Is my torch's body shrinking?

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Hi everyone. I believe my torch's body is receding up towards its head. You can see a transition of color from its skeleton to the fleshy area. When I look at it from the side, it looks as though another head could potentially be forming. I posted some pictures below and advice from the experts would be greatly appreciated. Right now it is placed 8-10 inches above the sand bed on a magnetic frag rack and receiving varying flow from low to bursts of high. All other Euphyllias (hammer, frogspawn, & octospawn) are all doing fine sitting in the same area as the torch. It appears to be healthy and I do not see any signs of polyp bail or anything else. Should I move it down to the sand bed or am I freaking out and nothing is wrong, and this is normal? Lol.

P.S. I did a 10% water change on my 215 gallon system earlier today, haven't done one in 2 weeks, wanted to get my nutrients up a bit.

Thanks everyone!

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Whoops, just realized forgot to post my parameters:

Temp: 78
pH: 8.2
Alk: 7.5
Salt: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: approx 1-2ppm
Phosphate 0.07
Calcium: 550
Mag: 1350

Lavey29 · Sep 13, 2022

Nitrates are low. Calcium slightly elevated. Do you have video showing the flow?

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Nitrates are low. Calcium slightly elevated. Do you have video showing the flow?

Hi Lavey. Sure, I can take one now. Stand by.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Here you go. If you can't view it, let me know, I will find another way to share it.

Lavey29 · Sep 13, 2022

Picassoclown said:
Here you go. If you can't view it, let me know, I will find another way to share it.

I couldn't get it to play. Can you you tube it?

LeftyReefer · Sep 13, 2022

flow doesn't look too bad. a bit light in my opinion, but not bad.

It does look like there is a distinct line on the one side where it looks like the flesh might have receded up, but it's hard to tell without seeing a before pic though.

tank looks pretty new. might just need some time to settle in. I'd find a spot for it and put it there and then leave it alone.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

LeftyReefer said:
flow doesn't look too bad. a bit light in my opinion, but not bad.

It does look like there is a distinct line on the one side where it looks like the flesh might have receded up, but it's hard to tell without seeing a before pic though.

tank looks pretty new. might just need some time to settle in. I'd find a spot for it and put it there and then leave it alone.

Hey Lefty. Yup, tank is 4.5 months old now. I will continue to monitor for another few days as I have my new arrivals separated. It will be going to its final spot in a couple days. I wish I took a before picture. I will be doing that moving forward with any new corals I get!

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Lavey29 said:
I couldn't get it to play. Can you you tube it?

Here you go:

Lavey29 · Sep 13, 2022

Picassoclown said:
Here you go:

Thanks, flow looks fine maybe a tad soft in intensity. I see nothing wrong with the torch but when my tank was 5 months old I did not have much luck with torches because the tank just wasn't ready. You are going to have ups and downs the first year. Parameters will not be stable no matter how much you monitor. Your rocks are bone white so you have quite a bit of maturing to go and probably some more ugly phases also. Honestly don't spend money on difficult corals like torches at 5 months. Wait till at least 8 to 10 months for your nice pieces. Your wallet will thank you greatly. I speak from experience on this one when I tried to add to much to soon.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

No Problem. I appreciate the feedback. I looked at many posts here with people having a very similar issue as mine and the majority of responses were that it is normal if it is splitting. I cannot quite tell if it is, but I wanna say that it may be receding just a tad. I will drop it down a bit into the sand bed or put it on the rock I would like to have it permanently and hold the frag down with zip ties so I can move it around with ease. I took a gamble buying the torch as I have been very consistent up to now with fixing issues and I have some nice experience from being in the hobby for quite some time. I run my business from home so I have a lot of time to dedicate to the tank. However, if this piece doesn't make it despite my best efforts, than my tank is just too young. You can't rush time and I will be patient and wait for some time to grab a torch

. Do you recommend I move it?

Roatan Reef · Sep 13, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Thanks, flow looks fine maybe a tad soft in intensity. I see nothing wrong with the torch but when my tank was 5 months old I did not have much luck with torches because the tank just wasn't ready. You are going to have ups and downs the first year. Parameters will not be stable no matter how much you monitor. Your rocks are bone white so you have quite a bit of maturing to go and probably some more ugly phases also. Honestly don't spend money on difficult corals like torches at 5 months. Wait till at least 8 to 10 months for your nice pieces. Your wallet will thank you greatly. I speak from experience on this one when I tried to add to much to soon.

Agreed....I bought way to many corals to soon. Bought a nice hammer 4 months ago, it did okay, but never really grew, tank was only 4 months old, fast Forward to the almost 7 months mark and hammer is doing awesome as are all other remaining coral and fish... it's like the tank just started doing its own thing.

Point being, I REALLY WANT A TORCH, but at $150 and up, I'm still waiting and will wait patiently till I feel good enough about my tank to make that purchase.

Lavey29 · Sep 13, 2022

Picassoclown said:
No Problem. I appreciate the feedback. I looked at many posts here with people having a very similar issue as mine and the majority of responses were that it is normal if it is splitting. I cannot quite tell if it is, but I wanna say that it may be receding just a tad. I will drop it down a bit into the sand bed or put it on the rock I would like to have it permanently and hold the frag down with zip ties so I can move it around with ease. I took a gamble buying the torch as I have been very consistent up to now with fixing issues and I have some nice experience from being in the hobby for quite some time. I run my business from home so I have a lot of time to dedicate to the tank. However, if this piece doesn't make it despite my best efforts, than my tank is just too young. You can't rush time and I will be patient and wait for some time to grab a torch . Do you recommend I move it?

I wouldn't move it as long as moderate light and flow which it looks to be. Good luck with it and your other corals. Sounds like you are being very diligent. Keep building biodiversity. Your rocks should be multi colored by now with green, brown and purple film algae. Dose PNS probio. It's a great natural bacteria supplement. Keeps my sock clean over avweek.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Lavey29 said:
I wouldn't move it as long as moderate light and flow which it looks to be. Good luck with it and your other corals. Sounds like you are being very diligent. Keep building biodiversity. Your rocks should be multi colored by now with green, brown and purple film algae. Dose PNS probio. It's a great natural bacteria supplement. Keeps my sock clean over avweek.

Thanks Lavey. As of now, there's no signs of coraline algae on the rocks. There's more of dark green and brown algae spots on them, but not the good stuff yet. From what I seen, sterile systems like mine could take up to 8 months to grow beneficial algae. I think I am going to order some sheets of it and start gluing them all over my rock work to help seed it. I have not heard of PNS, but I do dose microbacter7 every couple of weeks for 2 days straight (last time I followed dosing instructions from the bottle, I had a bacteria bloom like no other).

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Roatan Reef said:
Agreed....I bought way to many corals to soon. Bought a nice hammer 4 months ago, it did okay, but never really grew, tank was only 4 months old, fast Forward to the almost 7 months mark and hammer is doing awesome as are all other remaining coral and fish... it's like the tank just started doing its own thing.

Point being, I REALLY WANT A TORCH, but at $150 and up, I'm still waiting and will wait patiently till I feel good enough about my tank to make that purchase.

I know how you feel Roatan, Euphyllia are my favorite corals. What I did was wait until there was a "sale after the sale" to pick up this bad boy. Corals that were on sale were slashed down again after the main sale lol. I picked this torch up for just shy of 70% off. Next time I buy anything it will be on black Friday, or Christmas

Mystersynyster · Sep 13, 2022

My clown just turned 13 so have had her tank up 14 years, I still cringe and bite my nails when I add a new euphyllia.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

Mystersynyster said:
My clown just turned 13 so have had her tank up 14 years, I still cringe and bite my nails when I add a new euphyllia.

That's crazy!! 13 years old?! You can put the fish in your will lol.

Picassoclown · Sep 13, 2022

@Lavey29 I took some more pictures since the lights are dying down and corals are going to bed lol. I can definitely see another head popping up on the left hand side. Although I have been seeing posts saying this receding is normal for splitting, I have also seen others that say different. What's your take? Would love to have @vetteguy53081 chime in on this.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 13, 2022

The torch is receeded. Many torch owners dont understand the calcium demand for these corals. If there is insufficient calcium in your aquarium water, these corals will not be able to make their coral skeleton. You should also never lift a torch coral out of the water if you can avoid it. You could tear the polyps, and torn polyps are prone to infection followed by necrosis
Torch require typical parameters including:
Temperature of about 78 degrees
Salinity 1.025
Ph around 8.2
Calcium level of about 400 - 440ppm.

Like most large polyp stony corals, a torch coral benefits from moderate water flow. The polyps will remain retracted and under-inflated if the water current is too fast because the large flowing polyps are prone to rip and tear in high or ultra-high current environments.
The torch coral is a photosynthetic coral, meaning it has a relationship with symbiotic zooxanthellae (single-cell photosynthetic organisms) that live inside its tissues that converts the light energy into sugar. In exchange for a home inside the coral, the zooxanthellae split their harvest and feed the coral.
Also, if you have leather corals, this may be part of the issue. Many leather coral species produce and release toxic chemicals, called terpenes, into the water to protect themselves and to stunt the growth of other species.

Lavey29 · Sep 13, 2022

With those pics I can certainly see 2 heads. It is common for some receding as the head splits or completely form a new skeletal structure. I have a hammer doing that now. Little tucked in past few days.