Elegance coral dying?

[ConnorDaReefa]

Hey. I understand this forum was for fish, but I couldn’t find one for coral disease/emergencies. I have had my elegance coral for a little over a week and it has done really well ever since. All of a sudden today, it began closing up and the mouth enlarged. It then started excreting brown goo/string from the mouth. I came back a little later to see it still very closed up and wispy. Not sure what happened or if there is anything I can do about it. Thanks for the help in advance, and the following images are all taken today in chronological order:

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey. I understand this forum was for fish, but I couldn’t find one for coral disease/emergencies. I have had my elegance coral for a little over a week and it has done really well ever since. All of a sudden today, it began closing up and the mouth enlarged. It then started excreting brown goo/string from the mouth. I came back a little later to see it still very closed up and wispy. Not sure what happened or if there is anything I can do about it. Thanks for the help in advance, and the following images are all taken today in chronological order:

Lower your white light intensity. It’s likely expelling excess zooxanthellae which is its color and energy source.
Assure phosphate level not elevated and feed it chopped krill and mysis shrimp

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

Lower your white light intensity. It’s likely expelling excess zooxanthellae which is its color and energy source.
Assure phosphate level not elevated and feed it chopped krill and mysis shrimp

Thank you for the response. I could definitely dial back the white light if you think that is a factor. I am currently using the reefled 90s and running the white at 35% and the blues at 45%. My phosphate levels, which I last checked was a week ago, are resting at 0.15. I have been also feeding it mysis shrimp daily.

 

[wculver]

You didn't accompany this post with any tank parameters. That should shed some light. This would include:
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Phosphate
Nitrate
Salinity
Temp

Outside of this, it looks like the coral is acclimating to your tank. The stringy stuff is bacteria being expelled from the coral. It is stressful but doesn't mean death necessarily. I'd keep the coral low in the tank with low flow and away from anything that may nip on it.

If you'll share some parameters I could suggest changes. Otherwise I wouldn't make a change at the moment and stress it further.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you for the response. I could definitely dial back the white light if you think that is a factor. I am currently using the reefled 90s and running the white at 35% and the blues at 45%. My phosphate levels, which I last checked was a week ago, are resting at 0.15. I have been also feeding it mysis shrimp daily.

Phosphate a little high
You want.05-..09

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

You didn't accompany this post with any tank parameters. That should shed some light. This would include:
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Phosphate
Nitrate
Salinity
Temp

Outside of this, it looks like the coral is acclimating to your tank. The stringy stuff is bacteria being expelled from the coral. It is stressful but doesn't mean death necessarily. I'd keep the coral low in the tank with low flow and away from anything that may nip on it.

If you'll share some parameters I could suggest changes. Otherwise I wouldn't make a change at the moment and stress it further.

Calcium 446ppm
Alk:10.9 dKH
Nitrate 16.4 ppm
Magnesium 1480ppm
Phosphate 0.15ppm
Temp is about 74

I tried to place him in a low flow/low light spot in the tank in mindfulness that they don’t like much of either.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

Phosphate a little high
You want.05-..09

I generally have them resting at 0.06 to .08 but they seemed to have risen a bit.

 

[wculver]

Calcium 446ppm
Alk:10.9 dKH
Nitrate 16.4 ppm
Magnesium 1480ppm
Phosphate 0.15ppm
Temp is about 74

I tried to place him in a low flow/low light spot in the tank in mindfulness that they don’t like much of either.

For coral that have grown in this environment that setup may be okay but for new more sensitive coral an alkalinity of 10.9 is going to be rough. I believe this to be the primary issue as this chemistry is likely wildly different than the environment it grew in prior.

So my suggestion is to not make another change and let it acclimate. Additional intervention at this point would only introduce more stress.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I again dont see a chemistry issue having one larger than a soccer ball. I still suspect light. These corals require moderate light to support photosynthesis which they require which does not amount to strong light. Generally you want a PAR of about 80-120. Also water flow should be moderate. You don’t want the flow to be too strong or too soft while keeping the tentacles flowing gently. Too little flow and elegance corals will not thrive while with oo much flow and you risk tearing their polyps.
Having correct flow brings nutrients to the polyps, assuring they remain fed.
Again, elegance coral is photosynthetic and benefit from regular feedings.
Here is mine:

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey. I understand this forum was for fish, but I couldn’t find one for coral disease/emergencies. I have had my elegance coral for a little over a week and it has done really well ever since. All of a sudden today, it began closing up and the mouth enlarged. It then started excreting brown goo/string from the mouth. I came back a little later to see it still very closed up and wispy. Not sure what happened or if there is anything I can do about it. Thanks for the help in advance, and the following images are all taken today in chronological order:

Do you know where the coral originated?

Indonesian Elegance Corals do not have a good history of survival in aquaria.

Australian elegance coral have a much greater chance of survival.

 

[danR777]

I have a related question. My elegance has fully detached from its skeleton. I’ve had it for 2 years. I put him inside of a small rock that had a clam shell embedded in it (a deep pocket basically). It fits perfectly in there. Do they have the ability to attach themselves to rock like mushrooms or they have to build/rebuild their skeleton only? The rock is inside of a magnetic isolation box for the last 24 hours… the elegance is expanded inside of it but I’m sure it will freely fly away with flow if I move it.

I have heard about cutting soda bottle tops and/or pvc pipes to fit detached ones inside but I think their survival is slim. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

I have a related question. My elegance has fully detached from its skeleton. I’ve had it for 2 years. I put him inside of a small rock that had a clam shell embedded in it (a deep pocket basically). It fits perfectly in there. Do they have the ability to attach themselves to rock like mushrooms or they have to build/rebuild their skeleton only? The rock is inside of a magnetic isolation box for the last 24 hours… the elegance is expanded inside of it but I’m sure it will freely fly away with flow if I move it.

I have heard about cutting soda bottle tops and/or pvc pipes to fit detached ones inside but I think their survival is slim. Anyone have experience with this?

Do you know where the coral originated?

Indonesian Elegance Corals do not have a good history of survival in aquaria.

Australian elegance coral have a much greater chance of survival.

Pretty sure it’s an Aussie elegance.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

I again dont see a chemistry issue having one larger than a soccer ball. I still suspect light. These corals require moderate light to support photosynthesis which they require which does not amount to strong light. Generally you want a PAR of about 80-120. Also water flow should be moderate. You don’t want the flow to be too strong or too soft while keeping the tentacles flowing gently. Too little flow and elegance corals will not thrive while with oo much flow and you risk tearing their polyps.
Having correct flow brings nutrients to the polyps, assuring they remain fed.
Again, elegance coral is photosynthetic and benefit from regular feedings.
Here is mine:

I think that the elegance was getting plenty of food. Maybe the flow could be a little different, but it seemed like the tentacles were always gently moving. If I increase the flow anymore it suddenly seems like it is getting too much, so I think I might keep that where it is.