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| Currently
I have only seven kinds of the so-called Large
Polyped Stony corals in my reeftank. This may
seem surprising given the tanks size, the fact
that some of my favorite corals are of the 'LPS' variety,
and that the tank actually started out as a 'LPS' display
designed to feature perhaps my absolute favorite
coral: Catalaphyllia jardinei (Elegance Coral).
Unfortunately, Elegance is one of the corals I've chosen NOT to own at
this point. This is due to the recent difficulty in maintaining them for any
length of time. I've tried, and it pains me greatly to see them wither
away and die as the majority of them seem to do. |
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most of you know, there is much debate as to
why this is happening. One school of thought
says the cause is bacteriological and that quarantine
and prophylactic treatment are necessary. Another
school offers the possibility that we may be "stripping" the
water too clean; that these animals need more
nutrients that we provide them nowadays and are
therefore starving to death. All I know is back
in my "wet-dry" LA days, I maintained
the single largest Elegance I've seen to
date (Cost me $300.00 THEN). And I had it two
years before the Northridge earthquake caused
it to become buried in a rockwork slide, injuring
it beyond "repair". But today, rather
than participating in the reef-to-reeftank death
march I hear about so frequently, |
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I'll
just wait for as close to a definitive explanation
as we get in this hobby then take the appropriate
course of action. I'd sure love to have
one again though. |
| Okay.
Enough talk about what I don't have. I
DO have some of my other favorites represented
here; you can tell they're my favorites
because I have several examples of each. As mentioned
before, I originally planned this tank to house
nothing but "LPS"…and maybe
a few softies. But that was before the "SPS' bug
hit. Now I have, in effect, two tanks. The upper
half with it's higher light intensity and
water movement is for the acros n' such
while the lower half is for these guys. |
| We
live in an age of specialization. So it should
come as no surprise that I've been asked
on several occasions if I'd ever upgrade
my lighting and go exclusively "SPS".
The answer is always a polite no. Like I said,
I like the "LPS". Besides, were it
not for the fact that my frogspawn's polyps
sway back and forth with the water movement,
many of my non-reefing guests would think that
the only thing alive in the tank were the fish!
Here, a tank full of acros and it's the "LPS" that
get the attention. |
Any
negatives? Sweepers. But there have only been
two instances when I had to actually remove
a coral because of them. Since the last time
everyone seems to be fairly content. Except
me. I really want a nice, healthy Elegance!!! |
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