Growing out large torch colony...

forestsofkelp · Oct 6, 2023

I have a large torch. it's probably like 20+ heads. Some of the heads seem to be in bad spots.How do I make sure it keeps growing? Does it need regular trimming/fragging to expose the heads/thin it out? Whats the best way to make it huge?

Ive notices the necks of the heads are very thin and fragile. I imagine it auto frags in the wild but have no idea

HudsonReefer2.0 · Oct 6, 2023

Any pics to c what ur facing

hexcolor reef · Oct 6, 2023

I would like to see what a 20+ head torch like as well

Steve2020 · Oct 7, 2023

I would like to see the 20+ head Torch myself to get an idea on how much bigger my 14 head torch will get. To get an idea on how big this guy is, the green Wall Frogspawn to the left of the Torch is 5.5" in length.

forestsofkelp · Oct 7, 2023

I will admit it may not have *that* many heads. It has a lot though and it is starting to self shade

HudsonReefer2.0 · Oct 7, 2023

Looks good to me. I have some heads retract on one on my larger torches but I wouldn’t worry.

djf91 · Oct 7, 2023

Will This Indonesian Torch Coral Garden Withstand a Bleaching Event? - CORAL Magazine

It's a beautiful sight; a Torch Coral garden, but it's under stress. I encountered a mild bleaching event while visiting some island offshore reefs in Tomini Bay, the equatorial gulf which separates the Minahassa (North Sulawesi) and East Peninsulas of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The...

www.reef2rainforest.com

Looks like colonies have the potential to get pretty big.

hexcolor reef · Oct 7, 2023

forestsofkelp said:
I will admit it may not have *that* many heads. It has a lot though and it is starting to self shade

What lights do you run on your tank

ReefLife_Guy · Oct 7, 2023

djf91 said:
Will This Indonesian Torch Coral Garden Withstand a Bleaching Event? - CORAL Magazine

It's a beautiful sight; a Torch Coral garden, but it's under stress. I encountered a mild bleaching event while visiting some island offshore reefs in Tomini Bay, the equatorial gulf which separates the Minahassa (North Sulawesi) and East Peninsulas of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The...

www.reef2rainforest.com

Looks like colonies have the potential to get pretty big.

I don't know why but my first thought was like "OMG that's like $2M worth of torches"

forestsofkelp · Oct 7, 2023

HudsonReefer2.0 said:
Looks good to me. I have some heads retract on one on my larger torches but I wouldn’t worry.

thanks. I feel like every time I examine it it has new heads that I havent seen and some retract. I had some hammers that had heads die out from the density being too high.

I should actually count the heads but I am worried I'd break it...

forestsofkelp · Oct 7, 2023

hexcolor reef said:
What lights do you run on your tank

ATI stratons

forestsofkelp · Oct 7, 2023

ReefLife_Guy said:
I don't know why but my first thought was like "OMG that's like $2M worth of torches"

haha they are "21 tails" torches without me noticing in the last year. I moved them to a new spot and they just went insane with PE.

Only issue is the necks on them are so thin I broke them off their base once and have broke a few heads...which I glue back or placed somewhere else. But its fortunately done well in my tank!

hexcolor reef · Oct 7, 2023

forestsofkelp said:
ATI stratons

Nice!!!

Opus · Oct 7, 2023

forestsofkelp said:
haha they are "21 tails" torches without me noticing in the last year. I moved them to a new spot and they just went insane with PE.

Only issue is the necks on them are so thin I broke them off their base once and have broke a few heads...which I glue back or placed somewhere else. But its fortunately done well in my tank!

I've got the same issue with a hammer colony. It broke off the frag plug a long time ago and is just sitting between two rocks. I recently tried to move it and the hammers to the left in the pic is the result. I noticed like you the stalks were very skinny. I've wondered if it was a calcium issue since mine usually runs in the low 300's because I rarely dose it and only do a couple of water changes a year.

Mr. Roboto · Oct 8, 2023

Opus said:
I've got the same issue with a hammer colony. It broke off the frag plug a long time ago and is just sitting between two rocks. I recently tried to move it and the hammers to the left in the pic is the result. I noticed like you the stalks were very skinny. I've wondered if it was a calcium issue since mine usually runs in the low 300's because I rarely dose it and only do a couple of water changes a year.

What is your alkalinity at?

Opus · Oct 8, 2023

Mr. Roboto said:
What is your alkalinity at?

It runs between 7.5 and 8.5

hexcolor reef · Oct 8, 2023

Opus said:
I've got the same issue with a hammer colony. It broke off the frag plug a long time ago and is just sitting between two rocks. I recently tried to move it and the hammers to the left in the pic is the result. I noticed like you the stalks were very skinny. I've wondered if it was a calcium issue since mine usually runs in the low 300's because I rarely dose it and only do a couple of water changes a year.

It’s definitely a calcium /mg issue. A couple water changes a year with great growth like that. I wouldn’t change a thing besides boost the calcium.

Dburr1014 · Oct 8, 2023

My hammer was 54 heads and I cut it up a couple months ago to 15 heads. The flow in the tank was being impeded.

It was just wedged between rocks it was so heavy.
Each head will just grow out and split. I didn't worry about the ones under the colony with low light.

Mr. Roboto · Oct 8, 2023

Opus said:
It runs between 7.5 and 8.5

Reason I asked is because usually a higher alk and ph will lead to faster growth but brittle skeletons in sps and LPS

forestsofkelp · Oct 9, 2023

Mr. Roboto said:
Reason I asked is because usually a higher alk and ph will lead to faster growth but brittle skeletons in sps and LPS

Interesting. I run my alk at 9.5. Maybe I’ll drop it to 8 or 8.5

I took a pic last night with lights off , it def > 20 heads I think. A lot of them are splitting 3!