Coral of the Week: Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei)

[revhtree]

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The Catalaphyllia Elegance Coral is a large polyp stony (LPS) often referred to as Elegant Coral, Wonder Coral, or Ridge Coral. It is truly the most unique and interesting stony coral known. Its polyps are extended during the day showing off its vast array of color-tipped tentacles. Under actinic lighting, the fluorescent qualities are beautiful with lime green, blue, orange, or purple-tipped tentacles which vary between branched or round and bulbous shapes. The most common color variety available to aquarists is gold with pink or purple-tipped polyps.

The Catalaphyllia Elegance Coral is moderate to maintain in the reef aquarium and makes an excellent choice for the beginner to expert hobbyist. Provide ample space in the aquarium between it and other neighboring corals as it will expand to twice its usual size during the day and will sting other corals in close proximity to it. It is best to place the skeleton of the coral into a soft substrate. The soft substrate is less likely to irritate the fleshy underside of the coral when compared to the rockwork. Clownfish may accept this coral as its host if no anemone is present. Use caution when handling, as it is very fragile and can also sting its handler.

Ideal reef aquarium conditions for the Elegance Coral should include moderate lighting with moderate water movement. For continued good health, it will also require the addition of calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water.

It will benefit from additional food fed daily in the form of micro-plankton or brine shrimp.

Info Credit

How many of you have kept these corals long-term? Please share pics!

 

[BarbH]

Beautiful coral and one that I have been thinking about getting. Would be interested to hear how others have done with this coral and any tips they may have to share in being successful.

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[bjledbetter]

Guy at the lfs said they will eat your clowns if they get too close I was going to try and get one for mine to host. And after seeing it eat a live silverside im not sure I want one lol

 

[droblack]

That is a beautiful elegance! Going to give one of these a run. The newer Aussie specimens are faring much better than the Indo variety, from most accounts. Not sure what the issue was with elegances, but know that some had gall crab infestations that led to other problems.

 

[micromount]

Nice!! have 3 with another on the way.

 

[SaltWaterDave]

They are definitely a sweet coral. Does anyone have one that clowns host?

 

[uf_gators]

Guy at the lfs said they will eat your clowns if they get too close I was going to try and get one for mine to host. And after seeing it eat a live silverside im not sure I want one lol

Most lfs folks are full of ****,and don't know anything except how to sell u something you don't need. But I can tell u this is one of my favorite corals I own in my reef. I do have a clown that does host in it and has been doing so for a couple months. So , do your self a big favor and add one of these beautiful corals to your tank. But make sure you give it plenty of room on the sandbed, cause live rock can harm it ver soft tissue. And it can and will sting other corals if it's to close. Good luck on picking up one of these guys. They are not cheap. But not as expensive as a scolly. Lol

 

[tonythefish]

I have one for about a year and it is over 9 inches wide during the day . It hosts two clowns.

 

[wysiwyg]

wow that coral looks amazing. now on my wish list

 

[Mstansbery]

My all time FAVORITE species!!

I kept a vivid pink tipped on green with striations for over 2 years! -They get HUGE!!

 

[reefer209]

Steve Tyree has a beautiful elegance that has been in captivity since 1988 or so. iI bought a cutting from it a couple of years back. unfortunitally it fell victim to the crashing of my tanh crashing last year. my tank is up and supporting sps again so i will be contacting him again in hopes i can get another cutting. the one Tyree has is green with purple tips.

 

[Steelerfan747]

Absolutely gorgeous corals and one of my all time favorites but I have never had great luck with them. Maybe someday I'll try again. Maybe one from Australia

 

[Detroit_306]

i enjoy the hell out of mine...taken with a crappy phone, but i got this piece for $30

 

[k2parkstar]

I've never owned one personally, as I just don't have the space in my 45 cube. I've seen several come through my LFS and they are beautiful. If I had the space i'd get one for sure. Anything that moves with the flow, makes a reef tank look more like the ocean in my opinion.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Here is my elegance:

 

[reefsandrotts]

hers a pic of my elegance from ALONG time ago

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I'll have to remember to take some pics of mine tonight after it closes up. I think it is neat how small they can get.

I'm actually mildly allergic to this coral. If I touch it, I break out in blisters where contact was made.

 

[BarbH]

What would be the minimum size tank recommendation for keeping this coral?

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[SeahorseKeeper]

What would be the minimum size tank recommendation for keeping this coral?

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I would say a 75. It really depends on the rock work. You want to give the elegance enough real estate so it can grow to its full glory.

 

[BarbH]

I would say a 75. It really depends on the rock work. You want to give the elegance enough real estate so it can grow to its full glory.

Thanks for the input

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