Help with Torch please!

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 9, 2016

Hey all! I am having an issue that hopefully, someone can help me with! I have an E. Aussie Torch with 5 heads. I love this coral! I wanted to emulate something as close to an anemone as possible and this does it...but here is my problem...1 head has closed up exposing the skeleton and a few other heads are visibly closing and shrinking. I don't know why this is occurring. Nothing has changed and I change 10% water every week. Here are my parameters:

20 Gallon that has been running for 2+ years, Torch was put in tank 6 month ago, give or take. Flow was proper for Torch. Filter is HOB with carbon, most of the time. All other coral, a mix of LPS, SPS, and leathers are doing great, fully opened and growing! The light is a clip-on LED that runs @ 60 Watts. Nothing is picking on the Torch. Only have 2 bonded Clowns, 5 hermits, and an Urchin. I feed it once or twice a week with frozen mysis/plankton/brine.

Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Phosphates 0 ppm
Salinity – 1.026
PH 8.0
Alk 3-3.5 mmg
Magnesium – 1350 ppm
Calcium – 420 ppm
Temp 79-80*

Any ideas what could cause this?

cloak · Mar 9, 2016

Your parameters look ok. I'm not exactly sure why this is happening, but you might want to look into Brown Jelly Disease/Syndrome just in case.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/corals

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 9, 2016

Yeah, I've heard of brown jelly disease and seen pics, but I do not see that on my torch! It's just receding into the skeleton

Salty0331 · Mar 9, 2016

What test kits are you using for the Ammonia, Nitrate, and Phos?

Given your parameters i would try rasing the Ca a bit....your Mg ahould be 3x your Ca level.

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 9, 2016

Salty0331 said:
What test kits are you using for the Ammonia, Nitrate, and Phos?

Given your parameters i would try rasing the Ca a bit....your Mg ahould be 3x your Ca level.

For the Ammonia, Nitrate, and Phos, I am using the API test kits. The others are Salifert. So you suggest raising the Calcium? I am a little confused because you said the Magnesium should be 3x the calcium. Is it not with my calcium at 420 and mag at 1350?

cloak · Mar 9, 2016

If everything else is doing fine including your sps corals then it's something other than your parameters that's causing the torch to behave like this IMO.

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 9, 2016

cloak said:
If everything else is doing fine including your sps corals then it's something other than your parameters that's causing the torch to behave like this IMO.

Yep, I am have no issues with any other coral in the tank? Including my hammer!

Salty0331 · Mar 9, 2016

Reef_Obsessed said:
For the Ammonia, Nitrate, and Phos, I am using the API test kits. The others are Salifert. So you suggest raising the Calcium? I am a little confused because you said the Magnesium should be 3x the calcium. Is it not with my calcium at 420 and mag at 1350?

1350 divided by 3 is 450. I have a Frogspawn colony that is my litmus test for my Ca level in my tank. When my Ca swings too much it immediately reacts negatively. In a perfect world we need to keep these levels as constant as possible, creating a harmonic balance in these foundation elements.

Salty0331 · Mar 9, 2016

As for the test kits....I don't care for the API kits. Too much room for error. I would try a more reliable kit for the Phosphate and Nitrate. I have used Salifert and RedSea in the past and like them.

Branespikin · Mar 9, 2016

Watch out please. Monitor close. Try and use a turkey baster to suck in the head and see if there is any brown jelly. This is whst wiped out half my tank. My gold torch went first than rainbow. It spread within the nect couple of months on my hammers, frogspawns duncans. Almost wiped out my entire tank. Lost thousands$$$$
If you see jelly dont blow it around. Cut the heads immediately and dispose.

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 10, 2016

So, I re-tested my Alk. My original test came out 3.0 and it is definitely 3.0, which comes out to 8.4 dhk

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 13, 2016

Well, I'm at a loss! I raised the calcium to 450, the alk is at 9.5 dhk (in a couple of days), magnesium is at 1380. For some reason, 1 head is fully retracted into its skeleton and 2 others are on their way to completely retracting, and the remaining 2 heads look like they are much smaller than they were a week ago. I see no brown jelly, so it's not the dreaded brown jelly disease I can't believe this....weeks ago, this torch was looking fantastic and now it looks like it's on its way out!

Salty0331 · Mar 13, 2016

What is your flow and lighting like? These are equally important for coral happiness. Too much flow and or lighting will produce a non-happy reaponse by the colony.

Griff · Mar 13, 2016

I had a similar problem. I dipped all my torches frogspawn and hamers. The torch that it started with fell apart during the dip. The other made it through and have been recovering over the last month. I had a fish die which I think spiked my phos and ammonia temporarily. All my other corals seemed unaffected including my stylo monti and birds nests.

Reef_Obsessed · Mar 13, 2016

Salty0331 said:
What is your flow and lighting like? These are equally important for coral happiness. Too much flow and or lighting will produce a non-happy reaponse by the colony.

Flow is middle of the road...not too much, not too little. I even posted a video a while ago showing flow, asking if it was good and many said it was good. Tentacles swayed back and forth, great motion. Because it is only a 20G, I have 1 powerhead pushing way side to side and my HOB pushes water front to back.

The light is a Clip-on LED light, which runs about 60 watts, covering the entire tank. The Torch is at the bottom of the tank, so I doubt it is getting too much light. I have a hammer coral on the same level almost next to the Torch and the hammer is doing great!