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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,

 

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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