[MUCHO REEF]

I know sometimes I might come off the wrong way, but believe me, I don't mean any harm at all with a lot of my question. I just know in my heart that there is a reason for a lot of what we all are experiencing with our zoos. The reason I ask those questions above, and I know someone won't believe a word of this, but here goes. 2 weeks ago, I purchased a 4 x 2 inch piece of branch rock covered with about 40 zoos. At the time of purchase, I could only see 2 polyps on the rock that were expanding, only two. The polyps were stunning so I took a chance, and this is something I never do. If the colony isn't expanding in the LFS, I won't touch, ever. This colony was an exception, great prices, lots of zoos, so I purcahsed it. I brought the colony home and did my usual dip. I have a specimen type tray set up that is shallow enough for water to barely cover half the colony. Using a stationary magnifying glass and a set ot tweezers, I carefully inspected every inch of the rock. I placed it in my tank and waited. For 7 straight days nothing changed, yet, the polyps were still intact and I saw no visable signs of decay or die off. On the 8th day, I notice the familiar algae green colored coating on all of the polyps in the center of the rock, about 12 or so. From the 8th day to the 14th day, I stuck my hand in the tank, not moving the rock which will only delay there opening, I used my soft tooth brush to brush up and over the crown to help remove the greenish coating. Still, no decay or die off. On the 14th day, I placed the colony underneath a branch rock which slightly shadowed the colony in question. Here's what happened next. On the 16th day, the colony began to come alive. Each day, 1, 2 or 3 new polyps would open that never opened before. I stopped my daily brushing on the first day that they started to rejuvinate. It appears that they were able to rid themselves of this greenish coating on their own. As I sit here at this very moment, I just checked the colony again. There are just a few polyps left that haven't sprung open. I did nothing spectacular, but why did this colony come back on its own? Why did your colonies perish and my colony recovered? I don't know, but it did. This was the first time I had moved the rock slightly under an overhang in my tank that was sick or having some issues. Was it the shadowing, maybe somehow the lighting was an irratant as it tried so hard on its own to recover? Again, I don't know, I just know that each of us have to ability to just watch, experiment and document what we do. If it happens again, and you had great success the first time, then simply repeat the process. This is what the pros do, and so can you. If I have a hunch, I just go with it. I mean, what can you lose if the colony is going to perish anyway. Ok, I rambled again, but I hope you can see my point.

I hope everyone can share as much info about their colonies so maybe we can all figure this thing collectively.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Mucho