Torchs never seem to last.

[skyjacker07]

If you want to lower what's in your salt; you can shoot for a lower salinity. You're at 1.026 go for 1.025 and see how much that lowers it for you; if you wanna stick with 1.026 then you need to run some different salt. I use IO reef crystals, mixed at 1.026 mag, cal, and kh are right where I need them to be.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Are you buying them online or from your LFS. They don't ship well, they get damaged and may see big temp changes especially during summer in hot areas and winter in freezing areas. They can stand pretty good alternating flow and bright light light if acclimated. You will have better luck if the tank is 12-18 months old. I had a couple die that were shipped. The last one I got so far seems to be doing well. Purchased from a store and drove 5 hours home but went and observed it over 3 days before purchase. When I got it home I dipped in a fairly strong iodine solution with tank water. one cup of tank water and enough Lugols to make water fairly dark for 15 minutes and then straight into tank where last one died. been 4 or 5 months and still doing well.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Aquaforest salt is ment to be mixed at 1.025 in conjunction with it's dosing system. That salt doesn't contain all of the needed trace elements. I would suggest switching salts.

 

[RamsReef]

I'm dosing the 1/2/3, minus the 1 right now because calcium is so high.

There product guide states 32-35 ppt for salinity but I will drop to 1.025 and give that a try.

What salt do you like @reeferfoxx ?

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm dosing the 1/2/3, minus the 1 right now because calcium is so high.

There product guide states 32-35 ppt for salinity but I will drop to 1.025 and give that a try.

What salt do you like @reeferfoxx ?

I can't give too much advise. I like all salts that fall in the 7-9dkh range. I will say I started reefing with Tropic Marine pro reef and 2 of 3 buckets gave me really high magnesium. Eventually i switched to Red sea blue bucket because of the lower 1200 magnesium. Eventually, I had to start dosing magnesium and that became frustrating and a testing nightmare. I'm now using Frits RPM and so far, I couldn't be happier. Not only is it $45 at my LFS, but the parameters(once the bag was mixed) have been close to spot on as advertised. My LPS are fat and my acros are starting to thrive again.

 

[RamsReef]

0 issues with my acans and other LPS only Torchs and my acros are hit and miss.

 

[reeferfoxx]

0 issues with my acans and other LPS only Torchs and my acros are hit and miss.

Has to be the lack of Comp 1. Since you are mixing at 1.026 you are getting higher ca without the coral consumption. Therefore you aren't able to dose the required trace elements. You could try a couple things. Starting with lowering salinity like you said and maybe getting a bottle of trace elements to see if that helps, at least until ca consumption increases.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Moderate flow and light essential and away from other corals that will sting them. High flow not desirable

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also they do well with temp at 74-78

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Moderate flow and light essential and away from other corals that will sting them. High flow not desirable

I know this is normally what is recommended but I had a torch that was in high light and high flow that grew like crazy. When I moved a guy helping me dropped an entire tub of coral onto the hot asphalt which killed it and many other LPS corals. My son had one in high flow and he got rid of it because it was growing to large and had it drop new ones all over his tank. He now has 4 small ones growing in his tank without fragging his original.

 

[jamiec266]

do you use amino acids at all??? its good to get things to open up but if you use to much of it it puts a pink/purple sludge in the tank which coats your coral stems like hammers and torches. take it out and see if theres anything on the stem if there is lighting wash it off and put torch back should extend after that if thats the problem. otherwise im not sure i only had that problem with my torches once they started bleching but after i did that method they came good. never had a problem with my torches other then closing up cause there wasnt enough flow.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

I would lower your calcium to 400-420, and just keep your parameters stable. I would lower your lights sometimes they don't like a lot of light they can retract back inside. Feed reef roids, mysis etc. I would also try aquavitro fuel twice a week

 

[coral colonies]

Most torches/hammers/frogs are actually found in shaded areas in a reef. Like under ledges peaking out, or under large plating Acros. They do not like direct light at all (for a while in the beginning anyway) I would try to give it some cover or lower the power of the light by 30% to start.
And temperature is a big issue with torches and hammers - they hate it hot. So shipping in summer (like someone mentioned) is a problem as well.

 

[Ryan@ShelteredReef Verified Sponsor]

As previously stated, the big three with torches are temperature sensitivity, alk swings, and too much direct flow. These three can cause a very quick decline in coral health. Lighting also plays a factor in their polyp extension and coloration.