Help with Elegance

Ok, so I got an elegance coral, I dont know maybe 3 months ago. I remember starting a thread on here about them, and it doesnt look like too many users have them.
But I'm still hoping to get some help.
So, like I said Ive had it for about 3 months and it never really fully opens. For the first two or three weeks it looked awesome, tentacles fully out and it looked like it was completely puffed out.
Past couple months different story. Its tentacles are short and stubby and just wont puff up at all. I feed the corals frequently, just generally and then target feed probably twice a week with a mixture of Rod's, phytoplankton and rotifers.

My sun coral is doing good and extends all the time, so I know there is food available in the water column, so what's going on with the elegance.

Is there certain chemicals it likes, it is in high light, T5's, desent flow and on the sand bed.

Please help, no rush as it seems to be doing okay, just not fully open or as pretty as it used to be.

 

Bet you NO3's are high. Sounds like you are feeding the tank WAY too much. I only target feed my elegance about every 3 to 5 weeks. If your not running carbon then I would get a reactor ASAP. My elegance wads up like a sock if the carbon needs changed.

 

I run carbon. Maybe the feeding too much is why I have a hair algae problem.

I still consider myself a newbie, even though I have had a nano up and running for about 4 years. But my 75 is only a little over a year old. There's alot more you can do with a 75, so as for harder to care for corals, Im still pretty inexperienced. So Im guessing cutting down on the food would be a good thing.

 

Bingo! There is your problem. You would be surprised how many people feed their tanks to death. With hair algae you have been putting way too much PO4's in the tank. Slow down.

How ofter do you change the carbon??

 

About once a month, give or take a week or two. I try to do water changes biweekly, so usually every other water change

 

Where do you have your carbon? Are you forcing water through it or is it just laying in the sump in a bag?

 

In my filter, water is constantly going through it.

 

Elegance corals are beautiful, I do know there's 2 kinds..
One does good in tanks, the other one no one can keep alive..
I read the info somewhere, and the names.. I'll repost if I can find the info.. Maybe some one can chime in with the info..

I bought a candycane, and the rock had H/A ..
I got some redlegged hermit crabs, and a sailfin tank.. Cleaned it up..

If a Sailfin Tank, will get along with your other fish.. They are very good at picking at and cleaning live rock, etc.. But do need a little special care..

Good Luck, Larry

 

I also have a Elegance and mine was doing great up until 2 days ago now he looks stressed not extending much of his flesh. I have mine onthe sand with the bottom of the cone in a round pvc piece. he never falls. I was also feeding him once a week. I can tell you that adding phyto even once a week can mess up the water. When you feed you frozen do this - Make sure you rinse the food after its frozen in water. Put the food in a brine shrimp net and pour a little water thru it then add the food to the tank slowly. This way your removing as much PO4 as possible. It really helps especially if you over feed with frozen. I would stop with the Phyto unless you have small clams.
Adam

 

Might lay off the feeding and go with once a month and remove it from the plastic pipe as the base grows you are cutting into it. trick with these is they demand pristine water parameters and if you have any signs of algae then you will have little success with them and people want to blast them with water currents.. Good strong lighting and moderate water flows to bring them food and set in the sand and never touch them once set and never touch them on the fleshy part where the flesh and skeleton meet. All my time in this hobby the leading cause of problems I have found is they feed their tanks to death. Animals and even people are getting to much to eat in the real ocean elegances and anemones to fish eat every few days at best. or weeks even they simply eat what they can catch..