Potentially caught Elegance Coral Syndrome early - Steps to take?

[Enad]

Hi there,


I'm a huge fan of Elegance Corals so I've been through the woes of Elegance Coral Syndrome a few times now. I've had a big Aussie Elegance for just over 4 months now, and it has always been rock solid, doing super well. It has remained in a low light area of the tank its entire time in my tank.

Over the last 2 days I've noticed what LOOKS to be some potential early signs of ECS. The Elegance is still opening big every day(maybe a little less than typical but hard to gauge as it still opens to ~5" across right now", it eats when I feed it but there's clearly some of that 'opaque white mucus like web' around the various mouths. It's not a very large amount but it's noticeable and it's something that wasn't there before so I think it's worth addressing.

I know 15 minute freshwater dips have been advised for ECS, and my Elegance is still very healthy so I'd be willing to try it if that's what others recommend. @OrionN - Your thread initially gave me a lot of information, perhaps you have some advice?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[exnisstech]

Here's a bump hoping someone can help out. I've tried elegance twice without success.

 

[kevgib67]

I’ll also bump this along as I have never had an elegance. @EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

@encrustingacro?

 

[Enad]

I ended up doing a 15min FW dip the same day I posted this. Afterwards I placed him in my sump under very low lighting. It has certainly been in rough shape since then, but I haven't seen any of the typical symptoms of ECS so maybe it's in the clear there.

I'm hopeful that given time, the Elegance will fully recover over time, but I suppose we'll see.

 

[AC1211]

I ended up doing a 15min FW dip the same day I posted this. Afterwards I placed him in my sump under very low lighting. It has certainly been in rough shape since then, but I haven't seen any of the typical symptoms of ECS so maybe it's in the clear there.

I'm hopeful that given time, the Elegance will fully recover over time, but I suppose we'll see.

Any improvement?
From an academic perspective I'd like to know if the the freshwater dip at least staved off some symptoms.

 

[Enad]

Any improvement?
From an academic perspective I'd like to know if the the freshwater dip at least staved off some symptoms.

The dip seems to have worked well. I haven't seen any white mucus on the Elegance since the dip. It certainly isn't as big as it typically was prior to getting sick, and it got a bit bleached either from the FW dip or the very low lighting of the Sump.

In any case, I've since moved the Elegance back into the display tank from the sump and it seems to be recovering slowly each day. I think the key here is dipping the coral when it's still very healthy and can take the hit of a FW dip.

 

[ReeferRyanTN]

I assume you heat the FW to about the tank temp?

 

[Enad]

I assume you heat the FW to about the tank temp?

Of course. Just try to get it close to the temp of your tank. I think people often exaggerate the sensitivity of corals to temp fluctuations, but it's always safe to aim for a similar temp if you're gonna be stressing a coral out.

 

[Ryebreadiest]

Did the elegance make it?

 

[Enad]

Did the elegance make it?

Yep! It's still kicking. When they say long road to recovery, they really mean it. It's definitely still healing and nowhere near it's former size/extension but it comes out every day and eats food when given.

Surprisingly, this was one of the first corals to recover after I had a semi tank crash due to a power outage, tank temp dropped into the 50s. In any case, it has done fine since then.

 

[Enad]

So I'm reviving this thread of mine in search of some advice - In my never ending struggles with Elegance, my beautiful Rasta Elegance started showing symptoms of ECS about 2-3 weeks after I intially got it from QCC. This was back in early March. I had even gone to the lengths of setting up a low light, sterile quarantine tank for it to thrive in while I slowly acclimated it to higher light.

In any case, despite my best efforts, the Elegance got ECS and I quickly did a fresh water dip once I saw the symptoms. It survived but never really seemed 'cured'. I had a previous Elegance recover from ECS and a fresh water dip and started looking somewhat normal again after a month or so, but it has been nearly 2 months since then and it still has zero tentacle extension (though the 'flesh' itself comes out more so these days), and I still see trace amounts of the white mucus around the mouths.

I just recently did two cipro dips over the course of 2 days and it hasn't really had any visible effect.

Now I'd love some advice on the next steps to take. It's still living in the quarantine tank, but I'd really like to move it into the sump of my main tank as it's just better, more mature water. The issue there is that I have another, basic but healthy Elegance living in my display and I don't want to risk spreading the illness if my Rasta is still indeed afflicted.

I want to get to a point where I'm not seeing any of this mucus but I'm not sure how to achieve this without a freshwater dip, however I really don't think my Elegance is healthy enough to survive a FWD at this point....but I don't think an Elegance will just overcome ECS on it's own - unless I'm mistaken?


Would love to get some thoughts on doing a second FWD or leaving alone, as well as moving into main tank sump vs leaving in quarantine tank. Outside of the monetary element of this coral, I'm desperate to help this coral recover. I would love a proper success story, and then to be able to actually own a Rasta Elegance would be amazing.

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[Enad]

Bumping my post here - would love to get some opinions.

It's still in the quarantine tank and maybe I'm just seeing things, but it looks like it's opening larger than before and maybe even a BIT of tentacle extension is happening now.

I'm happy to nurture this thing back to health as long as it takes, I'm just at a bit of a crossroads in terms of the next steps to take and this is where I'd love some assistance in making the right call.