Coral Colours and Amino Acids

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by freezetyle

I know this is a little off topic, but i don't understand how a small current in the water would inhibit the growth of the corals. I mean with the Conservationists using things like biorocks (http://www.biorock.net) to speed the growth of coral production.

To the OP, like its been previously stated maybe your corals were still adapting to your system. If there wasn't very much PE until recently that may have been a sign that they were still under some stress. I would probably just keep on top of your calcium and Alk. for a little bit before adding a bunch of things that may or may not help out your situation

No, the corals were doing well and growing and then things went downhill with no obvious cause. I suspect it was more then a small current to actually feel it that way when I put my finger in the tank. I also suffered a couple of fish losses during that period so it is likely the electricity was stressing them out and making them susceptible to infections or something.

The coral reef restoration you mention is based on very small currents and voltages generated by chemical reactions of different metals in seawater; sort of like a very weak battery. You would likely not feel that level of electricity which is far lower then what can be generated by a voltage leak in your tank's equipment. In this case it had to be close to or more then 9 volts with significant current. As I mentioned before, the turnaround was noticeable within hours of fixing the voltage leak as the SPS started to show some PE that day after several weeks of no PE and fading and then bleaching etc.