Lighting
60-140 PAR is a starting range; fleshy tissue should expand without paling, stretching, or pulling against skeleton.
LPSAdvancedCare score 8/10
Elegance Coral
Catalaphyllia jardinei
Elegance Coral care and ID profile for large fleshy mantle, long tentacles with colored tips, mantle recession or sudden deflation, and practical placement decisions for mixed reef compatibility.
Compare large fleshy mantle, care range, and nearby lookalikes while checking an ID.
Snapshot
Quick Care Snapshot
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Care score
- 8/10
- Placement
- Low
- PAR range
- 60-140 PAR
- Flow
- Low
- Aggression
- High
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Minimum tank age
- 6 months
- Minimum tank size
- 40 gallons
Care note
This entry has low confidence or is marked for expert review. Treat the ranges as conservative starting points and compare them with your own system.
- Review advanced-care ranges against specimen source and aquaculture history.
Images
Reference Photos
Photos are shown only when a source includes reusable license metadata. Always verify appearance against the coral in your own lighting and flow.
Primary reference: Kazvorpal
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Dan Schofield
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 4.0
Photo: Dan Schofield
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 4.0
Ranges
Water Parameters
These ranges are approximate starting points from the coral database and should be adjusted to the stability and history of your system.
- Temperature
- 76-80 F / 24.4-26.7 C
- Salinity
- 1.024-1.026
- Alkalinity
- 8-9 dKH
- Calcium
- 420-460 ppm
- Magnesium
- 1280-1400 ppm
- Nitrate
- 2-15 ppm
- Phosphate
- 0.03-0.1 ppm
Care
Care Notes
Flow
low indirect flow should move tissue gently without folding it into sharp skeleton or neighbors.
Stability
For Elegance Coral, verify salinity and alkalinity trends before changing placement; repeated moves and direct corrective swings can irritate fleshy tissue.
Variability
Elegance Coral requirements vary by specimen, aquaculture history, shipping stress, and tank maturity; use these ranges as starting points, not guarantees.
Feeding
Feeding
- Benefits from feeding
- Yes
- Food types
- small shrimp, mysis, finely chopped seafood
- Frequency
- weekly, using small portions
ID
Identification
Key features
- large fleshy mantle
- long tentacles with colored tips
- cone or wall-like skeleton
Common colors
- Green
- Purple
- Pink
- Cream
Similar coral references
How to tell apart
Elegance coral has a broad fleshy mantle from one skeleton, not separate branching heads like torch coral. Elegance Coral is best separated from Torch Coral and Brain Coral by weighing large fleshy mantle, long tentacles with colored tips, and cone or wall-like skeleton. Look at corallite walls, polyp shape, tissue inflation, and where recession begins; then compare that structure with where the coral expands, retracts, or shows early recession. Do not rely only on color under blue lighting. Because trade photos can exaggerate color, skeleton shape, polyp layout, and expansion pattern are stronger clues than color alone.
Placement
Compatibility
Compatibility depends on specimen size, flow, growth, aggression, and spacing. Use these references conservatively and watch for contact over time.
Usually compatible with spacing
Use caution near
Avoid close placement with
Spacing recommendation: keep about 8 inches of clearance, then adjust based on extension and neighboring coral response.
Troubleshooting
Common Problems
Use these as troubleshooting checks, not a diagnosis. Symptoms may point to more than one issue.
Elegance Coral mantle recession or sudden deflationOpen for symptoms, likely causes to check, and practical next steps.
Symptoms that may indicate it
- large fleshy tissue stays tight, pulls from the skeleton, or fails to inflate on the sand
- Elegance Coral shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline
- changes are localized rather than a confirmed single-cause condition
Likely causes to check
- rough placement, excessive light, direct flow, or specimen-specific stress
- recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Elegance Coral
- possible irritation from neighbors, pests, detritus, or handling depending on the coral group
Quick checks
- check Elegance Coral alkalinity trend and look for nearby stinging contact
- reduce direct flow if tissue is pressed against skeleton
- increase spacing and observe the coral under white light and after lights out
Checklist
Common Mistakes
- place Elegance Coral on open sand with room for expansion and sting radius
- placing Elegance Coral before confirming large fleshy mantle and its spacing needs
- using Elegance Coral color or trade name alone instead of comparing it with Torch Coral
- changing light, flow, and chemistry together when Elegance Coral looks irritated
- ignoring fleshy tissue protection from direct flow when keeping Elegance Coral
Compare
Similar Corals
Neighbors
Compatible Corals
These corals are usually compatible with spacing, observation, and stable conditions. This is not a guarantee.
FAQs
FAQs
Is Elegance Coral beginner friendly?
Elegance Coral is not a beginner coral. It needs mature-system stability and careful observation, and the listed values should be reviewed before publication.
Where should Elegance Coral be placed?
Start Elegance Coral low in the tank or on the sand/low rockwork when its tissue form allows it. Use 60-140 PAR and low flow as a starting point, then adjust from tissue extension, color, and nearby coral response.
Should I target feed Elegance Coral?
Elegance Coral may benefit from careful target feeding with small shrimp, mysis, and finely chopped seafood. Use the listed frequency as a starting point: weekly, using small portions. Feed only when the coral accepts food and avoid forcing food into stressed tissue.
Can Elegance Coral touch other corals?
Give Elegance Coral about 8 inches of clearance as a starting point. Its database aggression level is High. Use caution near Torch Coral, Hammer Coral, and Frogspawn Coral. Avoid close placement with Zoanthids, Acropora, and Chalice Coral. Compatibility is not a guarantee, so check contact points as colonies expand.
What should I check if Elegance Coral looks stressed?
Use this as a troubleshooting check. For Elegance Coral, large fleshy tissue stays tight, pulls from the skeleton, or fails to inflate on the sand and Elegance Coral shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline can indicate Elegance Coral mantle recession or sudden deflation. Likely causes to check include rough placement, excessive light, direct flow, or specimen-specific stress and recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Elegance Coral. Start with these database checks: check Elegance Coral alkalinity trend and look for nearby stinging contact and reduce direct flow if tissue is pressed against skeleton.
What stability issue matters most for Elegance Coral?
For Elegance Coral, verify salinity and alkalinity trends before changing placement; repeated moves and direct corrective swings can irritate fleshy tissue. The database lists 6 months as the minimum tank age and 40 gallons as the minimum tank size. For LPS-style care, protect fleshy tissue from repeated moves, direct flow, and abrupt chemistry corrections.
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