[charlesr1958]

"I would not be surprised if what elegance_coral has treated in elegance corals and what Eric is investigating could very well be different things."

The very point I was trying to make all along. Its impossible for a hobbyist through simple observations to be able to determine if a pathogen is at work, or just careless handling / inappropriate care is the culprit. For what has been discussed as put forth in the original post points to simple basic coral care for any species that is not acclimated properly to more intensive light. To claim a theory about skin thickness and then a cure for the elegance coral "disease" all in the same breath was a bit much for me and I tried to make my point as nicely as I know how without sounding like a girly boy.
In Short:

The care and acclimation of larger polyped corals was figured out (again)

The cause and cure of the elegant coral "disease" was NOT figured out.

Now the quandry, do you buy an elegant coral and spur the collection of even more of them? When bought, will it not do well because of the disease or because it was not cared for properly? Are you going to risk it?

Chuck