "sleeps?" It looks all puffy and the tentacles
are short and slightly curled and tucked into the central part of the
coral. I assume it is puffy as it is still digesting its meal, which I
have just given it an hour ago? Is it normal for it to
"sleep" like this? <Most LPS corals retract during the
night, no fears.> Thanks for the help, and please do tell me where I
am going wrong, if I am going wrong, and I would correct it :) Sorry
that I send you guys e-mails almost everyday, but I feel better knowing
that my questions are being answered by the pros. <Sounds like you
are on the right track, keep reading/learning my friend.> Regards --
Kai Have a nice and pleasant day. <Ditto to you Kai. James (Salty
Dog)>
Elegance coral ?? 12/7/2007 HI Bob! <Sara M.
here.> In a forum, someone was saying how great a store's
elegance corals were. I said, well I bought one there and it was
supposedly from a good source and would not die. Took 6 months, but it
did. Went against every fiber of my being to BUY it, but my corals
never die on me. So I figured I would give it a shot. I did everything
you are supposed to do and YES my tank always has 20 to 30 nitrates (no
phosphates and my sps even grows!.... they are at the top of course)
Anyhow, I was rebutted when I mentioned the coral was 7" long. The
person said, oh well, the corals from Australia are smaller and are
better. <Australian Elegance corals are "better" (less
prone to Elegance Coral Disease than Indo-Pacific ones (this is so, at
least in more recent years).> Correct me if I am wrong, but
Australia TYPICALLY will NOT export young fish or corals, right?
<Umm, this depends on what you mean by "typically." They
don't export the way the does, but they do export some corals and
fish.> I mean basically this person is trying to defend the store
owner and I said, hey I don't blame the store owner. Bob, I just
don't KNOW if I am being fed a line of c*ap about how they are
smaller from Australia. <Bob and I are sitting here in Kona chatting
about this right now. And, sorry to say, I'm going to have to give
you the classic law school student answer to every question..."um,
maybe." It's certainly possible that this coral you were sold
is from Australia. It's also quite possible it's not. As for
relative sizes of corals from different parts of the world... this
might be the case all over (not just from Australia). However, please
don't assume that this person you talked to (or the store owner) is
lying to you. He/she might not be lying. Or, the lie (if there is a
lie) might not have started with them. They might have been lied to by
the distributor, or the distributor lied to by yet someone else up the
line. In any case, Bob thinks that if your elegance coral really was
from Australia, it would have been very expensive! Best, Sara
M.>
Elegance (and some folks) Acting Funny...
reading... 10/24/07 Hey CREW!
<Howdy!> I bought a 1 year old 14 gal BioCube 2 months ago.
The owner had an elegance and a colony of zoanthids in it.
<... too small for a Catalaphyllia...> My problem is, the
elegance has been growing, and growing, and growing, and is now
waaaay too big for my tank. <Yes> Then, 2 days ago I bought
a yellow watchman. <Too small for this Goby...> He
immediately began hosting the elegance, and now the yellow
watchman has been gone for 4 days, <Ooops. Consumed> and
the elegance has been (what looks like) filling up with air, and
its color is going from light purple to a dark
"bruised" looking royal color. <Ate too much> Why
does it look like the elegance is "inflating?" And do
you believe she has eaten the watchman? <Oh yes> I have
moved my 15 pounds of live rock and he has not come out. Any
advice is greatly appreciated. <Get a larger system... Read
here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm and the linked
files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Elegance Acting Funny, Valenciennea...
reading 10/25/07 You say the tank is too small
for the yellow watchman. I'm moving in 2 months, at which
point I will have the room for a larger tank. Money is no object,
and I plan on spending a lot of it. <Ok> So my question is,
what do you think a good ratio for "inches of fish:
gallons" is? <Posted...> And I would like to know the
answer based on the current size of the fish, not the adult size,
as I said, I know I will be upgrading the tank, and I look
forward to doing so. I have kept freshwater fish successfully for
8 years and I go with 1" per 5 gallons for most fish.
<... see WWM re Goby, this species... Systems> Also, what
is your opinion of nano tanks? <Also posted... can work, often
don't...> I have seen seahorses in 2.5 gallons, my LFS had
an engineer goby in 10 gallons, and I see nanos all the time with
mated pairs of clowns in 8 gallons. Where do you draw the line?
<Posted... at about 40 gallons> Thank you for sharing your
knowledge. <Thank you for looking, reading what is archived
ahead of writing. BobF>
Re: Elegance Acting Funny... getting
by 10/26/07 I was asking those mundane questions
in hopes that you would relate it back to my tank. But no biggie.
<... is. You need a bigger system to keep a specimen of this
species... and to know the disposition of its stinging ability,
compatibility... feeding... Hence the referral, request for you
to read... generally> I'm sure it's unusual that an
elegance would thrive for over a year in 14 gallons, <Yes>
and you are probably dumbfounded as to why it hasn't died
like all the others, <No... even a blind squirrel collects a
plant sex part now and then> so it is just easier to say my
tank is "too small," even though the zoanthid colony
has doubled and the elegance is a gigantic, colorful, voracious
eater. <...> Heaven forbid we do something challenging
today... <...> You seem to have the same pre-recorded
answers, and a bottom line from which you are not willing to
budge. Why not actually explore something that challenges your
notions of what can be done with a 14 gal tank, 20# of live rock,
2 fish, and 4 corals??? Nope! Instead we will just recite the
easy 2-word answers and learn nothing. Exciting. <Good luck
with this attitude... RMF>
Re: Elegance and some folks Acting Funny
10/26/07 Oh I get it. You can not explain something, so it
MUST be luck. You tell me "good luck" with my attitude,
but how about your absolute belief that if it is not done
"your way," then it is "dumb luck." <Mmm,
not luck> Good luck with THAT. I still think it would be much
more interesting for you to take a look at my year-long photo
diary and comment on how in the world a tiny elegance and a tiny
zoanthid colony have BOTH exploded to 4-6x their sizes in a
year's time inside a bone stock 14 gal BioCube. <I
don't discount that some people have better fortune, are
better, more diligent aquarists... Do have success with said
small systems... Even with Caryophylliids> Don't you think
it says something about this particular specimen? Or its
keeper's level of care? Aren't there hundreds of elegance
enthusiasts who would love to understand what works and what
doesn't?? <Oh yes. Do tell> As someone who studies this
stuff, isn't this even remotely interesting to you? <Mmm,
yes> Maybe it's my level of care, maybe it's the
coral, maybe it's luck. But I think if you went through these
pages of notes and photos, you might be able to draw conclusions
that someone less experienced (me) might be missing... <I
strongly encourage you to expand here. Write up your diary notes,
provide pix if you can... I will gladly help you get this work
into both print and e- media... for pay. Bob Fenner, whose old
article on the lack of success with C. jardinei is posted... on
WWM>
Re: Elegance Acting Funny 10/26/07 I
have had an online diary for months, and so did the previous
owner of this tank/corals. I am in the process of trying to
acquire all of his files, as the site that he frequented
apparently lost its domain name. I'm not interested in $$$. I
want to know why these corals are predictably dying off in 500
gallon tanks with optimal flow, skimmers, calc reactors, fuges,
sumps, and 5-figure lighting systems, <Those 5-figure lighting
systems may actually be the problem.> yet mine is thriving in
an acrylic box under weak fluoros on top of an aragonite sub
while bathing in Tropic Marin salt water that is barely moving.
<This is not at all surprising to me. Recent work done by a
guy named Darrell (www.elegancecoral.org) shows that elegance
corals coming from the Indo-Pacific in recent years need much
lower lighting (and different husbandry) than elegance corals
which were collected 10 to 15 years ago. This is because
collectors had to move from shallower to deeper waters as the
shallower waters were over collected and nearly depleted of the
corals.> It doesn't follow logic, which suggests we need
to take a closer look at the research upon which this
"logic" is based. <It IS based on logic though. It
just so happens that it's a logic that has been lost on the
hobby until very recently. And that logic is that your coral came
from deeper waters and you kept it under weak lighting and fed it
at least one live fish (which I'm sure it probably
appreciated). What's going on here is that you made a lot of
"mistakes" that ended up being right for this
particular coral. So, I'm sorry, but in a big way, Bob is
right. You got lucky. But please don't be so offended by me
(us) saying so. Some of the world's greatest inventions and
discoveries (from super glue to Penicillin) were made by careless
researchers who just got lucky. It's happened to me too. I
once tossed a dying Turbinaria sp. coral I had given up on into a
tank I neglected and didn't think a proper habitat for any
coral. By sheer LUCK, and for reasons I'm still not entirely
sure of, this was exactly the environment the coral apparently
needed. It's now healthier than any Turbinaria sp. coral
I've ever had and at least as healthy as any I've seen in
any aquarium. What I did was not wise and not based on any logic
at all. I thought I had condemned the coral to certain death when
I actually did the best thing for it (apparently). This only
shows how little we actually know/understand about these
wonderful animals. We try our best, but to a large extent,
they're still quite mysterious, under-studied and sometimes
unpredictable. If you really do care, contact Darrell and tell
him your story. See if your experience (and excellent records)
can't help him support his theory and work. Best, Sara
M.>
Re: Elegance Acting Funny 10/27/07 Hi
Sarah - <Actually, my mother named me after St. Luke's
secret mistress whose name was "Sara" without the
'h.' ;-)> I visit his website often and I have read
the deep-water/low light theory. I can tell from my experience
that my elegance loves the fluoros at 12-16 hours per day.
"Bright But Not Hot." I think that's the key.
<Seems likes it.> I am going to be removing 5# of live rock
from the display, break it up, and put it in the rear chamber of
my tank to allow the elegance to grow more. <good plan> As
far as being lucky... I don't buy it. A close observer can
tell when something is working and when it is not. I have changed
a lot of different things to get the elegance where it is now.
<Well, maybe you started out a little lucky and got smart.
That happens a lot too. In any case, thank you for writing in and
sharing your experience. I'm certainly impressed with your
level of commitment and eagerness to share with the rest of the
hobby. In my opinion, that counts for far more than luck. I hope
you and Darrell get in touch. More people should be aware of what
you, he and several others are now discovering about these
corals. Good luck and please do keep us updated! Best, Sara
M.>
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Re: Growth on Elegance Coral (more info)
8-11-2007 Bob Fenner <Ron> Hope Bob gets this email, just
a follow up. By the way I truly appreciate all the hard work that
goes into keeping this site up and available for newbies like me.
This is just a follow up email about my Elegance Coral. Since last
email it has grown, thickened up, getting more green tint. <Ah,
good> Have not done anything different, it is still point down
in live rock where it has anchored itself and still has the growth
semi-around the clam shell and rock. The Clown over the last 2
weeks or so has begun hanging out in it as per pic during the day
time and at night goes to sleep in a vertical position in the back
left corner of the tank facing down. One other thing, the Hippo
Tang seems to lay in it a lot as well, This Catalaphyllia does not
seem to have ever stung anything or one. I have not handled it in
over eight months and don't intend to, and at some point or
other every fish in my tank has swam though it or laid on top of
it. It has seemed very content and very docile. This guy seems to
be happy and growing very well. <Very good> If you want a
video of just how fast it closes when I feed just let me know, will
probably be about 5 meg, though I might be able to distill it down.
Thanks for all the wonderful help Ron :>) P.S. sent a photo of
mushroom just for fun :>) <I wondered... Cheers!
BobF> |
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Decline of An Elegance Coral? 3/30/06 Scott, <Scott
here! Sorry for the delay in the reply.> Thank you very much for
your quick response. I was kind of wondering if the 20k
bulbs might be an issue, but if they do turn out to be then I may
slowly switch them out for 10k. I have actually been more
concerned about how deep the 175 watt bulbs will be able to penetrate
vs. 400 watt. What do you think? <They'll be fine for
most corals in a 24" deep tank, IMO.> One other quick question
about a Elegance coral I have. I also have a 46 gallon
bowfront tank with great water quality and everything else doing
spectacular but my Elegance. When I first got it for the
first couple of weeks it opened up nicely but since then over about a
months time it seems to be slowly shrinking and opening less and
less. It doesn't show any other signs of stress other
then it keeps getting smaller and opens less and less. For about a week
it would blow up like a balloon during the day, which I thought was a
little abnormal also. I did read that it is good to target
feed Elegance, which I wasn't doing for the first month and tried
to start doing a week ago but only seemed to worsen its
condition. Also, a friend of mine has beautiful large
Elegance that he never target feeds and is doing
wonderful. Any ideas or suggestions about what I could
do to hopefully improve it condition? Is it savable or it
slowly dieing? Thanks again, your feedback very very helpful Jason
<Well, Jason, these corals really do benefit from directed feeding.
They are also susceptible to allelopathic "attacks" from
other corals in your system, so they are really best suited for a
monospecific display, as the only coral in residence. Feed them small
foods (less than 1/4" in size) and keep the water quality high. Do
make use of the vast resources here on WWM regarding the care of this
coral. Good luck! Regards, Scott F.>
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