Elegance coral problem

I have been working on the elegance coral problem for about the past year and a half. I believe the problem is not killer protozoans as we have been told. The problem is brought on by the same stresses that cause bleaching. With the same damaged tissue after the exposure. The reason for the confusion is that in most cases the coral is not discharging its algae. If the coral is kept from bright lights and high temps it will do fine. Unfortunately, many of the Elegance corals we see in our LFS has been exposed to these damaging environments before they reach our LFS. An Elegance that shows the symptom of a swollen polyp and shrunken tentacles is in an environment that is either to bright or to hot. While they are showing this posture their tissues are being damaged.
I don't blame the scientific community for getting this wrong. They were just doing what they had been taught to do. If an animal dies and you want to know why, you do an autopsy. The problem is that autopsies don't work well with corals. They don't have the internal organs that we do and they don't die like we do. If our heart stops our entire body is dead. Our leg can not live by its self. Corals die cell by cell. One portion of the coral can die while another portion will survive. When they did these autopsies they found many different organisms feeding on the dead or dieing tissue. I would have been more surprised had they not found These organisms. There are many different organisms that quickly begin feeding on dead animal tissue, but they are rarely the cause of the animals death. I have all the respect in the world for these professionals that have stated that protozoans were to blame for this problem. I also feel that they are human like the rest of us and should be expected to make mistakes now and then. I have made many during this research.
I never set out to discover the cause of the problem. I started my research to find out how to keep them alive. At the time I believed like everyone else, that protozoans were to blame. After studying about 2 dozen individuals over the past year and a half I have found the problem and I'm working on a video to prove my point. I realize there will be sceptics to what I'm saying. After all I'm just a hobbyist that's going against what all the professionals are saying. My LFS is looking for an Elegance that is large enough for me to make a video of as it swells up under bright lights. As soon as it comes in I will make the video. I will most likely be killing the coral in the process, but hopefully it will change the way people view this problem and we can better care for these corals.

Any questions or comments are welcome. Just try not to flame me to bad;D

 

Bacterial infection from improper handling and placement is what I have found and along with the species in the last 10 yrs or so being collected from deeper waters and handling /shipping methods.

I found that when they inflate to that overly inflated look and the oral disk protrude and then the tentacles get that stubby short look if they are treated with a 250 mg dose of doxyicillen in a gallon of water for a hr then repeated every day for about 5 to 6 days they do fine. People will set them on rocks and wedge them in between and the will blast them with to much water current. And they will move them all over the place .
I always shadow one before its bagged and I never touch the area where the flesh meets the skeleton as the oils and and what ever on our hands will cause irritation then it receded and infection sets in.. Also setting them on and in rocks will irritate them and cause the bacterial infection.

I always set mine in just enough flow to move them a little just a little tentacle sway and I set them only in the sand never near a rock. And not to close to the M/H but direct strong light and at a depth of 2 to 3 ft minimum..
The key if to have the Doxyicillin on hand to treat them with if improplery handled . Interestd to see what you find out.. I found my methoed out by trying different ideas I had ..
It works I have saved a lot of them for a LFS where I lived and once I taught them how I handled them their sucuess rate went up with sales to customers also.. Its nothing you will find in a googel search or reading a book. Untill the hobbyiest had solved many issue the experts kept out of the battles LOL

 

Thanks for not flaming me even though you may not agree with my opinion. I will try to do the same.
Shipping and handling has always been a source of great stress for the corals we keep. The change in this corals survival occurred around the same time they started collecting them from deeper waters. I can assure you that the over inflated oral disk and shrunken tentacles is a direct effect of bright light and/or high temps. Once a coral has been exposed to these changes in it environment and shows these symptoms it has been damaged. The amount of damage depends on the severity and duration of the exposure. Once an Elegance has shown these symptoms it will begin to withdraw and become more susceptible to infections. This is why I believe your method has been successful. The dips keep down the possibility of infection and keeping them at least 2 to 3 feet away from MH lighting keeps them from sustaining further damage.

I have been keeping my Elegance corals on LR for a very long time. The polyp its self shows no ill effects if it is laying on LR or sand. The thin layer of tissue that surrounds the top portion of the skeleton is very sensitive. It can be damaged if it is pressed against LR or sand. When trying to find the proper lighting and flow for an Elegance it can be a very limiting factor if its placement is restricted to the bottom of the tank. Here is a pic of one of my corals on the rocks from about 15 years ago. Sorry for the quality. We didn't have digital cameras back then.



You are 100% correct about the flow. I also feed mine about once or twice a week. I will post a short video of me feeding two of my Elegance corals that shows the flow I have them under in my tank. One of the corals is very healthy and the other is recovering. It was shrunk completely back into the skeleton at on point. I have to use a different post because every time I go to a different sight to get the video and come back everything I have written is gone.

 

Elegance feeding video

Sharkle.com - Free Online Video Sharing Community

 

I'm the Flamee not the flamer LOL l have gone against the aquarium gods all my life hell there where no gods at one time.. Until they smelled money.. Anyways thats about the flow I like for mine and as for laying them on rocks I think the issue is not so much the rock its self but rather the tissue is subject to abrasion and then all the settlement of waste and food tends to have a better chance at getting a hold.
But I found also that if I feed mine raw chunks or bait squid they always do well. I just feed a single piece to the entire coral and it moves the food to the mouth of its choosing . But the old Doxyicillen soak works and has worked for those who have tried it But the Aquarium Gods would like to have you to think it will cause them to expel their Zoo's or wipe the coral totally out .. LOL thats why I have the sig that I do I did not know it could not be done.. I have had people to tell me the Elegances can't be kept.. It just can't be done ...
But again it goes back to collection and handling.. I have a collector that sends them directly to the shop in Va.. Then the guys there
that Ii showed how to handle them send them out to myself and others and the 2 I got from Frosters and Smith One came in frozen and dead bag temp 50 F and the replacement was almost frozen bag water was 63 F it was 90% detached.. I had this one sent from Va and its been growing like a weed.. About hand size last Feb. and almost football size now.. and growing..

But I had never thought it to be a protozoan but a real bacterium issue. Just from what I had seen and gatherd for dealing with them..So I went with the antibiotic issue Not to say a protozoan i.e Ich could cause the secondary infection that really caused the fish to die more then the protozoans it self. Thats what i found yrs ago with antibiotic's and ich.. I left ich alone just added a little heat to warm the water and watched for secondary infections if it showed up then I'd hit the entire tank with antibiotic's death stopped..
Again that was nmany many yrs ago and today the aquarium Gods would have you think the tank will wipe out