Elegance not fully opening??!!??!!

[ahvrivera]

My Elegance is not opening fully. The tentacles are not expanding but the polyp is open. Any suggestions why this may be.

Here are my parameters.

sal: 1.25
ph8.3
alk 10
po4 .005
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
cal 455
mag 1400
3x 250w 20k xm
125gal tank
Thanks for all you help appreciate any responses. oh and its placed on the bottom on the sand.

ive had it for a week and it was previously opened fully. parameters have not fluctuated.

 

[nater]

where do you have it placed and how long have you had it?

 

[ahvrivera]

where do you have it placed and how long have you had it?

oh and its placed on the bottom on the sand.

ive had it for a week and it was previously opened fully. parameters have not fluctuated.
__________________
Saving the reefs of the world one frag at a time.

 

[nater]

i would move it to a shaded area if possible and make sure its not touching any live rock as it can damage the tentacles.

 

[cntryboi407]

Give it some time. Being newly placed in your tank, even though it has opened before, it may be still adjusting to your tank. Check your flow and lighting. Too much flow can cause it to be open but without the tentacles extending. Light can also be affecting it. Do you have fish in the tank as well?

 

[Azurel]

Do you have a pic? Most elegances that start their downward slide have that smae look, not saying that is what's going on or to scare you but most show that sign....They can also close up and look like crap for periods of time and open back up like nothing was ever a problem.....

 

[ahvrivera]

thanks for the input ill have to experiment with different areas of my tank for flow and lighting. ive moved it once already and it seemed to open a little more but not fully. guess also im being a bit paranoid too. its only been in my care 8 days. Ill post a pic tomorrow for more input. as far as fish i do have a few. but none seem to go near it.
sailfin tang
falsher wrasse.
blue sided wrasse.
green chromis.
royal gramma,
fire fish.
yellow watchman,
barlett anthias
queen anthias(trio)

Thanks again for the input

 

[cntryboi407]

Ok, the only one that I'm 50/50 over is the Sailfin Tang.The Sailfin's are usually gentle with coral but I've found that tangs like to pick at tentacled corals. My Purple Tang used to enjoy eating down my Duncan tentacles. I found this one out early in the morning when my actinics first came on and when my Duncan started to open. The tang would swim up to it and nip at it. Once the MH's came on, he left it alone. Weird. See if you can observe the Sailfin Tang without him realizing your there. If he leaves it alone, it's probably the Elegance adjusting to your tank. Hope this helps.

 

[ahvrivera]

Ok as i promised here are a few pics. thanks for all your help. I moved it to the right side of my tank and placed a slightly smoked piece of acrylic over that section. .to try and let it acclimate a little better. Seems to be a little less flow in that area also. I watched my tank for 2 hrs today while actinincs where on and saw no fish bothering it. Well here they are

with flash no actinics

with all lights on, no flash

Hope the pics help and thanks again for all the input.

 

[Azurel]

It is looking really ruff man.....How much flow do you have on it? I have mine in quite a bit of flow so the tenticles are swaying in the current.....Good job in getting it in the sand....Not sure what else you can do you help it out but keep parameters in check and water clean.....Is the lighting you have brighter and better then what it was under?

 

[Azurel]

I forgot to ask is it sticky? Mine is sticky to the point that if it grabs you you almost have to rip the tentacles off your hand.....If it is not sticky the that is another bad sign, not necessarily of doom just ill health.

 

[ahvrivera]

It is looking really ruff man.....How much flow do you have on it? I have mine in quite a bit of flow so the tenticles are swaying in the current.....Good job in getting it in the sand....Not sure what else you can do you help it out but keep parameters in check and water clean.....Is the lighting you have brighter and better then what it was under?

Its in desent flow. not a straight on stream but it does move with the current. I just did a 30% water change tonight just in case one of my test is not reading correctly. It was sticky when i moved it earlier. it didnt want to let go of my finger so im guessing thats a good sign. The light it was under when i got it was definately not halides or even t5 for that matter. just a 50/50 t8. so im pretty sure its just to bright for it at the moment. hopefully the smoked acrylic i put over it will help. Thanks again for the input

 

[ahvrivera]

Well it showed improvement today. it was extendedmuch larger that yesterday and tentivles slightly larger. looks like it just may be acclimating to my water chemistry. At least i hope so lol. thanks again for the input received. much appreciated. See how it does in a few day and maybe a follow up pic.

 

[cntryboi407]

I hope everything works out for you.

 

[ahvrivera]

I hope everything works out for you.

Thank you!! its looking better today. I noticed That my water temp was quite cold when i posted the first day. 71 deg. so i found out my heater crapped out. put a new one in, and today the temp is at 75 so far. Everything in the tank seems to be reacting to the temp very nicely. and tonight it is looking much better. definately fuller but, not completely expanded. we will see. Thanks again

 

[stunreefer]

First off, I'm very glad it's looking better!

However, do not move it... the more you move it, the more you're going to stress it out. Moving a little bit here or there is not going to help a new coral acclimate to it's new conditions (assuming it's not been placed totally inappropriately).

While bringing your temp back up ensure that you're not raising more than 2 degrees per day, and that's absolute max, I wouldn't raise more than one degree. Honestly 76 degrees is just fine for a tank, I run mine much, much cooler than that even.

Keep an eye on it to make sure nothing is irritating it (crabs, fish, etc.) and let it settle in. GL!

 

[HAudioSolutions]

lol 2 degrees! Mine is swinging 4 degrees on average. No ill effects after two years on current tank and about the same on my previous one for over ten years. I think it really depends on what they get used to and if it's consistant not nessessarily consistantly the same temp. Ever notice that random cold wave of water while you're treading in warm? even reefs (shallow) have huge swings. Just don't make it a crazy change. Seriously, these creatures are way tougher than they get credit for as long as they are healthy. Good luck on the elegance, they are way cool but often very tough.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

lol 2 degrees! Mine is swinging 4 degrees on average. No ill effects after two years on current tank and about the same on my previous one for over ten years. I think it really depends on what they get used to and if it's consistant not nessessarily consistantly the same temp. Ever notice that random cold wave of water while you're treading in warm? even reefs (shallow) have huge swings. Just don't make it a crazy change. Seriously, these creatures are way tougher than they get credit for as long as they are healthy. Good luck on the elegance, they are way cool but often very tough.

+1 ... especially this part

they are way cool but often very tough.

personally, i think these are one of the corals that should be left in the ocean.

 

[ahvrivera]

Thats exactly what my tank fluctuates at the moment. 4 degrees cooler at night once the halides go off. Today showed the most improvement after the water change. almost fully extended tentacles. Wohoo. im thinking i need to get a new phosphate and nitrates test kit.

ive been feeding marine snow and kent vitamax (think thats what its called. at work so cant see the bottle). Should i use something diffent. and will it eat more solid foods?

 

[Azurel]

Hey Austyn

I feed mine mysis and cyclop-eeze they will readily eat larger food items....