WOW! Check out the Elegance I just acquired

[mattdean]

There must have been 30 people fighting for this coral. I felt very lucky to get it. It's a blue Elegance with red/orange mouths and red/range lines in the body and pink tips. It has about 10 mouths! Around 6 or 7 inches long. I got it from Oakville Reef Gallery (which by the way has gotten in some pretty crazy shipments in lately for even crazier prices, for anyone in the GTA) they said they had never seen one like this before. I wish I had better pics, but it has only been in the tank for an hour. I just couldn't wait to share! :smile:

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47531&d=1291677275

http://www.mattdean.com/build/elegance2.jpg

http://www.mattdean.com/build/elegance1.jpg

[Milad]

<---------- jealous!

[Myka]

Very nice indeed! I can see why everyone was lined up to buy it! Hopefully it will do well for you, they are often quite a challenging specie.

[mattdean]

Thanks. I have been waiting for a special piece like this for my birthday present from my spouse. She didn't just want to buy anything, something unique. this definitely fits the bill.

I have had them before and they did well for me. My tank is very healthy and all parameters are perfect. I am definitely going to do what is necessary to keep this one around.

[Marlin65]

nice I want one too.:smile:

[mattdean]

Yeah, it FINDING another one that is the challenge.

[fishoholic]

I've seen a few of those at the lfs in Edmonton and Calgary. Been to so many stores in the past weekend though, I can't remember which ones had them. I must say though they are very pretty.

[Bryan]

I can remember the day when they were commonplace and easy to keep. Then something happened and they becamne scarce and difficult to keep alive for more than a couple months. Something to do with a strain of bacteria that was introduced.

[mattdean]

Yes, that seems to be the general perception. I have had some success with elegance corals, but lost one to a tank crash (stuck heater) fording me to put the other one in a brand new tank and I think it was damaged from the crash, so it eventually perished. I have this one in ideal conditions and, as I said above, my tank is perfect, so I'm hoping I will be fragging it in a year or so (correction, Oakville Reef Gallery will be fragging it) when it out grows my tank :)

[MrGoodbytes]

That's a beautiful specimen! I saw some elegance while I was at ORG in April but yours is a cut above. They do have some gorgeous corals there. Definitely a great gift. Best of luck with it.

[whatcaneyedo]

Cool color, hopefully it lives long term. I just passed the one year mark with mine. It also survived being fragged back in August. So now I have three :biggrin:

[sphelps]

I heard the Australian ones are much easier to keep, maybe this one is Australian, it sure looks nice so I would guess it is :mrgreen:

[mattdean]

I believe it was part of an Indo shipment.

[sphelps]

I believe it was part of an Indo shipment.

Yeah those are suppose to be pretty hard to keep but some have better luck than others so it's probably a combination of experience and luck.

I've also heard it's important that they stay in a vertical position so no debris or anything can settle on it. Never kept one myself so I can't offer much else. It's a really nice piece so I hope it works out for you.

[mattdean]

Thanks. I am confident I will have success with it. I feed the tank often and have an ideal spot for it. IT certainly looks happy right now :)And yes, I have it vertical. It very open and full.