FAQs about Stony Coral Health/Disease/Pests:
Environmental
(Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...)Related Articles: Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators,
diseases and conditions by Sara Mavinkurve,
Quarantine of Corals
and Invertebrates, LPS
Corals, True or Stony Corals, Order
Scleractinia, Propagation for Marine
Aquarium Use,
Related FAQs: Stony Coral Disease 1, Stony Coral Disease 2, Stony Coral Disease 3, Stony Coral Disease 4, Stony Coral Disease 5, Stony Coral Disease 6, Stony Coral Disease 7, Stony Coral Disease 8, Stony Coral Disease 9, Stony Coral Disease 10,
Stony Coral Disease 11, Stony Coral Disease
12, Stony Coral Disease 13,
Stony Coral Disease 14,
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Category: Diagnosing:
,
Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy),
Trauma,
Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral)
Predatory/Pest,
Treatments
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Family: Acroporid Disease, Acroporid Disease 2, Acroporid Disease 3, Acroporid Disease 4..., Caryophyllid Disease, Caryophyllid Disease 2..., Elegance Coral Disease/Pests, Dendrophylliid Disease, Faviid Disease, Faviid Disease 2, Fungiid Disease, Mussid Disease, Mussid Health 2, Poritid Health, Trachyphylliid Disease, Trachyphyllia Disease 2,
FAQs on Stony Coral Disease by Type: Brown Jelly Disease, RTN,
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Bleaching Question, thermal, corals
8-28-09
Recently my cooling fans bit the dust. I'm not sure of the exact
date but it may be as long as a week (they're or were very quiet
and I did not notice that they were not running). The temp in my tank
has climbed. I am
awaiting replacement fans. My tank's temp is usually between
78F-79F. It went as high as 86F and I have managed to keep it at 80F
while waiting for the fans to be shipped. I have noticed, with much
pain and guilt, that several of my corals are bleaching. As my other
parameters (ph, etc) are stable, I assume this is from the dramatic
change in temperature. What is the likelihood that they will recover?
Is there anything I can do to aid them?
<Very likely. It's also very likely that they'll recover -
make sure you keep all parameters stable, and feed well for the few
months it will take them to recover>
Thanks.
<Anytime. Mike Maddox>
High Magnesium and corals losing color 3/15/09
Hi, I have a 175 gal reef. Calcium is 450 mg/l alkalinity is 9 dKH,
Magnesium is 1800 ppm.
<Mmm, I would remove a good deal of the water in this system, and
re-fill with new seawater with less Mg>
Everything was fine until a friend of mine gave me this magnesium
supplement he sells, but he gave it for free since the instructions
were wrong, I couldn´t find the right instructions in his
homepage either, so I added 2 full caps and the day after I noticed
that my Montiporas were losing color. Only the Montis: rainbow,
superman, orange capricornis and green capricornis, the Monti
palawensis was not affected and neither was the sunset Monti. Acros and
all other corals were not affected.
<... not yet>
The Montis affected look rather pale, the Magnesium level was probably
around 1600 ppm and this supplement raised it to 1800 ppm. Is this the
reason for the pale colors?
<Could well be... directly or not>
Some people suggest that is good to have high magnesium as it will
improve coralline etc.
<Mmm, not to my knowledge... about three times Ca conc. is ideal...
more gets worse>
My Mag levels have always been high, the average was 1300 ppm until I
started dosing Mag supplements then it went up. A curious thing is that
my green Monti cap has never had a good coloration, it has always
looked pale, I´m wondering if high mag has this effect on
corals?
<Can, yes>
Now the question is how to lower the Mag, I heard this is done with
water changes, I did a water change last week before adding the Mag
supplement which raised Mag, so I´m wondering if I can just
wait 4 more weeks to do the water change as usual or I should treat
this as an emergency and do the water change now to lower magnesium?,
is there an urgency?.
<There is... again... diluting with new water of lower [Mg] is
called for... stat>
Also for my calcium I use Seachem's advantage calcium which
"maintains magnesium" does that mean it will keep Mag at 1800
ppm as long as I keep using it?.
<Depends on how much you use... I would use three times Ca levels as
a target, and NOT add the Advantage if Mg is about three times this
concentration>
Also what is going to happen with the corals that went pale in
coloration, will they die from this?
<Hopefully not>
, or they will just go back to normal in time?.
<Hopefully so>
Did they become pale because of High Mag levels or because the increase
on Mag levels was to much to fast?
<Can't say... but is a possibility that it is the sudden and/or
finished high degree. Bob Fenner>
Cyano, algicides admonition
1/13/09
Hi Crew,
I have been battling red slime for a few months and made a lot of
progress but could not get it completely. It was contained in a
few spots that I would siphon. Every once in a while it would
flare up and I would have a real clean up to do. So I decided to
try a product despite the problems people have reported.
UltraLife Red Slime Control.
<Hmmm'¦.>
My tank is just a 10 gallon and I have candycanes and some fish.
Instructions were to use one measure of the enclosed dispenser (
one flat teaspoon full) for 15 gallons. I figure I have about 8
gallons so I used half of that. I pre mixed it with tank water
until completely dissolved as instructed. And it did get rid of
it. My tank always had a reddish hue to it and now it actually
looks very clean. The fish did not seem to mind the treatment. I
have a few snails and I did not notice any adverse affects. The
corals did not like it. It was nothing major but I rarely see
them with open mouths, usually just a few.
<I have seen this, a friend just wiped out his reef recently
using a similar antibiotic product.>
But during the treatment they were all open. I left it this way
for 2 days. Then I put carbon back in my filter and did some
water changes and so far, after a week, all seems well and it has
not returned (yet).
<It will unless the fueling factor is addressed. These
treatments are a temporary fix and a poison to filtration. The
tank inhabitants are threatened initially by oxygen deprivation,
followed by a hit to the biofiltration. See the links below for
more re this and the BGA.>
Thanks,
Sam
<Welcome, Scott V.>
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/maralgcidefaqs.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htmCyano Control 1/13/09
Hello Crew:
<Tom>
As Always I must say Great Site! Tons of information which I read
daily and then some.
<Great!>
My tank is a 3-1/2 year old 46 gallon bow with the following:
1-2" crushed coral (which I plan to create DSB 4-6" I
have the sugar sized sand but lack the confidence to create
without killing my tank family)
<Ah, just add a bit at a time over a couple of weeks and you
will be fine.>
50+ lbs of LR
Fluval 404 - took all components out and added Chemi-pure Elite
and charcoal
<Redundant, save yourself some cash and use one or the
other.>
Aqua C Roma w/Maxijet 1200 and drain hose (upgraded about 2
months ago from Prizm)
<Good move!>
2 power heads for water movement
Coralife 36" compact fluorescent dual 96w (1-daylight,
1-Actinic)
Readings:
SG - 1.023
Phos 0-0.25 (color chart)
Cal - 300
KH - 7
PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate -10
Temp - 80 F
2 false clowns - had almost 3 years
Yellow Tan
g - 1-1/2 years
2 cleaner shrimp - 6 months
Several various hermits
Several various snails
Frogs spawn - 2 years (had 2 heads and now has 4)
Yellow Polyp - 1-1/2 years
Green Polyp - 2 years
Several Mushrooms - 2-1/2 years
1 Ricordea - 2-1/2 years
1 leather - 1 year
2 nice size pieces of candy cane - 1 year
I believe my tank has a Cyano problem. The back of my tank ended
up covered with dark maroon color algae which I scraped off like
wall paper. But it also covered much of my LR. How do I clean the
LR?
<Best to just scrub in the tank a bit, siphon off what you can
with water changes. Treating the cause is the real cure.>
Can I remove some LR to open up the tank a bit?
<You can.>
Should I be doing something different or in addition in order to
remove the Fluval 404 canister?
<Start here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm
Continuing through all the linked files above will tell you more
than you ever wish to know about your problem!>
Thanks,
Tom
<Welcome, Scott V.>
Re: Cyano Control 1/14/09
Hello Scott:
Thank you for the information.
<Happy to help out Tom.>
I will keep reading WWM & learning.
Do you think at some point I would remove my Fluval 404
completely and relay on my LR & skimmer?
<I would, it is of little benefit with your other filtration
in place while just providing a possible detritus trap and extra
maintenance.>
Thanks,
Tom
<Welcome, Scott V.>
Re: Cyano Control... and Scler. hlth.
01/19/09 Hello Scott: I seem to have a possible problem
with my Candy Cane & Frogs Spawn coals. The Candy Cane always
seemed to have plump looking heads and all of a sudden they
appear hard for at least a week. The Frogs Spawn for about 2
weeks has not been fully out the tentacles are very close to the
skeleton. I kept thinking that they were disrupted yet its been a
while. Water has not changed as listed in earlier email.
<Hmm... I don't know, but it could be a reaction to the
Cyano.> Not sure whats going on. <When in doubt, do a water
change.> Regards, Tom <Best, Sara M.>
Re: Cyano Control 01/19/09
Hello Sara: Thanks for the response. That's exactly what I
did tonight and will keep doing them. Another thing I noticed is
that my snails are not acting right. Astraea & Margarita
snails seem to have slowed down and appear to be having trouble
moving and some are extended. Another thing I had been doing
often was blowing off the LR with a turkey baster and doing the
same to the 1-2" crushed coral on the bottom stirring it up.
The reason I was doing that was to allow the protein skimmer to
clean the water. Is that ok? <Yes, this is even recommended.
However, if your tank is not "used to" it, you might
have stirred up too much too fast. Again, the only really remedy
for this is more water changes...> Regards, Tom <Best, Sara
M.
|
Coral bleaching and tissue loss 10/16/07 Hello, On
Friday I awoke to a tank with all my LPS closed up tight as a drum,
except a torch that is about a week old. My monti's and Acro's
were colorless and no polyps extended at all. My crocea was even closed
up. A couple of very small zoanthid colonies were closed as well. A
small toadstool leather with really long polyps was closed up and bent
over lying its head on the rock. Even some calcareous macro algae is
pretty much white. <That's really strange.> My frogspawn
looks like the tissue around the base of the head just disintegrated.
There is some stringy web looking strands where the flesh used to be. I
also have a very small blue mushroom rock with just a few mushrooms on
it. All the corals are mostly frags so it is very easy to keep them
away from each other right now. I keep Chaeto in a fuge and do not have
any Caulerpa in my tank. I tested and all my params were normal for my
tank, all using fairly fresh Salifert test kits. pH 8.4 No Phosphate
Nitrate 0.2ppm Temp 79 Salinity 1.025 Ca 350 kH 9.0 I have a 100 gallon
tank that is 10 months old. I top off with Kalkwasser via a float
switch in the sump and keep all my params pretty consistent. The only
weird thing I can say is that the torch would spew brown stuff from its
mouth in the evening some times. I assumed it was extra zooxanthellae
or some other waste that it was purging. It is the only coral that
looks halfway normal right now. I have done three 7 gallon water
changes and have put a bunch of carbon in a reactor and am hoping for
the best. <Good plan, except I would do a bigger water change (maybe
30%).> It was just weird to me that everything in the tank got hit
all at once. <That is weird. It sounds like either something
chemical or maybe a sudden spike/drop in temperature or pH. Do you have
any larger colonies or any relatively larger animal which could have
spawned? Spawning events can cause something like this, but this
wouldn't happen with frags. Another thought is that maybe you had
some kind of toxic animal that died (maybe something you didn't
know you had). Um, or maybe something fell into the tank? Do you have
any kids who could have mistook your aquarium for a wishing well? I
have heard of mass die-offs overnight, but usually something new was
recently added or there was some other possible explanation.> With
such small colonies I thought I would not have many problems with
chemical warfare. Does this sound like what can happen with
allelopathy? <It definitely sounds like it could be something
chemical, but I can't say specifically what it could be. It could
also be a drop or spike in temperature. Is there any chance of
that?> I am just shocked at how quick and severe this has been.
<It is rather odd. Do keep us undated.> Thanks, James <Good
luck, Sara M.>
Re: Coral bleaching and tissue loss 10/16/07
Thanks for the reply. This is where a reef log would come in handy
right? <Yes and no. A reef log is helpful, but it might not help you
discover a very sudden change.> My tank normally runs around 81 but
has dipped down to 79 with the cooler weather around here lately. Would
a couple of degrees cause this? <No, and especially not if it were
over a few days or even hours. It would have had to be a sudden drastic
drop (or spike) to cause this kind of sudden damage. For example, a
drop down to <70 or a spike to >90 within an hour might do it.
Keep thinking though. It's got to be something. Did anyone smoke or
light incense near your skimmer maybe? Any bitter ex-girlfriends? :-)
Best, Sara>
Re: Coral bleaching and tissue loss 10/16/07 There
are a few out there but none with access to my house. I changed the
locks when I got married ten years ago. Ha. <Haha, good.> No
temperature swings that drastic. The only thing I can think of is that
I make my RO/DI water in the wash room, maybe something got in the
water in there. I will dump the Kalk reservoir and put new water in
there just in case. <Good idea. I think it's very possible that
something from the wash room got in there. Even just the tiniest bit of
detergent or bleach could cause a big problem.> Thanks for the
emails. <De nada and good luck, Sara M.>
Re: Coral bleaching and tissue loss-- mystery solved!
10/16/07 I found my culprit. Are you ready for this.... <Yes, I
think so...> I had the business end of a DC adapter fall into my
sump. I noticed a black cord with a funny green lump on the end of it.
Pulled it out and there it was, a nice corroded DC plug. I am going to
assume that the green corroded stuff was copper, which is now in my
tank along with who knows what other kind of metals. <Oh wow, that
really sucks. It did sound like some kind of copper or heavy metal
contamination. That's why I asked if anyone had thrown coins into
your tank. But next time, seriously, please don't be reaching into
salt water to grab unknown cords, ok? We'd all be really sad if
next time you didn't live to tell us about it. ;-)> I am going
to do a 20 gallon water change tonight. I am still running the carbon.
I wish I had some poly pad but I don't. Anything else I should do
here? I guess I should move my corals to a friends tank if they will
take them. <I wouldn't give them to a friend until after you can
QT them for awhile. If you can, put them in a QT tank a.s.a.p and do a
100% water change in the main tank. I know that's going to be a
pain, but I don't think you're going to have much choice. Get a
copper text kit a.s.a.p and see just how much copper is in the water.
Best, Sara M.>
Re: Coral bleaching and tissue loss--heavy metal
contamination 10/16/07 I have a tank that I am mixing my 20 gallons
of water in. Should I move my corals to that clean water right away? I
can take one of my pendants off my tank to light it as well. The temp
and salinity will match the existing system. <Yes, I think this
would be a good idea. Best, Sara M.>
Mysterious Coral Bleaching, Not Such A Mystery
(Antibiotics Administered To The Display System) -- 08/08/07 Dear
WWM Crew, <<Hello Bill>> Please lend me your thoughts.
<<Sure thing>> Recently (within the past week) I noticed
two Montipora corals in my tank that have been acclimated and growing
well begin to bleach. Within the past two days a few small Pocillopora
and Acropora began to bleach as well and polyps hid. <<Mmm, an
environmental issue of some sort>> I've checked the tank
parameters - everything seems rather on par -- 75 gallon tank
-Alkalinity - 4.2 (may be a bit high?) <<Considering you Calcium
is over 400...yes, a bit>> -Calcium - 420 -Nitrate - 0 -Temp - 74
- 76 night and day <<Probably fine but a little on the cool side
in my opinion>> -SG- 1.024 <<Better than many I've seen
but bumping to NSW levels (1.025/1.026) is best>> -Lighting - 2 *
250 10K, 4 * 96 actinic. All the corals have loved the light to this
point. <<Unless the bulbs are 'very' old this is likely
not the issue>> I think my problem may be one of two things, or a
combo of both. I used a cycle of "Chemi Clean" Cyanobacteria
remover which threw my protein skimmer way out of cycle. <<Ugh!
It has done much more harm than that I fear...you have likely wiped out
much of your biological filtration. You didn't list an Ammonia
reading but you need to check this right away...as well as
preparing/performing large water changes and adding chemical filtration
(Carbon/Poly-Filter/Chemi-Pure) to try to keep the buildup of
nitrogenous compounds under control until bacteria has a chance to
repopulate>> It is creating massive amounts of micro-bubbles so I
haven't been able to run it properly. <<Possibly overcome by
the increased organics load...perhaps you can adjust it 'down'
a bit>> I am doing a third partial water change today (in the
last week) to try to remove excess chemicals so I can get my skimmer
running normally (not overflowing the collection cup constantly).
<<The water changes probably explain why your Nitrate reading was
zero. Do try to get the skimmer back in service...perhaps throttling it
back a bit to slow down the overfilling of the skimmer cup>>
There is also one leather coral in the tank, could the lack of chemical
filtration for the past two weeks, or that in conjunction with the
leather emitting toxins be killing these previously healthy corals?
<<Is definitely a contributor...at the very least is exacerbating
the situation. Get some chemical filtration going!>> Any advice?
<<Yes...don't administer antibiotics to your display
system...and start reading here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm>> Thanks! Bill
<<Regards, EricR>>
Re: Mysterious Coral Bleaching, Not Such A Mystery
(Antibiotics Administered To The Display System) - 08/10/07 Eric,
<<Bill>> Thank you for the thoughts and advice.
<<You're quite welcome>> I will NEVER use any Cyano
"solution" again. <<Are surely trouble...>> The
day before I received your email I placed carbon and Chemi-pure in my
sump. <<Excellent! Though do consider a purposeful
reactor/canister filter for such to achieve maximum effect>>
Yesterday the skimmer began working again (it wasn't working at the
lowest flow setting previously) for the first time after another
partial water change and two days of the carbon/Chemi-pure in the sump.
<<Mmm...a good sign>> Question - now that the skimmer is
running how long should I leave the carbon/Chemi-pure in the sump for
additional filtration as I do not want to remove trace elements for too
long? <<I prefer to 'always' have some chemical filtrant
in my system (I employ two reactors with cut-up Poly-Filter on my 375).
I feel the benefits far outweigh any small loss of trace elements...and
the latter is of very small/no concern really with regular water
changes. In fact, there have been writings on the possible buildup of
trace elements to toxic levels in our 'enclosed' systems as
many of these elements can enter our tanks through different avenues,
not the least of which is the foods we feed>> Thanks Again, Bill
<<Always happy to help. Eric Russell>>
Need more water flow? Coral Health 5/24/04 Hello and good
morning, <howdy!> Hopefully this finds you with the picture this
time. My coral is having some issues, it is not spreading out and
polyps don't open any more. Now I am noticing some white spots on
the underside. I bought it under the name of Pink Cabbage coral, the
closest thing I can find is a flower leather coral. It has been
"sliming" and then, the slime falls off. Is it cleaning
itself? The white areas are of most concern. Any info would be helpful,
and thank you for your time. Thanks, Daniel <the sliming is a normal
mucous tunic shedding metabolites. If it lingers for more than a day,
its a sign of inadequate water flow and can stifle the coral. I suspect
this animal needs better water flow. Such leathers are generally quite
tolerant of low to moderate light. No worries there unless you have
less than 3 or 4 watts per gallon of white light. Anthony>
Bob Fenner in Brooklyn this Friday evening at BAS & Polyp
loss 5/5/03 Hello there! I was reading some of the e mail on your
web site and read that polyp loss can result from a build up of
chloride ions. <to be specific... Chloride accumulation
(usually taking 8 months or more from regular use of liquid calcium and
not having enviable water changes (25% monthly or less)... can skew the
Ca/Alk dynamic, leaving one quite low the other quite high, and that
prolonged stress and inability to effectively calcify is what harms
polyps> I have a 75 g reef tank and have had a pagoda
coral for close to 9 months. Recently it has began to recede with polyp
loss which started in areas of the coral that were in the shade but now
has continued in areas of what was previously adequate
light. Many possible reasons for this... most likely is
inappropriate water flow (not enough or just merely laminar- yikes!- as
from a power head blasting at it) or it occurs from a lack of feeding
(Turbinaria needs fed weekly if you do not have a fishless refugium...
else it slowly starves over time in most tanks> The polyps that
remain extend quite well ( at least 1 - 1
1/2" ). There are several large
Sarcophyton leathers that have recently divided and are
encroaching on the pagoda. <the leathers are indeed quite
noxious> And now for my question. I use liquid calcium
and recently Kent's Liq. Ca++ <dreadful long term plan IMO...
liquid Ca is a temp calcium for quick fixes and corrections... use a
calcium reactor, Kalkwasser or calcium oxide for a long term Ca
supplement> Is the loss of the polyps due to a build up
of chloride ions or allelopathy? <could be either, both,
or neither... do check you chemistry to see if Ca and ALK are skewed
(ALK is likely low (under 8 dKH) while Ca is high if the liquid Ca was
a problem> Do all liquid calcium supplements contain chloride?
<all but Reefchem's Reef Calcium which is calcium gluconate>
I use Coralife dechlorinator/deaminator on tap water for preparation of
H2O for changes. <no worries> I perform on average a 5% water
change every week. <yikes... a very weak water change schedule...
allows much to accumulate and concentrate in time. Step that up to
10-20% weekly minimum, my friend... especially in a tank full of
noxious stinging cnidarians (unless you have ozone and or wicked
skimming)> Can you recommend a brand of Ca that is safer. <always
calcium hydroxide unless a calcium reactor is a possibility. I love the
Knop reactors if so> Thanks once again. Jim/ Long
Island <hey, Jim... Bob Fenner is going to be in Brooklyn at the BAS
club meeting this Friday night... do visit if you can! Best regards,
Anthony>
Too bright or too slow? Polyp inhibition 9/30/03 I have a 180
gallon reef tank with very good conditions, water quality etc. I
introduce repeatedly star polyps and leather corals and they do not
open all the way. The star polyps do not open at all. I know this is a
general question but are there conditions that cause this. I have 250
watt metal halides, calcium reactor, water changes weekly, salinity at
23 temp at 74 degrees, ph 8.20-8.30 etc. Any ideas and thanks Gregg
<the most common cause is inadequate water flow... 10-20 X tank
turnover is recommended. I am also concerned about your excessive
lights... 250-400 watt halides are generally reserved for shallow water
coral species (like SPS and clams). If you have been placing these new
corals in the top 12" of the aquarium, then they are suffering at
least in part from light shock/photoinhibition. Do consider.
Anthony>
Acropora emergency I can't stand it. I just
can't stand it. <sigh> You've been helping me
with some lighting issues, which I really appreciate, but I'm
starting to think it's not the lighting. My biggest
problem is that I can no longer seem to keep Acropora alive. <so
many possibilities> I had two pieces for a couple of months before a
water circulation problem (blown pump) killed them. I had
acclimated them, and they seemed otherwise healthy, so I replaced them
with another piece, but stupidly didn't acclimate. It
bleached within a week. OK, I thought, my fault, and for the
replacement to the replacement, I've gone the whole nine yards,
with the screen method, to acclimate. Everything's been
fine for a week...and today I get up to find the bases of several of
the branches are bleaching. I've checked most of what I can think
to check: am,>ni, nitrate all zero; Ca at 500; <lets stop here.
We may have a water quality issue. Either your Ca test is inaccurate
(500ppm Ca is dangerously high if even possible in most tanks without a
precipitation of Alkalinity)... Or... your alkalinity is on the floor!
I can almost guarantee you that if you test your Alkalinity/hardness
that you are well under 10dKH. Quite frankly... I won't be
surprised if you are under 6dKH! Very dangerous and could easily foul
Acropora and other SPS. Target 8-12 dKH and 350-425ppm Ca but not the
high en of both simultaneously. Use a LFS or another test to compare
your kit's accuracy of a water test> with a chiller, the temp
stays at 78 24x7. If you recall, I had 20K 250W>MH lights
when I got the piece, but switched to 10K for a couple days due to
other issues; I've put the 20K bulbs back, but with the heavy
screen it's had, I didn't think that would cause the piece to
start bleaching, especially literally overnight - I looked at it last
night, it was not bleached at all (believe me, I've been checking 5
times a day). I have noticed that the polyps never really
have extended, but I thought it was due to the move and have been
waiting it out. <the switch was indeed stressful... but I am
wondering if this isn't really a problem with skewed Ca/Alk
dynamics or consistency> Is there anything I can do to save this
piece? <we need to ID the cause before we can say
whether to pull the coral or not> I'm sick of watching Acropora
bleach. Other corals (mostly LPS and soft) all seem fine -
<more tolerant> including a large branching Hydnophora excesa (I
believe - it's a fuzzy-looking green branching SPS), which has done
fine from the beginning. <it is one of the worlds hardiest corals...
I have seen them propagated by literally running them through a band
saw!!!> Any ideas? Or am I just going to remain an
Acropora killer? Arthur <no worries... we will figure it
out in due time. Anthony>
Re: Acropora Emergency An update; I performed a few moderate
water changes over the last two days, and have swapped out the
equivalent of 60% of the original water. The new reading for
Ca shows around 420, but I'll let it settle for a day before
reading it again. Alk is still 11. Things seem a
little "perkier", but they always do after a water change -
probably a good indication that my skimmer just wasn't cutting it.
The Acropora emergency is over - it's bleached over 75% of the
piece, so I expect it'll croak. RTN
stinks. I'll go back to daily Ca checks for a while
until I get some stability. <Sounds fine now, sorry about the Acro.
Test calcium and alk and then let it run for four days with no
supplements. Test again and divide difference by four. That is what you
should dose of calc and alk supplements daily. 11
alk and 420 calcium is just on the high end of optimum for both. They
could both come down a little with no problem.> I've already
purchased the Remora Pro (today), so at this point, over the last 2
months, I've replaced or added: the chiller (1/4 HP), canister
filter (Hagen 404) leading into a UV sterilizer (CSL double helix, to
help fight ich - won't be permanently on), lighting (from 4x110W
VHO to MH), and now the protein skimmer (Remora Pro). The
last thing I'm going to do is convert the sump to a refugium (when
I can remove the in-sump skimmer I have and get the room
back). For a 75 gallon tank, I have to believe this is
getting close to optimum conditions- I suppose I could always add a Ca
Reactor, but that isn't going to happen soon (not if I want to stay
married :)). If I can't get some stability now, I really
*will* consider changing to guppies...:) Thanks for the help... Arthur
<Hmmm, sounds like my house.... Do have
fun! Craig>
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