Please help with my torch

[JoJosReef]

Hi all,

My torch has been keeping polyps short and deflated lately, and today just noticed polyps peeling off of it's skeleton. See video.

He was previously higher on the rock but moved to the sandbed after getting a second LED bar.

Nitrates and phosphates dropped to zero around Xmas and I brought them back up with NeoNitrate and Flourish Phosphates. Took several days of testing zeros and dosing to get it to stay up. Trying to keep them around 5-10ppm and 0.1ppm, respectively, not always right on target (0.25ish the other day).

Other parameters and usual variation:
Alk: 10.9, dropping to 10.5 after a few days or 10.2 if going more days without a water change.
Ca: 440 to 420
Mg: 1290 to 1260
pH: 7.8
Temp: 77 +/- 1
NH3/NO2: 0.25 (API)/0

Currently have a GHA problem on the rocks and part of the sand bed (and a few amphidinium dinos, but not a dino outbreak I think). But, not touching the torch so far.

Usually feed 2-3 times per week with frozen mysis (~4-8 tiny shrimps). Can't tell how much he actually eats. Currently adding Brightwell Restore and CoralAminos nightly.

When he is retracted, he isn't getting very much flow, but gets some nice wavy action when his polyps are extended. Never had super long extensions, though.

What can I do? What do you think is causing this? Should I turn the lights down? Up? Move him? Stay put? Feed him?

Thanks for the help. I really don't want to lose anything else.

 

[JoJosReef]

Fyi, this is what it looked like 3 days ago with my orphek phone lenses:

 

[FAHADREEF]

Fyi, this is what it looked like 3 days ago with my orphek phone lenses:

with torches they aren't like hammers or frogs they are the most sensitive of them , also when did you start to see it not doing well? if you still see it not doing well try dipping it, changing the place or flow could be also the problem and with feeding i usually will feed my bannna and holy grail once a week reef roids so you can get away with feeding it once a week no need for more, also if you think feeding more increases growth thats not really true because stability is the number one key to coral growth and keeping everything right.
i hope this helps

 

[JoJosReef]

QUOTE="FAHADREEF, post: 9781195, member: 185809"]
with torches they aren't like hammers or frogs they are the most sensitive of them , also when did you start to see it not doing well? if you still see it not doing well try dipping it, changing the place or flow could be also the problem and with feeding i usually will feed my bannna and holy grail once a week reef roids so you can get away with feeding it once a week no need for more, also if you think feeding more increases growth thats not really true because stability is the number one key to coral growth and keeping everything right.
i hope this helps
[/QUOTE]

What type of dip?

If it is not getting enough flow, would it lose its polyps? It is always possible that I bumped the powerhead doing the water change a few days ago and it isn't getting any movement (currently not much of anything, but I thought it might be because it's staying retracted.

Thanks!

 

[JoJosReef]

Here he is now. This is heartbreaking.

 

[FAHADREEF]

Here he is now. This is heartbreaking.

in my experience torches dont need really strong flow i as that the slow swings is what the like best, my tank is currently at slow flow and both of my torches are doing well some torches will do beat in low flow and some will do high flow you just have to see before purchasing a coral see where its mostly thriving in high or low placement, type of flow and etc.
reef dip from seachem ( try dipping it )
a worm or something might be irritating it
also try changing the place with torches i've seen most of them thrive in the middle and moderate flow not to strong or to low

 

[Kmst80]

How long have you had it in the tank?
Check Salinity too. How comes you got .25 Ammonium? How old is the tank?
My torch had problems with me a month ago, i lost 1 head out of 3, i am pretty sure the reason was to much flow.
You want those polyps dancing not banging around.
How much light is it getting(do you know the par).
Don't move it around to much either, will stress it too.
I would check salinity first, then flow(turn down flow for a couple days and see if polyps come back out), then check light.

 

[JoJosReef]

How long have you had it in the tank?
Check Salinity too. How comes you got .25 Ammonium? How old is the tank?
My torch had problems with me a month ago, i lost 1 head out of 3, i am pretty sure the reason was to much flow.
You want those polyps dancing not banging around.
How much light is it getting(do you know the par).
Don't move it around to much either, will stress it too.
I would check salinity first, then flow(turn down flow for a couple days and see if polyps come back out), then check light.

In tank since November. API kit always registers ammonium. It's at zero, really. Flow can't be too high--always worried it's too low.

Light is a tricky one. I have no idea the PAR. The first bar I got should hit 150 on the sandbed at full blast. Had "channel 2" which contains the whites, cool blue and UV violet at 30% or 40% (channel 1 is equal # 3w LEDs, but all actinic). So my best guess is 75-100 on the sand bed. Now I added a second bar for better coverage in front and back of tank and dropped channel 1 to 80% and channel 2 to 20% on both. No idea what this mix translates to in PAR, but it could be a bit intense.

Salinity 1.026. Currently doing manual top up, so some minor fluctuation within 0.001.

It currently looks like the top is going to blow off at some point. If I am around when this hapoens I will try to catch the polyps and out them in something--shot glass maybe?--and see if they grow a new skeleton.

I suspect that the problem might have been adjustment of nitrates or phosphates too quickly.

 

[Kmst80]

so i assume torch was happy until recently, so it is something you would have dosed or changed.
When did you put the second bar of light on?

 

[JoJosReef]

so i assume torch was happy until recently, so it is something you would have dosed or changed.
When did you put the second bar of light on?

Couple of weeks ago, but just last week started running the Channel 2 on the second bar.

In the original post, I said I was adding nitrate and phosphate to try and get to 5-10ppm and 0.1ppm. Mostly, I would add 5ppm NO3 and 0.1ppm PO4 at night, and it would be gone by the next night. Until that didn't happen. Then, I let it drop to about 2.5ppm and 0.03 (Salifert PO4) and dosed again. On monday, I got close to 0.25 PO4, though, did a 3 qt water change, and left it till Tuesday night. Tues night, read between 0.03 and 0.1ppm PO4, and added about 0.05ppm at night. So there might have been a PO4 swing that did it. The torch started showing its undersides just today.

 

[Kmst80]

Couple of weeks ago, but just last week started running the Channel 2 on the second bar.

In the original post, I said I was adding nitrate and phosphate to try and get to 5-10ppm and 0.1ppm. Mostly, I would add 5ppm NO3 and 0.1ppm PO4 at night, and it would be gone by the next night. Until that didn't happen. Then, I let it drop to about 2.5ppm and 0.03 (Salifert PO4) and dosed again. On monday, I got close to 0.25 PO4, though, did a 3 qt water change, and left it till Tuesday night. Tues night, read between 0.03 and 0.1ppm PO4, and added about 0.05ppm at night. So there might have been a PO4 swing that did it. The torch started showing its undersides just today.

Maybe leave the torch be where it is and see what happens. Looks like bailout in the video, when my head died it was brown slime coming of the head.

 

[Mikosreef]

Why not go back to the old setup where the torch was happy. Basically undo all the recent changes and see if that helps.

Looks like polyp bailout.

The base tissue of the torch doesnt look like its grown around the skeleton. Was it always like that or did the tissue recede recently as well?

Undo all changes and see if that makes a difference.

Do a 25% water change if possible or 5 x 10% water changes, its not a silver bullet but may help.