Elegance (catalphyllia)

[miareefer]

Heres a few pics of my 3 year old elegance it would have to be one of my most spectacular corals that i have. It has always been a centre show piece in my setups i am aware of the recent problems with these corals and they are being lost at a alarming rate over the last few years . Just do a search on Reef Central
and you will be blown away once regarded as a easy coral to keep they are now regarded as better left alone for reasons no one can explain .

[miareefer]

After doing a bit more reading on the problems associated with these corals i noticed that my elegance was starting to droop a bit when it recedded at night
there was one particular section that was looking a bit ordinary. During the day it would expand and look a million bucks . One polyp looked like it was hanging a inch or so below the skeleton i feared the worst could this be what was referred to as polyp bailout . I just figured it was easier to let things be and keep a close eye on the girl for the sake it looked excellent during the day and has grown a lot for a slow growing coral. It wasnt to recently that i had a really good inspection and realized that the reason it was drooping was for the fact it was growing these inch long calcerous growths under its hyperextended polyps
I believe its reproducing i am ecstatic to think that this can even be possible in enclosed aquaria so after having a good look i found 3 separate areas that have grown these mega lumpy growths . So ill post the pics and you can make your own decision

[miareefer]

Well i posted a similar thread on Reef Central to try and get Eric Hugo's opinion on the matter and his response was that he reckons that ime going to be a father in no time in his expeirence its shedding daughter colonys .
IME EXCITED

[Poseidon]

THat is VERY COOL!!!

I saw a really nice little piece at the LFS last week, but laid off do to mortality concerns!

[zhenya]

Mia,

If you search Coral forum on RC you'll probably find a thread started by a guy from Croatia ( I think his handle is Bluereefs), he has a gigantic Catalaphyllia j. in his tank and it is dropping babies quite regularly as well.
He also has some pics in that thread as well.

Good luck with yours, it is a beauty for sure

[miareefer]

Thanks Gene
I tried to do a bit of looking into it but theres not really a lot of info around about it so i was a bit lost as what was going on thanks for helping as usual .

[Minh Nguyen]

Thanks Gene
I tried to do a bit of looking into it but theres not really a lot of info around about it so i was a bit lost as what was going on thanks for helping as usual .

Yes, it is dropping baby colonies. The weight of the skeleton will pull the tissue apart and the new colony just drop off when the time come.
Congrad