Elegans or something else?

[Vincero]

Hi all,

I posted a while back in the main forum asking about care tips for what I thought was a sarcophyton elegans. After buying it, it went through a sulking stage and looked very green.

It was suggested this might not be a yellow Fiji leather. My goal was to wait it out and see what it looked like when (if!!!) it decided to open.

Then.... my tank temperature almost crashed when I went away for a weekend, which extended it's sulking period. 3 weeks and an extra heater later, this coral''s polyps are extending the furthest I've ever seen them.

It looks kind of (?) Yellow if the whites are up and the blues are down, but it doesn't resemble the striking yellows of the elegans I've seen around here (most of which seem to pop in blue light). Under blues, it still looks greenish to me.

Are any of you experts able to hazard a guess as to what kind of mushroom leather I have on my hands? It might need different requirements to those I'm giving it, if it's not an elegans .

http://imgur.com/a/1TVE0

Thanks

[AlSimmons]

It just looks like your run of the mill Toadstool coral IMO. Also, I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned it to you in the past, but corals like this have been known to be dyed sometimes too. The link below is definitely worth checking out.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dyedcorals.htm

[Vincero]

Thanks -- it doesn't look vibrant enough to be dyed. It's pretty plain looking at the moment. If this is a normal toadstool, how much further should the polyps extend? Something tells me it isn't completely out yet?

[AlSimmons]

See that's the thing the coral may have been vibrant at one time and even sold under the name Sarcophyton elegans, but now that the dye is gone your seeing it for what it truly is.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/corals

[Vincero]

It looks pretty much exactly as it did in the LFS. I purchased it with a lack of understanding.I wasn't aware oof how they should look.

It was recommended to me because the LFS sold me my nano set up and apparently the elagans is a slow grower. But... it's not looking like an elegans -- should I be seeing ng some kind of refund? The shop was selling other toadstool for much cheaper :/

[AlSimmons]

If it's quite a bit of money then you might mention it to the LFS and see what they have to say about it. Maybe even bring your laptop and show them some pictures of the real deal. If your not strapped for cash though, you've got a job etc, you might want to just chalk it up as a learning experience. It may not be a Sarcophyton elegans, but it's still a beautiful coral nonetheless.

[Vincero]

Thanks -- maybe I can get an elegans later. Based on the pictures, am I right to think that this should open up and extend its polyps even further?

Some of the polyps are starting to open into a flower shape at the tips, but some still seem somewhat retracted. Is it obvious when they're fully open?

[ozmosis7]

Big toadstool.