What is happening with my torches?

[MN_Coop]

Greetings,

This is my first post, and I am in a bit of a predicament. I have. a tank that is about 5 months old with several torches and other corals in it. I walked past my tank and I noticed two of my torches don't look very good. I do not see brown jelly (yet). The torch up front has an entire head missing, and the back green one is all but gone. They looked fine this morning when I fed my fish I'm not certain what's going on here. Any ideas?

Here is a picture - different angle from June 1.

 

[MN_Coop]

One other note. . .

I ran Alk a few min ago. 8.4. Same as what it was Saturday.
As of Saturday my water had the following parameters:

Calc = 480
Mag = 1605
Nitrate 18.2
Phos .56
Alk 8.2

 

[Spare time]

Parameters? Lighting? Flow?

 

[TiltedReef]

Looks like bailout to me. Parameters?

Notice any warring between the torches in that corner?

 

[MN_Coop]

I have seen no warring between corals. Parameters should be posted above. Here they are again....

 

[MN_Coop]

Parameters? Lighting? Flow?

Lighting and flow have not changed. The only thing that changed that I added Zoa's to the tank Saturday. Again, it all looked good yesterday and even this morning.

Lighting is about 135 PAR on the uppers. They have been there and happy since March....

Parameters:

Thank you for your help.

 

[MN_Coop]

Lighting and flow have not changed. The only thing that changed that I added Zoa's to the tank Saturday. Again, it all looked good yesterday and even this morning.

Lighting is about 135 PAR on the uppers. They have been there and happy since March....

Parameters:

Thank you for your help.

I did not answer flow. Flow has been the same for about 3 weeks. I moved some of the flow around because Goni were not happy in the left corner.

 

[Roatan Reef]

Looks like bailout to me. Parameters?

Notice any warring between the torches in that corner?

Torches are Bailing!
A 5 month old tank is no place for Torches. A mild alkanity swing, and they Bail. Stick to hammers, Frogspawn etc, then at year or so, go with Torches. Even then, they might still bail after 6 months .

 

[Roatan Reef]

I did not answer flow. Flow has been the same for about 3 weeks. I moved some of the flow around because Goni were not happy in the left corner.

Also, NO ON GONIS IN A 5 MONTH OLD TANK. Please take the advice of people here at R2R. Just stop. Go with easy corals for now. You will save yourself lots of $$$ and frustration if you do.

Also....never adjust your tank and flow etc..for just 1 coral, that's called chasing! Chase 1 coral to make it happy, upset the rest of the corals.

Brother, your tank is waaaaaay too new for torches and gonis.

 

[TiltedReef]

I have seen no warring between corals. Parameters should be posted above. Here they are again....

pH a little high same with Mg. 1400-1450 ppm Mg and keep a constant 8.0 pH. Salinity? Has your tank had a mini cycle recently? any Cyano anywhere? What salt brand r u using?

Torches are fine within 3 months of cycle tbh I wouldn't wait a year for such an easy coral. Does look like bailout, maybe a fish or invert is tearing soft tissue?

 

[MN_Coop]

pH a little high same with Mg. 1400-1450 ppm Mg and keep a constant 8.0 pH. Salinity? Has your tank had a mini cycle recently? any Cyano anywhere? What salt brand r u using?

Torches are fine within 3 months of cycle tbh I wouldn't wait a year for such an easy coral. Does look like bailout, maybe a fish or invert is tearing soft tissue?

Appreciate your insights. My LFS owner helps me manage the tank (water changes, runs stats as a second set of eyes etc. . ).

I have not seen a mini-cycle or Cyano. Nitrates have been climbing, so I have started to cut back on food this week. I also reduced MAG and CA dosing by ~ 5%, hoping they would maintain / drop just a bit. Salinity is 1.026 and has been since the inception of the tank. I use Fritz blue. No change there.

I find it interesting that one of two heads are impacted on the NYKnicks. The other head is fine. All other torches, hammers and frogspn look "normal". I have attached a video. No sign of BJD (thankfully) I am wondering if I have a hermit causing this damage . . .

Inventory wise:

2 Angels, 2 tangs, longnose hawk, 2 x purple tile, Blotched Anth, 5 x Chromus, 2 x Bangi, 2 x Clowns, Diamond Goby, Foxface, Fairy Wrasse, Starry Blenny, 2 x Assessor Basslets, Watchman and his pistol shrimp.... Fire Shrimp, snails and hermit (blue and red legged)

 

[1000rrstunna]

for all the " its too soon" reply's how do people setup frag tanks and put all sorts of coral in the same day? this is a real question... Not saying a stable biome isn't 10000% beneficial for success I just think we are exaggerating somewhat I have kept many corals in 6 month old tanks but after that 1 year mark stuff really takes off so i would assume that's the " biome and stability " helping.

 

[787will]

Also, NO ON GONIS IN A 5 MONTH OLD TANK. Please take the advice of people here at R2R. Just stop. Go with easy corals for now. You will save yourself lots of $$$ and frustration if you do.

Also....never adjust your tank and flow etc..for just 1 coral, that's called chasing! Chase 1 coral to make it happy, upset the rest of the corals.

Brother, your tank is waaaaaay too new for torches and gonis.

Argh it really bugs me when I see reposes like this. It's not necessary and it's not helping him solve his issue. You lack the necessary information to make that judgement. How do you know he's not using live rock that 5 years old? With good care and house keeping practices there is no reason why he can't keep torches and Goni's in a young tank succesfully. I have and have so have many others.

 

[787will]

Your parameters seem stable, pH and mag are fine don't go adjusting them. Only one I would address is PO4 as that is high. I suspect something bacterial, even though you haven't seen BJD yet it could will take hold on that back green torch. If it were me I would do a cipro treatment.

 

[Spare time]

What angelfish do you have?

 

[VintageReefer]

I find it interesting that one of two heads are impacted on the NYKnicks. The other head is fine. All other torches, hammers and frogspn look "normal".

I have tons of torches and hammers and a few frogspawn. Added a new 2 head Indo gold torch. Looked fine for about a week. Maybe 2.

Then one head declined rapidly and bailed out just like yours. I caught it as it was happening. Fearing bjd, I fragged the branch and was left with a single head that was fine. Few days later, that head started declining. I dipped in antibiotics and it didn’t help. That head bailed also and I ended up losing both

All others in the tank never had an issue before or after.

I see what your saying and yes it’s interesting but not impossible. That other head can certainly bail too. The other torches could be unaffected. Something could be going in with just that torch.

 

[Kzang]

Also, NO ON GONIS IN A 5 MONTH OLD TANK. Please take the advice of people here at R2R. Just stop. Go with easy corals for now. You will save yourself lots of $$$ and frustration if you do.

Also....never adjust your tank and flow etc..for just 1 coral, that's called chasing! Chase 1 coral to make it happy, upset the rest of the corals.

Brother, your tank is waaaaaay too new for torches and gonis.

Here I am with a tank that was set up for 4 months stocked with $15k worth of coral with sps, Goni, clams, torches, and etc.

It can be done, but it’s a great deal of pain in the butt

 

[Uncle99]

My Sailfin tasted mine, but only once, two heads gone.

He’s touched nothing since.

I assume he didn’t like lunch…

 

[TiltedReef]

Appreciate your insights. My LFS owner helps me manage the tank (water changes, runs stats as a second set of eyes etc. . ).

I have not seen a mini-cycle or Cyano. Nitrates have been climbing, so I have started to cut back on food this week. I also reduced MAG and CA dosing by ~ 5%, hoping they would maintain / drop just a bit. Salinity is 1.026 and has been since the inception of the tank. I use Fritz blue. No change there.

I find it interesting that one of two heads are impacted on the NYKnicks. The other head is fine. All other torches, hammers and frogspn look "normal". I have attached a video. No sign of BJD (thankfully) I am wondering if I have a hermit causing this damage . . .

Inventory wise:

2 Angels, 2 tangs, longnose hawk, 2 x purple tile, Blotched Anth, 5 x Chromus, 2 x Bangi, 2 x Clowns, Diamond Goby, Foxface, Fairy Wrasse, Starry Blenny, 2 x Assessor Basslets, Watchman and his pistol shrimp.... Fire Shrimp, snails and hermit (blue and red legged)

Alright. I think you need to turn down that flow. Torches should not be whipping back and forth with such exaggeration in tandem with the current but instead slowly dance with a moderate flow. I am certain this is your issue!

Also shoot for a 1.024-1.025 salinity, my torches overreact the moment salinity climbs past 1.025. Torches are the most dramatic coral ime and really do need that extra touch of care, maybe even play them classical music from time to time lol!

Try lowering the flow and see what happens. Good Luck!

 

[MN_Coop]

I think you may be on to something. I think my ReefWave was accidentally moved lower when the tank was cleaned. I moved it back up to just below the water level yesterday where it was normally. I do not see anymore distress . . . we will see. Appreciate the insights.