HELP! What happened with my Holy Grail?

[Danny's Aquariums]

Hi all, I need your help.

I recently bought this torch from a store (picture 1) before they shipped it I asked for another picture of the torch. Then they sent a torch that’s almost closed up (picture 2). Not a big deal I thought since they might’ve moved it.

Then when it got here I noticed this animal in the middle of it, dealer said it was fine and wouldn’t hurt the coral, would only help split it into two heads they said.

Upon adding it to my tank it didn’t fully open for days, then I noticed tissue was getting loose from the skeleton and within a day all that was left was a skeleton and the animal in the middle. By looking at it... I think this animal caused the tissue to detach from the skeleton, don’t you think?

Did I just get scammed with a coral that was likely to die anyways? The other torches I ordered are perfectly fine.

 

[EvanDeVita]

Not to stress you out, but I had a hammer that did the same thing. It died a week later. The dealer should reimburse you because of that hitchhiker. I have no idea what it is, but there is no way your dealer didn’t see it. Even if the coral survives, you deserve reimbursement. Upon a closer look and reading of what you said, Is it fully dead?

 

[EvanDeVita]

 

[Danny's Aquariums]

Not to stress you out, but I had a hammer that did the same thing. It died a week later. The dealer should reimburse you because of that hitchhiker. I have no idea what it is, but there is no way your dealer didn’t see it. Even if the coral survives, you deserve reimbursement. Upon a closer look and reading of what you said, Is it fully dead?

yup, completely gone. Look at the last two pics.
I got these corals for less than wholesale probably (they were already on sale and I applied a 50% discount code on top of that.)

I told them about this (as well as another loss, one head on a mother colony died/was damaged and died off.) and they just said “Ok”.

 

[EvanDeVita]

yup, completely gone. Look at the last two pics.
I got these corals for less than wholesale probably (they were already on sale and I applied a 50% discount code on top of that.)

I told them about this (as well as another loss, one head on a mother colony died/was damaged and died off.) and they just said “Ok”.

That’s unbelievable. Please make a post about this in marketplace and include your seller. Even with discounts a holy grail torch is extremely expensive. Before you make this post I would aggressively ask for a refund or replacement.

 

[Nigel35]

I would really like to know what the critter was because I had the exact same thing take out half my hammer colony!

 

[JGT]

Looks like an aiptasia that setup shop in an opening in the middle of the skeleton. That would sting the torch thus resulting In tissue dying around the center and could lead to bjd.

 

[Nigel35]

hmm... on mine there was no aiptasia but the same process occurred

 

[Rtaylor]

I would really like to know what the critter was because I had the exact same thing take out half my hammer colony!

It’s a barnacle, I have one in a torch and it hasn’t harmed it. It did cause it to split.

 

[Rtaylor]

Looks like an aiptasia that setup shop in an opening in the middle of the skeleton. That would sting the torch thus resulting In tissue dying around the center and could lead to bjd.

Barnacle

 

[Rtaylor]

Looks like an aiptasia that setup shop in an opening in the middle of the skeleton. That would sting the torch thus resulting In tissue dying around the center and could lead to bjd.

It’s a barnacle, they don’t usually kill the coral, but can irritate it. So if it were also stressed, perhaps could lead to its demise.

 

[MERKEY]

If it's a reputable vendor they will work with you.

 

[KomsCorals]

Yeah big old barnacle.. never seen them do that much damage though