Elegance Coral

[Jonny967]

Got a Major problem with my elegance coral! It started a couple of days ago when i turned the lights on it was only filling half of its skeleton with the other hald being completly bare, i immediatly checks all water parameters and everything came back fine and all other corals don't seem to have a problem. I did notice however that whilst usually its skeleton is burried in the substrate now it was fully out and i couldn't understand how?.
Anyway i pushed it back into the sand but the next day it was out again? Could something be disturbing it?
I have now moved it slightly up into the rock work and will see how it gets on, the remaining half of it is not fully expanding but however it did take some prawn earlier.

 

[Jonny967]

Well its totally dead now! All that is left is the shell, just can't understand what has happened to it. I am gutted as i have had it for ages and watched ot grow from nothing to fairly large. I might have to go out this weekend and get something new to cheer me up, maybe a hammer if i can find one

 

[Trod]

Sorry to hear that, I know how horrible it is to lose anything in your tank

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, that's tough. Did you take any pics of it perhaps?

 

[Crazy fishes]

I am sorry to hear that. I don't think a hammer can make up for elegance especially when so much energy and time goes in to helping it thrive. I do hope you find something else to ease the impact of loss. Just check that everything is ok with the tank prior to purchasing a replacement.

Best of luck

Regards

 

[Jonny967]

Well i have found the culprit for the loss of the Elegance!

Yesterday i bought a Trachyphyllia and put it in my tank at lunchtime, it looked awesome under the blue lighting and everthing appeared fine when i left for work. When i arrived home i noticed that it was out of the sand and had totally retracted then i saw the Emperor Angelfish go mental and start pecking away at it . I quickly removed the coral into another tank but it has not come out of its shell yet and i can't tell if there is anything left of it?

Anyway the Emperor has to go! I knew they couldn't be trusted but have never had a problem with it. I guess it just likes LPS corals?
It is still a juvenile and is probally on the verge of changing to adult colouration so i will try and sell it before it is in mid change as they don't look brilliant when they are half way through. Bought it for £65 but i am thinking of around £50

 

[Crazy fishes]

Those darn angels, tangs and butterfly fish, while being very beautiful and interesting, are a real pain when it comes to corals, particularly LPS as the polyps are so large. I hope the open brain coral survives and you have luck selling the emperor so that it is happy but not killing defenseless corals. Now maybe think of getting another elegance as they are a magnificant coral to keep and observe growing.

Best of luck

Regards

 

[SkiFletch]

Ouch, Angels can do that, sorry

 

[Jonny967]

Catching the Emperor is going to be harder than i thought! The minute the net goes in it dashes into the rock, i have tried feeding it with all sorts but its just too cautious. I have around 90Kg of rock and quite alot of corals so i don't really wan to start removing anything. I did think however that if i bought a new big net (like the ones fishermen use) i could place it in front of the rock then leave it a while so the fish gets used to it and in the end i could tempt the fish into the trap with food and with a quick dash i could net it

What do you all think of my idea - is it a bit extreme?

P.S the brain coral has not recovered and i have also noticed that i have many zoo's mising. Also i did see the emperor pecking at the underside of my carpet Anemone which is very strange. I have got to the point where i hope the green carpet catches the bloody thing

 

[SkiFletch]

If it's big enough you can also try fishing for it, literally. Get the smallest barbless hook you can find, skewer some krill on it and go fishing... Has worked for many on decently sized fish.

The net method can work if you bait the net with some food. Also look up "The Trap" as it's a decent fishtrap for getting out your unwanted stock.

 

[Jonny967]

Cheers Ski!

Its funny you should mention that method because i have been fly fishing with my friends many times and said if we do not catch anything then we would go back and fish in my tank

I guess this time it may come true, the only problem i can see is hooking the correct fish as i have a very greedy boxfish in there.

 

[Jonny967]

Just an update on the fish catching!

- "its not going well"!

I now have a full family of Zoanthids that have totally dissapeared and i think the emperor may have turned its attention to my torch coral. I have tried the aqua medic fish trap but have so far caught the box fish 4-5 times and the coral beauty a few times as well!

I also tried Ski's method of fishing for the fish but it is just to smart and figures out whats going on straight away. I am getting closer and closer to removing all the rock but 90Kg of rock will take some sorting not to mention the corals.

Anymore suggestions? maybe a big bag of lime

 

[ally--19]

why not buy a new big fishing net

 

[Crazy fishes]

In the philippines they fish with dynamite.... or maybe not :lol.: If it is out with rock then so be it that angel has to go.

Good luck

Regards

 

[Jonny967]

why not buy a new big fishing net

Cheers Ally, but i have tried this method too . the fish never came back out of the rock work even with baiting the net and tank for hours

In the philippines they fish with dynamite.... or maybe not :lol.: If it is out with rock then so be it that angel has to go.

Good luck

Regards

Dynamite! might give it ago, which LFS will sell me some . It does look like the rock may have to come out but i'm just a bit bothered about stressing all the other fish out. I think the corals will be fine but re-arranging them might be stressfull .

Cheers for the reply.