Elegance Corals, or Catalaphyllia as they are more technically referred to as, are a colorful and unique LPS Coral that have been in our hobby for quite some time. Elegance are native to the Indo-Pacific region and can be found in the sand beds of shallow coastal reefs off the coasts of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji to name a few!
Despite coming from different countries, they do not vary much in look or coloration like some other corals might! Elegance are known for their fleshy internal bodies, and long flowing, tipped tentacles! Almost like a torch with a fleshy, open, elongated center. Truly unique looking!
Elegance Corals come in a multitude of colors that make them quite desirable. Their center bodies range from various shades of green, blue, neon, and purple. Including patterns of stripes and blotches that make no two the same, as well as bright, vibrant tentacle tips of either pink, purple, blue, yellow, or orange!
There are two types of Elegance structures: cone bottom and flat bottom Elegance. As their names suggest, cones are singular corals that exist entirely in an ice cream cone-like skeleton. Whereas flat bottom Elegance have a flat wall-like a rectangular skeleton that was once part of a larger colony, much like a wall hammer, for example. In turn, flat bottom Elegance are typically much larger than their cone counterparts and open larger too!
In terms of care, Elegance are generally considered moderately difficult to maintain. They need stable, well-maintained water parameters and conditions to continue to thrive long-term. Elegance Corals thrive best in the following water parameters:
Salinity: 1.025 to 1.026 Specific Gravity
Calcium: 400 to 450 ppm
Alkalinity: 8 – 12 dKh
Magnesium 1250 – 1350 ppm
Temperature: 77-78 Degrees Fahrenheit
However, the most important aspect of Elegance care is proper placement. Elegance can be kept under a wide variety of lighting but must be acclimated gradually. Our Elegance are usually under moderate lighting and PAR. Moderate, indirect, and randomized flow serves them best. Allowing their long, colorful tentacles to sway elegantly in your tank! No pun intended! Place these corals down in your sand bed, as they love to open and sprawl out across it. Be mindful of their longer tentacles, as they can latch on and sting other corals in your tank if too close!
There are some pests to look out for when it comes to Elegance that are usually harmless but can cause damage to the elegance tissue. Certain crabs can burrow into the skeleton of the Elegance, typically where the flesh meets the skeleton, creating a circular tunnel. You may not even know they are there except when the Elegance is closed at night, which is the best time to spot them. The easiest way to remove them is to take a sharp pin insert through the center of the crab and then pluck it out. You may also notice a very bright orange crab that glows under actinics that hangs out on the flesh of the Elegance. Typically harmless, but they do tend to create an incision in the tissue of the Elegance to hide in. They’re usually out during the daylight spectrum trying to catch/steal food and can be manually removed with tweezers.
Elegance can make for a rewarding addition to your reef tank. Their coloration, and look truly make for a unique LPS coral!
