What makes a happy torch?

[BigSkyRich]

Well going by majority, I'm going to leave them alone and hope for the best, thanks again.

But hey if you still have any growing techniques feel free to share.

How old is your tank?

 

[Ryde]

How old is your tank?

Just over a year now.

 

[BigSkyRich]

Just over a year now.

Mine is about the same age. I'm finding that I lose a few for unknown (and known) reasons while others thrive and excel. Part of the fun, for me at least

 

[bexlc]

How did this thread even make it to the Reef2Reef email list? This is pathetic. Coral has been in system for 6-7 months and is unhappy. Apparently, the answer is “leave them alone”? I’m going to guess that plenty of people didn’t catch things on time, didn’t proactively dip, didn’t do a lot of things, except “left them alone” and their torches died.

 

[bexlc]

How did this thread even make it to the Reef2Reef email list? This is pathetic. Coral has been in system for 6-7 months and is unhappy. Apparently, the answer is “leave them alone”? I’m going to guess that plenty of people didn’t catch things on time, didn’t proactively dip, didn’t do a lot of things, except “left them alone” and their torches died.

How has nobody asked if anything has changed? Feeding habits? Nitrate levels? Alk levels? Levels alone mean nothing. Stability is what makes a reef. You can have 8.4 alk all day long and 9 the next day. Boom, dead torch. Saying a single parameter set is like saying that a patient WAS respiring... but now he’s not. He’s dead. The correct answer is not to “leave it alone”. The correct answer is, “What changed?”

 

[Cjeippert]

I have not adjusted the flow. They've been in the same light for quite some time now, but I lowered them anyway. I'll attach a screenshot below of my parameters one sec.

Magnesium could be too low. Most reefers keep it above 1250 and below 1450

 

[Ryde]

How has nobody asked if anything has changed? Feeding habits? Nitrate levels? Alk levels? Levels alone mean nothing. Stability is what makes a reef. You can have 8.4 alk all day long and 9 the next day. Boom, dead torch. Saying a single parameter set is like saying that a patient WAS respiring... but now he’s not. He’s dead. The correct answer is not to leave it alone. The correct answer is, “What changed?”

I usually feed Reef Roids every other week. Nitrate usually around 10. I had alk at 9 but it slowly creeped up to 10. Maybe it was the bump in alk?

 

[Cjeippert]

Low par under 150, low random flow. Light flowing motion makes my torches a lot bigger.

 

[Cjeippert]

Maybe ab+ red sea energy daily and roids every few days.

 

[bexlc]

I usually feed Reef Roids every other week. Nitrate usually around 10. I had alk at 9 but it slowly creeped up to 10. Maybe it was the bump in alk?

How quickly did it “creep” up to 10? I can tell you that my torches throw a tantrum with even a 0.4 change in alk. Did it happen over a month or a day? A change like that is probably your answer. Bring it back down to your normal level SLOWLY and expect for them to be cranky the whole time.

 

[Ryde]

How quickly did it “creep” up to 10? I can tell you that my torches throw a tantrum with even a 0.4 change in alk. Did it happen over a month or a day? A change like that is probably your answer. Bring it back down to your normal level SLOWLY and expect for them to cranky the whole time.

It went up over three weeks, every water change brought it up a little bit more each time.

 

[bexlc]

It went up over three weeks, every water change brought it up a little bit more each time.

Any chance you’re using Reef Crystals?

 

[Ryde]

Any chance you’re using Reef Crystals?

I actually was. Just finished the last bit of it a week ago, now using tropic marin pro reef salt.

 

[bexlc]

I actually was. Just finished the last bit of it a week ago, now using tropic marin pro reef salt.

I cannot express how irrationally upset I am that, out of 32 posts, nobody asked you what changed. You changed salt mixes. That is a HUGE deal! What is your target alkalinity? Stick to it. I hate hearing “stability is key”, but it’s true. Stability is what matters. Torches are extremely sensitive to any change in alkalinity and nitrates. You have to find a number and stick to it. No changes! Not even 0.1! That is the reality of torches.

 

[bexlc]

If you were still using Reef Crystals, I would point you to Randy Holms Farley, who wrote some great stuff on using muric acid to bring down alk since it can mix around 11-12. Since you’ve switched to TM, you’ve changed the game. I sincerely hope that you did tiny water changes to help your corals make the adjustment. Tiny changes being <10%. The huge jumps in alk over time tells me that it’s more likely that you were not depleting alkalinity at the same rate that you replaced it. There’s a lot of questions that have to be asked regarding your dosage practice, but for the purposes of this thread, stick to an alk level!

 

[Hincapiej4]

How did this thread even make it to the Reef2Reef email list? This is pathetic. Coral has been in system for 6-7 months and is unhappy. Apparently, the answer is “leave them alone”? I’m going to guess that plenty of people didn’t catch things on time, didn’t proactively dip, didn’t do a lot of things, except “left them alone” and their torches died.

Let me fix the situation if I may....

LEAVE THEM ALONE.

I hope this is satisfactory.

 

[James M]

LEAVE THEM ALONE.

THIS !

 

[stacksoner]

God, this hobby is impossible

 

[DarkReefer]

I had mine look a little funny and withdrawn a couple months back. They had sucked in a little and definitely wasn't getting the same extension I used to. I think there had been some sway in my parameters a little around this time or something in the tank (snail) had died or something was going on.
Took a little work, regular water changes, keeping ontop of parameters but they've come good and I think even grown a bunch.
My Green tip in particular is massive now and seems to have split into another head. (Originally bought as 3 head, 1 was DoA and had jelly that I scrubbed out) the other 2 were good, but now I have 3 heads as one of the ones that lived seems to have divided. Has great extension and seems to be loving life.

My purple is also looking very good, about on par with what it used to look like, but has some smaller polyps on it now so I'm not sure if it's done some growing also.

Recently added a QLD 24K Gold and it's also looking very thick and happy.
Fingers crossed they all stay that way as they're great to watch.

Sorry I don't have anything that's more specific/helpful to add.

 

[karees]

I have a stable tank. When I started dosing amino acids the torch growth went wild. Everything else looks better but only the torches grew like crazy.