[prow]

Originally Posted by elegance coral

There is absolutly no proof that the protazoans found living in dead or dieing corals is the reason for thier demise. All that anyone can say is that they found them. No one knows what they are or what thier function is. If they were parasites eating these corals alive I would not have a tank full of corals that are improving every day. No matter what these protazoans are or how they live, I can safely say that they are not the cause of the problem.

aaahhh, dont think in such absolutes. there is a lot info that points to bacteria. the general consensious at Sea World is the "dirty" water (where most were collected in the past) might be the main problem. ones collected from deaper "cleanner" water react different than those from shallow waters. anyway, i was informed that their work has pointed to dialtons that feed on the mucus produced by the stressed coral which then grow and push the edges of the coral off its skeleton and allow opertunistic bac/pathongens to invade. the pathogen theroy does have merit and should not be dissmissed. your work at best is anecdotal, nothing more. you provide no proof just observations, which can be very missleading. how did you determine the skin was thicker? are you talking about the number of cells in a layer? the cell membranes, mucus membranes? what is thicker?

The symtom these corals show with the over inflated oral disk and shrunken tentacles is the result of light exposure.

based on dropping corals in various light conditions? how do you know its not something else like protecting itself from invading pathogens including overactivity of its normal flora? could it be inflammation, if so what triggered the inflammatioin proccess? you can not determine this by only watching the coral.

I didn't simply come up with the theory of light exposure and deside to tell people about it. Thanks, Darrell

how did you come up with it? so far you only give anecdotal evidence based on observations. which is good to know and helpful, but not fact and open to interpretation.

There are people that will disagree with me because they read something somewhere or someone told them that there was a different problem.

did not just read. true i did not do my own expirements but the people i have talked to and visited with did. i was able to follow some of those projects and visit the facilities anytime to get updates, still can and do. FYI i trust Shelly at sea world and i do not need to look in the microscope myself. that does not mean the info is any less accurate. besides she can see things i just cannot pick up unless she points them out. its more accurate than if i did the work.

The symtom these corals show with the over inflated oral disk and shrunken tentacles is the result of light exposure.

do you think it might be possible that it is protecting itself from bacterial invasion, like i mentioned, including its own flora. how would know if it is or not based on only what the naked eye see's. sorry, it just sounds like your fixed on your interpretations of what you think is causing its issues and closed to other causes. its encouraging to hear about the success you have had with your corals but i think there is more to it, much more than light acclimation?