Archivarium 2004

[tjf]

I am relatively new to the reef aquarium hobby, however, I have been doing extensive reading while attempting to build an Indo-Pacific shallow water ecosystem. I purchased my first coral (a healthy Colt Coral specimen) three or four weeks ago. It puffed up on the second day and appeared healthy and vibrant. The following day the polyps appeared and it was doing even better. Since then, it has been on a slow but steady decline. I left it alone as nearly half of the structure bleached (the part closest to the lighting). I have read that you cannot provide too much light intensity, however the fish store where I purchased it advised me to move it lower. This did not help. Subsequently, my intuition and the book, which explains that zooenthalage (sp?) will leave/die? with insufficient lighting, I then moved it higher in the tank. It is still not improving. Finally, my local fish store advised me to add a growth addititive to my tank. I do not think this will work since this is a photosynthetic coral, but I tried it anyway last night. I am at a loss for what to do next. This is supposed to be an easy coral to keep. What should I do next? Your help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance for your insights.
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Todd

[KDodds]

Tank parameters, including SG and temp might help. As well as hardware.
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com