Torch Coral Help

[nautical_nathaniel]

Hey everyone,

I got an Aussie Gold Torch from MACNA and so far it hasn't been doing that well. I got it into my aquarium around 4 hours after MACNA and it was doing fine and had pretty good polyp extension, "pretty good" meaning it was out but not to the extent it was when I bought it. After that it has only had it's tentacles extended from the skeleton maybe, at most, a half inch. I decided to let it get situated to the aquarium and see if it would, in time, settle down and have better polyp extension.

After a week of no results, I dipped it in some M.E. Coral Wash Off Dip that I received as a sample at MACNA. From what I read, it was a good dip to use to help "revitalize" corals. I also dipped a Sunset Stylocoeniella and some giant clove polyps that I also got at MACNA. Both of those corals are doing great now with solid polyp extension.

The torch, however, is still not happy. I have moved it twice to areas of lower to intermediate flow as well as areas not getting as much light. Still not happy. I shaded it a bit more by using a piece of paper on my tank's screen cover and it seemed a bit happier at first, but now its back to being fully receded. My acros and some other corals weren't too fond of being shaded out so I moved the torch under a shadier spot underneath my rockwork and removed the paper shade on the screen cover.

This is what it looked like when it had been placed into the aquarium for around 2 or 3 hours:

This is what it looks like now (flash is on):

Water Parameters:

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 8.1
Alk: 9.5
Nitrate: 0.2
Phosphate: 0.1
Calcium: 450
Don't have a magnesium kit at the moment but I do bi-weekly water changes with Kent Reef Salt so it should be around 1250-1350.

My lighting is coming from a SB Reef Lights 16", I have both channels on 20% right now.

What suggestions do you all have? I have wall torch and a branching frogspawn, both are happy and healthy and have been for some time. Are there any other dips I should try? Right now I have some more of the ME Coral stuff and some Koral MD from Brightwell Aquatics. My LFS is a short drive down the road though so I'm up for anything at this point to hopefully get this coral turned around.

 

[DSC reef]

Maybe try an iodine dip. I never had luck with gold torches. Hope they pull through. I honestly don't think it's ypur tank or chemistry problems.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Maybe try an iodine dip. I never had luck with gold torches. Hope they pull through. I honestly don't think it's ypur tank or chemistry problems.

I was contemplating an iodine dip since I've read they can suffer from bacterial infections. I was holding on to it as a last resort, however. Since I took that second picture like 30 minutes ago, it's actually stated to come out a bit, so it may like it's new spot. I'll continue to keep an eye on it.

 

[DSC reef]

That's how I lost the few I tried, bacterial infections, brown jelly. I hope it pulls through, there really beautiful corals.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

That's how I lost the few I tried, bacterial infections, brown jelly. I hope it pulls through, there really beautiful corals.

I hope it pulls through too, especially considering how hard it was for me to get one. My LFS won't order them, says they don't ship well and don't get along well with Florida weather. I bought mine when I was ready to leave MACNA and immediately drove home with it!

 

[DSC reef]

That's crazy, the retailer at reefapalooza said the same thing years ago. He said he lost 1 to every 5. I noticed I don't see them at all anymore.

 

[Theo15]

Iv herd of Aussie golds being hard to keep I have the same problem with mine ,it even bleached but my other torches are just fine ,if mine passes I won't be getting another[emoji53]

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Iv herd of Aussie golds being hard to keep I have the same problem with mine ,it even bleached but my other torches are just fine ,if mine passes I won't be getting another[emoji53]

I'd probably hold off from getting another as well, not until more information was available on proper husbandry for them. I've kept multiple euphyllia corals before and this one just doesn't make sense to me. It's kinda been bumming me out and making me doubt my abilities as a reef keeper!

 

[Theo15]

I'd probably hold off from getting another as well, not until more information was available on proper husbandry for them. I've kept multiple euphyllia corals before and this one just doesn't make sense to me. It's kinda been bumming me out and making me doubt my abilities as a reef keeper!

I just snagged a rare Aussie torch from unique corals hopefully it does better than the aussie gold ,fingers crossed [emoji120]

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I just snagged a rare Aussie torch from unique corals hopefully it does better than the aussie gold ,fingers crossed [emoji120]

Good luck!

 

[DSC reef]

I'd probably hold off from getting another as well, not until more information was available on proper husbandry for them. I've kept multiple euphyllia corals before and this one just doesn't make sense to me. It's kinda been bumming me out and making me doubt my abilities as a reef keeper!

Don't let a hard to keep torch question your abilities, there's always that coral that one person can't grow. I've got a few, lol

 

[datoneazn]

Mines looking the same two and it's been since macna too but so far they are happy I can tell, the Aussie good torch is the ones with the big bunches and the Holy Grail is that smaller one up front

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Mines looking the same two and it's been since macna too but so far they are happy I can tell, the Aussie good torch is the ones with the big bunches and the Holy Grail is that smaller one up front

Mine was a bit happier today for a little while. I just dusted it with some reef roids and now one head is fully receded and the other is about 1/4" or so of the way out. It seemed to behave like it was eating but my other torch just gets short, fat tentacles when it feeds and that's definitely not what happened with the gold torch. I'm thinking about removing some of my phosphate pads to see if that does anything but I probably won't do it until tomorrow.

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

I bought a large specimen a couple of months ago and the heads have all but died off. Have two pieces left that I've moved around and the pieces that have survived are in moderate current and relatively good lighting. Hoping they hang on.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Don't let a hard to keep torch question your abilities, there's always that coral that one person can't grow. I've got a few, lol

I've tried two torches and lost both of them relatively quick. Hammers are no problem. Frogspawn and Octospawn are no problem. Torches just melt away within a month of going in a tank at my house. After the second one died, I put it on the "I can't grow it" list.

 

[BigJohnny]

Besides the iodine dip (but only if you see signs of bacterial infection like brown jelly etc since you have already pulled it out and dipped it) I would just leave it be and hope for the best. Moving it around and making constant changes is probably delaying its acclimation to your system. just my 2 cents.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Update:

The torch is starting to expand more and I think it's getting used to the tank.

Here are some photos of it from today:

With flash:

Without flash:

As you can see, it's tips are pretty much gone except for a tiny bit on some tentacles. It doesn't have any of that gold torch sheen either. I'm hopeful that it will begin to heal now and start to act like a normal torch. It's definitely been stressful seeing such an expensive coral struggle when you have a less expensive torch happily swaying in the current 3 inches from it...

Do you guys think I should feed it or try to move it to it's eventual location in my aquarium, or just let it be for a couple of more weeks?

 

[datoneazn]

Update:

The torch is starting to expand more and I think it's getting used to the tank.

Here are some photos of it from today:

With flash:

Without flash:

As you can see, it's tips are pretty much gone except for a tiny bit on some tentacles. It doesn't have any of that gold torch sheen either. I'm hopeful that it will begin to heal now and start to act like a normal torch. It's definitely been stressful seeing such an expensive coral struggle when you have a less expensive torch happily swaying in the current 3 inches from it...

Do you guys think I should feed it or try to move it to it's eventual location in my aquarium, or just let it be for a couple of more weeks?

Mines looking sooo much better now too but I don't feed mines but it does catches food that go by it if it touches it lol

 

[DSC reef]

Let it be for a bit and see how it progresses . Looking good though

 

[datoneazn]

Here's my torches now they are way happier now that I stuck them on top of the egg crate bc the diamond doby loves to dig under the rock

Without filter

With a filter