blueheaven

Here's an interesting article posted by Habib at RC From Scientific American. June 19, 2002 Human Fecal Bacterium Causing Caribbean Coral Disease Since 1996, a disease known as whitepox has been decimating populations of coral, particularly in the Florida Keys. Now scientists writing in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report that a bacterium commonly found in human feces may be to blame. Although the source of the coral-killing bacteria remains unconfirmed, the findings suggest that maintaining high standards of water quality is crucial to saving the reefs' remaining coral. As one of the fastest-spreading coral diseases, whitepox can devour between two and 10 square centimeters of living reef tissue every day (see image). It specifically targets the species Acropora palmata, or elkhorn coral, and some Florida reefs have lost as much as 85 percent of their A. palmata. "These are the giant redwoods of the reef," says study co-author James W. Porter of the University of Georgia. "What used to be the most common coral in the Caribbean has now been recommended for inclusion on the endangered-species list." Porter and his colleagues thus set out to determine what was causing the coral-killing plague. Initially expecting to find a unique marine pathogen, the scientists were surprised to discover that the culprit was in fact one of the most common bacteria known. The researchers developed cultures from samples of healthy coral and colonies afflicted with whitepox. They identified 221 bacterial strains, four of which appeared more frequently on diseased coral. But only one of them—Serratia marcescens, which resides in the guts of humans and other animals as well as in soil and water—is capable of causing whitepox in healthy coral samples, the team reports. Elevated water temperatures, perhaps the result of global warming, have been implicated in another blight against coral—bleaching. Higher temperatures also increase the rate whitepox-induced coral loss and could be a root cause. "Warmer water depresses coral growth but increases bacterial growth," study leader Kathryn Patterson of the University of Georgia explains. "In combination, this domino effect could foretell disaster. There appear to be environmental changes occurring that may be making this nonpathogenic bacterium pathogenic." Another good reason to wash your hands after the toilet and wear gloves when doing stuff in your tank. We do not know what we add to the system everytime we put that hand in

Just figured that my rowa had been coated again According to Randy, this is quite normal so I'll just let it pass And I've also lowered my water temp by 1 degrees according to weileong Got some pink zoos but they have not opened yet so I'll post pics when it does

Wah uncle not bad, I like his taste Anyway, from yesterday, still got some nice SPS at PR but those at Harlequin are starting to brown out but the price is good and there is discount if you buy more Still got lots of pink zoos at Harlequin. Saw 1 last colony of super pink one with pink skirt (I took the other ). The others are pink with greenish skirt And there's lots of wierd looking, striped, orange and purplish tang-looking fish at Reborn. Wonder what those are? Tangs?

You mean those pipes are connected to pumps?

I was at PR yesterday too Was wondering who reserved the pink hyacinthus table Anyway, saw an extra orange encrusting monti in the first tub and a huge table in the second which I almost bought

Basically you have undetectable ANN and phosphate Of course for SPS, your other water parameters must be good too

The stag you have looks like my formosa

Yeah told him already Going down now Anyway Keith, I like your "evolution" photos Post some more if you have

Pls edit the "Sh** A**" and don't use large fonts It is not a vulgarity but very offensive If he had done wrong, settle it discretely with him and the mods This forum is not for such posts

But tomorrow dunno whether Keith can make it Going to Harlequin to check out their SPS tomorrow. You want a share?

You want, I get some of the bigger colonies and we have a frag trade Can also trade around with the other guys too

Yeah I planning to get the pH controller and a good regulator with solenoid Now quite scared liao

Haha there's always next week BTW, how's that digitata doing? Colouring up? Haiz seeing my bare tank everyday is making me frustrated. Going to head down to Harlequin tomorrow to get some stuff to fill up my tank.

Was thinking of the one that was bulk ordered by Arofan You want to buy together with me?

Mine has a carbon prefilter before the DI cartridges Think that also helps in prolonging the life of the cartridge

Yeah and I paid the price for it But at that time I had to conform with my parents as they insisted that I get the cheap one

Yeah but I'll not disclose it till the time comes BIG BIG BIG shipment

Ya but most likely you'll touch somewhere near your mouth when you frag Especially wiping off the sweat from your face

You enjoy can liao So I guess you'll be cheonging soon?

Somehow I prefer the look where the big pink one is at the centre More eye catching

So any accidental frags during the rescape? I will gladly help you clear them

Did you factor in the rejected water? RO will reject quite a lot of water. That's why I chose DI And DI can produce the water faster than RO

You'll lose your sense of taste

Talked to Joe regarding this and he recommended the pH controller. Will save up now since I am already saving up for a big shipment

The thing is that my crappy regulator will cause the bubbles to decrease gradually over time so this morning it was not injecting anymore bubbles That's why I decided to tune it up before leaving for school My calcium is now at 500+, kH at 10 Will try to do a water change tomorrow once I find an O-ring for my DI