[Holly]

Was doing a little reading on carnation corals (specifically Dendronephthya) and was wondering if any of you have had any luck keeping them? If so, do you have any tank photos you could share? I'd love to see

[sihaya]

These corals can't yet be kept in aquariums. There are a few people trying to who claim some success. These people are totally obsessed with them and have special tanks set up for this. But even these people struggle just to keep these corals alive for even a year.

The problem (apparently) is that no one knows exactly what they eat or exactly how they feed. They're non-photosynthetic. So that means that getting them the right food is essential to keeping them alive. But I think at the moment it's hard to say for sure if it's the food itself aquariums don't provide... or rather, if it's the right kind of water flow enabling them to get that food that's missing. Whatever the case, aquarist haven't figured it out yet. And so collection from the wild continues to be a death sentence to these corals.

That said, I'm sure there are going to be a lot of people who tell you "well, I've had one for 2 months and it's doing fine." Well, that's all well and good, but these corals inevitably die long before their natural life expectancies. They never make it to years in aquariums. The best anyone ever does with them is a few months (but usually only a few weeks).

Honestly, it's just immoral to buy these corals or any other coral that consistantly fails to survive in aquariums (even when in the hands of the most experienced and skilled aquarists). Now, if you've had 20 highly successful years keeping reef aquariums, you've kept all the most finicky species of corals successfully for years, you've read everything known to mankind about these corals, and you've come up with some smart, novel idea that might allow them to survive, and you have the time, money and energy to do it right... go for it. Otherwise, don't support the taking of these corals from the reefs where they belong.

[Holly]

I know they shouldn't be purchased! Wouldn't try to buy one ever.

I had just read a good article about them off the reef.org library (which also said not to purchase them, of course), and a few other little write-ups here or there on the net. I was just curious if any of the seasoned old pros in here had ever tried in the past, is all =)

PS Your thread about how your hobby is killing you was hilarious

[sihaya]

Oh sorry... didn't mean to get all preachy on you. I did try to find the website of the one dude I remember reading about who's dedicated a lot of time and effort to trying to keep his alive. Sorry I can't seem to find it right now.

And thanks about the other thread... I do try to develope a positive, humorous association with my username so that people don't immediately stop liking me when they come accross one of my not so funny, long and preachy, ranting posts...

[Poseidon]

LOL! Sara you crack me up!

As for the Carnation coral, I agree with Sara, leave it at the store. Unfortunately someone else will buy it because it is cool. Maybe one day soon people will stop buying Elegance corals too.