Torch coral darkened after feeding

[Ralph Ritoch]

I have started feeding my coral. After reading here that a new tank doesn't have enough zooxanthellae to support coral feeding them seems to be a good temporary solution. After feeding the Torch Coral's four of the more healthy torches became a few shades darker. Is this something I should be worried about? I read that this can be an indicator of excess nutrients, but since I deliberately fed it I'm not sure if this is just the normal response to a well fed coral, if it is over-fed, or if there is some other problem at play.

The food is Coralific Delite.

 

[P-Dub]

I have started feeding my coral. After reading here that a new tank doesn't have enough zooxanthellae to support coral feeding them seems to be a good temporary solution. After feeding the Torch Coral's four of the more healthy torches became a few shades darker. Is this something I should be worried about? I read that this can be an indicator of excess nutrients, but since I deliberately fed it I'm not sure if this is just the normal response to a well fed coral, if it is over-fed, or if there is some other problem at play.

The food is Coralific Delite.

First off, Ralph, where did you read that "a new tank doesn't have enough zooxanthellae to support coral?" Corals come pre-packaged with all the symbionts they need so long as they are generally in good health.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

First off, Ralph, where did you read that "a new tank doesn't have enough zooxanthellae to support coral?" Corals come pre-packaged with all the symbionts they need so long as they are generally in good health.

New systems dont have the proper microorganisms nor chemistry / iconic balancing to support the building block of zooxanthellae in corals.

I'm not a marine biologist but I do comprehend that a tank must undergo several months of "curing" to achieve proper chemistry.

This isn't a hobby of quick success due to your own efforts. You cant work harder nor work smarter to self-will a tank into an successful ecosystem in the matter of weeks.

Much like a farmer cant grow a field of corn in 2 weeks.....it takes months of planning and execution based on a wealth of experience

Patience and the Husbandry skills to make educated, timely decisions are key. It's the only path to the mountain top

Advice from R2R is one awesome toolbox to support a shorter learning curve. Soak up as much advice as you can stand

.

Maybe I misunderstood this. Either way, 4 of the 5 active Torches turned darker. The one that didn't has now retracted so I'm guessing it is sick. This little coral colony was dying when I got it. There are at least 8 dead torches in it, 4 healthy, and 2 retracted. One has been retracted since I received it last week so I'm fairly sure its dead. I can see the tips of the tentacles and they appear white.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

Here is a recent picture of the colony. There are more dead Torches in it than live ones

 

[Rilo]

How long have you had your tank running? Have you gone through the cycling process.

I’m sorry to hear the torches aren’t doing good. It’s always a pain in the hobby when something doesn’t go right

 

[Katrina71]

Here is a recent picture of the colony. There are more dead Torches in it than live ones

Don't remove the skeleton. Give it 6 weeks. You may get some regrowth.

 

[Hemmdog]

Did you dip it? When euphyllia starts dying I instantly think pests, it’s a very hardy coral generally speaking.

 

[P-Dub]

Here is a recent picture of the colony. There are more dead Torches in it than live ones

Yes, they do not look good. Not bagging skimjim but a new tank and the associated new tank syndrome has nothing directly to do with the ability or inability to support zooxanthella in symbiosis with coral. The overall condition of the coral host and how IT is reacting to environmental conditions will dictate the viability of the symbionts. The zooxanthella needs light and to a lesser degree, provided by the coral, co2, nitrogen compounds, and phosphate.
There are a number of factors that may be influencing the demise of your coral but without sufficient background, it will be difficult to determine the ultimate culprit or culprits. If you could give us as much information on your system, its size, age, lighting, filtration, dosing, parameters, etc., we might be able to help nail this down.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

Yes, they do not look good. Not bagging skimjim but a new tank and the associated new tank syndrome has nothing directly to do with the ability or inability to support zooxanthella in symbiosis with coral. The overall condition of the coral host and how IT is reacting to environmental conditions will dictate the viability of the symbionts. The zooxanthella needs light and to a lesser degree, provided by the coral, co2, nitrogen compounds, and phosphate.
There are a number of factors that may be influencing the demise of your coral but without sufficient background, it will be difficult to determine the ultimate culprit or culprits. If you could give us as much information on your system, its size, age, lighting, filtration, dosing, parameters, etc., we might be able to help nail this down.

The newly retracted Torch has poked its tentacles out again so its not dead yet. The fish store owner gave it to me for free because it was dying. Originally it was covered with Barnacles.

I removed the barnacles with needlenose pliers. The mostly retracted Torch you see in the original photo is still retracted. Here is an updated photo showing that the Torch has started to bloom again. Notice that the color is not as brown as the more healthy Torches, that is the shade the more healthy Torches were before their feeding.

 

[Hemmdog]

Parameters and lighting? I’m pretty sure that’s a purple torch, a very very mad one.

 

[JCOLE]

Honestly, judging by the pictures and your other posts I think it has to do with your current system's age. I could be wrong but it seems like a fairly new setup. Please list your current tank, age, and parameters. Without those then we can only guess what could be the problem.

Sorry for the headache. I know it can be a pain when this is happening. This is part of it though. When the coral finally comes through and is thriving then it will give you joy in being successful with the system. Best of luck!

 

[KrisReef]

I think it’s improved nicely. Leave it alone and let it recover. Don’t feed it every day, 2x/ week is a lot if you are target feeding.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

How long have you had your tank running? Have you gone through the cycling process.

I’m sorry to hear the torches aren’t doing good. It’s always a pain in the hobby when something doesn’t go right

This tank was a fresh water tank for over a year and has been a salt water tank for about 3 weeks. The filter media hasn't been changed since it was a fresh water tank to keep the "good bacteria" in the system. I also added live sand directly from under the ocean. After an initial issue with the sea salt I used causing cloudyness I did a 90% water change to ocean water. A few days ago I switched out the live sand for beach sand because my wife and others didn't like the live sand and said it looked "dirty". I have ordered a testing kit which hopefully will arrive today to find out exactly where the tank is regarding cycle but with the water being direct from the ocean, and the recent, moderate, algae growth, I'm confident that the ammonia and nitrite are dealt with. The tank is 39 gallons (custom made) and my only plan right now for dealing with the nitrate is to do 10% water changes every week.

Today the Torch is looking much better but the one torch is still lighter than the others. I'll stick with feeding them, bi-weekly as suggested. This colony has good days and bad days but I'll monitor it for improvement.

My new problem now is one of my starfish. So far they've "attacked" the wavemaker, the water pump, and one even crawled into a hole of the live rock that I didn't even know existed. I had hoped they would deal with some of the algae but they are like children, getting into everything they can reach!

 

[Rilo]

Deleted

 

[P-Dub]

This tank was a fresh water tank for over a year and has been a salt water tank for about 3 weeks. The filter media hasn't been changed since it was a fresh water tank to keep the "good bacteria" in the system. I also added live sand directly from under the ocean. After an initial issue with the sea salt I used causing cloudyness I did a 90% water change to ocean water. A few days ago I switched out the live sand for beach sand because my wife and others didn't like the live sand and said it looked "dirty". I have ordered a testing kit which hopefully will arrive today to find out exactly where the tank is regarding cycle but with the water being direct from the ocean, and the recent, moderate, algae growth, I'm confident that the ammonia and nitrite are dealt with. The tank is 39 gallons (custom made) and my only plan right now for dealing with the nitrate is to do 10% water changes every week.

Today the Torch is looking much better but the one torch is still lighter than the others. I'll stick with feeding them, bi-weekly as suggested. This colony has good days and bad days but I'll monitor it for improvement.

My new problem now is one of my starfish. So far they've "attacked" the wavemaker, the water pump, and one even crawled into a hole of the live rock that I didn't even know existed. I had hoped they would deal with some of the algae but they are like children, getting into everything they can reach!

Ralph, thanks for the tidbits of information. Based soley on what you have stated, you are nowhere near ready for coral. If that coral makes it, I'd be amazed. I STRONGLY suggest that you head over to...
New to Saltwater & Reef Aquariums? Post Here
Then pay special attention to the "Stickie" particularly...
Cycling an Aquarium
The beneficial bacteria in a freshwater system, for the most part, do not live in a marine environment
Additionally...
The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
and, finally...
Beginners Guide to Acclimation and Quarantine
Best of luck.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

So... The test kit hasn't yet been delivered. I just added some prime to remove any amonia which I forgot to do after the water change. The 5 torches were looking great, and then I had a business meeting, when I returned 2 of the torches were retracted . I suspect foul play because one of the torches that is near them is almost 5mm larger (more extended) than it ever has been. Will these torches attack members of their own colony? Whatever the case, the one that was retracted yesterday now seems fine, so I'll just wait and see how this plays out. If I need to frag them I'm not sure what options I have because there are no frag kits for sale here (in the Philippines) that I can find so I'll need to find a supplier that ships internationally.

 

[ScottR]

The zooxanthellae in the tentacles of the coral will change color in different conditions and lighting. The coral should go back to normal if you keep everything healthy and stable.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

New update. I just got back from the gym and the 2 Torches that went into hiding are back out and the one that was in hiding yesterday has gone back into hiding. Its just weird, to me, that the other two torches only go into hiding at night when the light is turned off. The color situation is the same, 4 torches are dark and 1 is light. One of the torches I presumed dead has a few short tentacles exposed that are also white so I suspect the light ones have health issues. All of the pictures I can find of these torches online all have the darker color so maybe it was just light because it was hungry. I don't really know, yet, but I'll keep monitoring the situation.

 

[JCOLE]

Patience is the number one thing in this hobby. Looking for results after a couple hours will only lead you down the wrong path in reef keeping. I would suggest doing a water change. Then leave the tank alone and dont stress about it for a couple days. It could take a week or two for new corals to adapt to the system they are in. Honestly, with as new as your system is I am surprised they are doing this well.

 

[Rilo]

So... The test kit hasn't yet been delivered. I just added some prime to remove any amonia which I forgot to do after the water change. The 5 torches were looking great, and then I had a business meeting, when I returned 2 of the torches were retracted [emoji50] . I suspect foul play because one of the torches that is near them is almost 5mm larger (more extended) than it ever has been. Will these torches attack members of their own colony? Whatever the case, the one that was retracted yesterday now seems fine, so I'll just wait and see how this plays out. If I need to frag them I'm not sure what options I have because there are no frag kits for sale here (in the Philippines) that I can find so I'll need to find a supplier that ships internationally.

I don’t want to be a Debby downer but for the long run it’s better to rehome the corals and finish the nitrogen cycle. There shouldn’t be any ammonia present in a cycled tank for coral to thrive. There’s articles here on how to get started there. Without a completed nitrogen cycle in the long run the coral will die.