I am glad to see you water tested.

When my alk drops to 6dkh, my SPS start to STN so that makes perfect sense. You can safely increase 1.4dkh every 24hrs.

When mag is that low, my monti's loose their color.

At least you know what the issue is now. :)

thus the reason adequate flow and a diligent regime of rock maintenance is important.....tho Im not really sure that there needs to be flow all the way to the core for beneficial bacteria to be able to colonize..... also coraline (and other algae) only grow on outer surfaces that get exposed to light....

his numbers are low but, if low numbers were the culprit, wouldnt it show up in all his corals, not just one?.....I guess the same could be said for any suspected cause......this is what makes dispensing advice so difficult....everyone's system is different.....being that it is only one coral we are talking about, I would think that it has more to do with the lighting or flow requirements for that individual coral or perhaps it's proximity to another coral.....

This piece in question is solitary. No others within 4/5". There is great flow and I have tried changing. Lighting hasn't changed. The only thing I would say changed other than rock was it along with all other coral was dippers in RPS

There is a small hint of green at the base which is a good sign I guess


Doug. With the thought on the rock. I can't see benificial a in center of rock doing alot of good with out flow through it to benifit what is on the exterior. Fish/coral/nutrients. After all shouldn't that water pass buy the benificial to process it.

And even though you said coraline grows where the light it it still cover pores eventually making rock smooth and coated like having been painted. I also have a orange coraline that grows in low light. And dies when exposed to higher light level

I only question in case I do indeed go back to live rock. As I want my $$$ to count

All corals react differently.

Some species can be very hardy while others are super sensitive.

Interesting read on your thoughts on Dry Rock Doug. My entire tank is composed of it in some way, just varying periods of time in the water. So far, I have no bad algae and no problems other than low low ALK. I do use Prodibio religiously though, so maybe that has helped.

I may just be talking out of my arse here because I am in no way an expert on hydrodynamics but it could be similar to the aerodynamics we see in our houses.....you have that window in the bedroom on the second floor cracked and when you open the window in the basement, one of the doors in the house slams shut?.....I would venture a guess that if the center of live rock was not "live", then it would turn black like a stagnant pocket in a sand bed or parts of live rock that are buried in the sand....



agreed.....I know that for myself, montipora seem to take forever settling in, recovering from being fragged or a change in conditions.....Nick, this wouldnt happen to be a smooth bodied acro would it?....just asking because as a general rule, most smooth bodied acros are tricky and finicky at the best of times, let alone in a newish tank scenario.....


the prodibio is likely helping and you said that only a percentage of the rock you used was Marco rock.......annnnd you still have a relatively small bioload for the size of the system you have

Thanks Doug. I do value your knowledge. As y I ask so much. I will slowly add/replace some rock

This is the piece in question
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/...91/null-28.jpg

If you have lots of base rock, you would benefit greatly from the new Bakto Blend by Fauna Marin.

How would this benifit.
The Marco rock was cured and cycled for a few month before use with tank water rock and sponges from old sump. I run a prodibio tank. And have lots of live rock in sump now along with a reactor full of hydroton from old tank