SPS bleaching   5/8/06
Hi Bob,
<Mohamed>
I have read the information on http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acropori.htm a number of times.
I have noticed today that some of the sps have cream patches. I have no idea what that is.
<Mmm... can be nothing... happens in the wild even...>
The biggest problem with SPS is water quality to my understanding and I do 50L water change a week on a 600L system.
If I understand, if I improve my water quality much more, I should not have a problem.
Thanks
    Mohamed.
<Water quality is number one... nutrition a factor also. Bob Fenner>

"Bubble" on My Acropora - 10/20/06
Hi.
<<Hello>>
I have a very quick question I hope you can help me with.
<<I shall try>>
I have an Acropora coral that has a bubble type appendage toward it's base where it appears it was snapped off from the mother colony.  The bubble is not brown (dreaded jelly disease) and looks healthy with extended small polyps extending off the bubble.  I have had the coral for at least 5-6 months now.  The coral is growing well and other then the bubble in question is in perfect health with very good color and polyp extension mostly at night with a little during the day.  I have no idea what this bubble is and I can't find anything on it.  All my other Acros are doing great.  If I am naive and this is the start of some kind of infection I want to get on it before it gets out of hand.
<<I doubt this is an "infection," these usually act quite fast and you would heave noticed some deleterious effect by now.  I suspect what you have is a "parasite"...despite how that sounds, in this instance these are usually symbiotic or at least commensal relationships and thus benign.  Some crustaceans are known to take up residence on the skeleton/in the flesh of Acropora corals.  The most common that I have witnessed are small barnacle looking crustaceans and very small crabs...the latter is visibly active (feeding) from a small opening in the corals flesh, the latter is usually completely encased in a lump or goiter of the corals flesh.  To my knowledge and in my experience, neither do permanent harm or prevent the coral from growing/flourishing>>
For the record my water parameters are:
0 nitrate
0  Ammonia
0 Nitrite
0 Phosphate
Alk 11 (stable)
Calcium 380
SG 1.025,
Temp 80
PH 8.3 (stable with reverse light cycle on refugium)
The coral has a nice, healthy strong random flow over it.  No linear current or anything.  The coral is housed under (2) 150watt HQI metal halide and 260watts of mixed PC 10k and actinic and is in the top 1/4 of the tank.  I have attached a picture however it is not very good quality.  The best I can do with my meager equipment.
<<I'm afraid we didn't get the picture>>
I was hoping you could provide some insight on the matter.
<<I don't think you need be concerned.  Any "treatment" of the coral is likely to do more harm than good>>
Thank you very much you are always a great help.
Regards,
John Weglarz
<<Happy to assist.  Eric Russell>>

"Bubble" on My Acropora - II - 10/21/06
Hello again.
<<Hello John>>
Thank you for the reply Eric.
<<My pleasure>>
I believe your diagnosis is dead accurate.
<<I do get lucky sometimes <grin> >>
I have not seen any parasites/crabs though they may be to small for me to see with the naked eye, or perhaps I am not looking close enough or at the right time.  For the record when the goiter does burst there is perfectly healthy flesh underneath and it seems this phenomena started when the Acropora began growing rapidly.
<<Hmm, curious...but if the coral does not seem to be suffering any deleterious effects from this I would leave it be>>
As you stated and I have witnessed there is no harm done, it just struck me as being odd and I was concerned it may be the start of something detrimental.
<<Understood>>
I did a lot of research on the matter and I couldn't find any information on this topic.  I believe your explanation on this matter will be instrumental in putting other reef keepers concerns at ease should they encounter this phenomenon.
<<Or at least encourage them to research/observe before taking a hasty course of action that can often be more harm than good>>
Thank you ever so much.
Regards
John Weglarz
<<Always happy to help, Eric Russell>>

Acropora color loss  10/7/06
Hello,
<Hi there>
Let me start this question by giving you the current condition of my setup.
I have a 26 gallon bow front tank. I have 20lbs of live sand, 30 lbs of live rock.
I'm running a Prizm HOT skimmer and fluvial
<Heee, Fluval, but flowing>
canister filter. My lighting is the Coralife Aquapro, 1 x 150w 10K MH and 2 x 65w actinic and lunar lights. The photo period is 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
The lights are suspended 8" above the surface of the water.  
I am running 2 small Rio pumps for additional circulation. I have a 6 gallon refugium attached to all of this as well.
<Sounds nice>
I have only 1 tomato clown in this system, 1 sand sifting star, 2 emerald green crabs, a dozen blue leg hermits and a tuxedo urchin.
The refugium has grape Caulerpa, Chaetomorpha, and Halimeda with the 20w 50/50 lights running 24/7.
My water condition is as follows: Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates all zero(0).
Phosphates < .10 (so small it's difficult to measure).
Specific gravity as measured by a swing arm 1.023. Calcium 420.
PH is around 8.0 - 8.3 depending on the time of day. Temp is 75 degrees F.
The water is crystal clear.
I dose with Aragamilk, purple up, Kent essential elements as directed on the bottles.
<Would add in the new water during changes only>
I change 5 gallons out 1 per month and top off with RO/DI water. I have a CoraLife SpectraPure RO/DI unit.
I feed with Cyclop-eeze once daily.
I decided I wanted to try my hand at a few Acropora.
<... not easy in small systems>
I bought a green Acropora and have
noticed some encrusting and growth. So I bought a beautiful powder blue Acropora (base ball sized colony).
After 3 weeks, the Acropora has lost it's powder blue color in favor of a tan and emerald green color.
<Oooh>
I thought, perhaps that it was due to flow and lighting, so I moved it to a place higher in the talk with more flow.
<Worth trying>
Still it is losing more of the light blue color. The distance from the light system to this Acropora is about 15 inches.
<Mmm, likely still "way too far"... needs much more intense light, to be in just a few inches of water here>
Aside from the color change, the Acropora looks healthy. Polyps extend at night and there is no sign of necrosis or tissue damage of any kind.
One additional piece of information: when I bought this coral, my LFS had only had it for a week or so.
<Could be a factor...>
I have only been at this hobby since 2003.
Finally the question: what could be the cause of my Acropora losing it's color?
<Mmm, likely as you state... circulation and light intensity (rather than quality)... and possibly water quality... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acrosysfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Thanks for your help in advance.
Best Regards,
Terry

Please help me! what are the symptoms of high trates on Acro's?   9/4/06
Dear Mr. Fenner,
<"Ralph">
after going nearly insane for months, it "appears" that I have found my problem with my Acro tips receding, bleaching, or sloughing, & then, eventually dying. The test kit that I was using over the past year was showing 0 trates for the last 9 months. (It was showing nitrates in the 5-20 range the first 3 month, however).
I tested trates about 3 weeks ago with Salifert, and it showed 25!!!!!! So for the past 6 months, I can only guess that my trates were between 25-80!!!!!!
trates are down to 5 right now, & I expect them to be 0 soon as I am using AZ-NO3.
other params are as follows:
temp: 80
Salt: 1.26
<Missing a zero here>
phosphates: .008
Calcium: 440
Alk: 9.0 / 3.2
Mag:1500
2 questions:
1) would sky high trates cause the tips to do that?
<Mmm, could... or perhaps better put, whatever the cause of this high nitrate reading might well be involved>
2) if you have used AZ-NO3 before, what do you think? Also, were all fish, Acro's, inverts ok?
<Maybe... is a good product... generally "works">
Thanks A lot for your feedback!
Ralph Scheriff
Hobby Experience: 08-23-2005
Current Tanks: 55 gallon Reef, AGA mega-flow II sump, ASM G-2 Skimmer, 2 x 150 HQI & LED, fuge, 65 #LR, reactor w/ ROWA, Tunze 6060, Seio 820, Seio 620, Various SPS, 1 Pagoda, 2 Clowns, 3 Chromis, Gamma, Talbot, & YWG.
<You should see some improvement in your SPS within a few weeks if the high nitrate was a direct cause. Bob Fenner>