Torch mouth hanging open

[Patto005]

I'm not sure what's going on, but one of my torches' mouth is staying open. I noticed opened a little yesterday but today it's really open And the tentacles are deflated a bit. My other torch looks great, actually never looked better. Also noticed a few days ago that an encrusting montipora is starting to bleach. I don't know what's going on. Anyone have suggestions? I haven't changed lighting, moved anything, added anything in over a month other than small bumps from water changes

 

[kbourque]

Did you test the water?

 

[Patto005]

Yes my iodine is a little higher than normal but everything else is the same as always. My phosphate is always between a 2-5. It was a 3 today. I know you think this is crazy high, but I have great growth with everything except sps. Acros=not much growth at all, worm brains and favia fair growth but all my lps and softies thrive

 

[Patto005]

I guess I should show my results...
Salinity 1.025
Iodine 0.1
Nitrate 5
Phosphate 3
Calcium 480
Kh 10
Temp 78°

 

[Patto005]

Anyone else have suggestions?

 

[Dextereef]

what test kit are you using? I dont understand your phosphate and nitrate readings. Have you noticed any physical trauma to the torch? Rock fall on it, anything pestering it? Is anything else showing signs of stress?

 

[Patto005]

It's an api kit for everything except nitrate and iodine. The nitrate kit is a salifert. I did do my test directly after feeding frozen food. That may alter the readings. I dunno. My nitrates are normally nondetectable. As I stated in the first post, the only other thing that I see different is that I have an encrusting montipora and it has started bleaching on the edges over the past few days. But I haven't noticed anything bothering this torch at all. And nothing has fallen on it

 

[Patto005]

what test kit are you using? I dont understand your phosphate and nitrate readings. Have you noticed any physical trauma to the torch? Rock fall on it, anything pestering it? Is anything else showing signs of stress?

Any new thoughts?

 

[Dextereef]

I don't think your parameters are the issue if they have been holding at those numbers. What have your ph readings been? If you have been seeing swings then maybe that's the cause. If the phosphate is .3 then that's fine. If the nitrate is .5 then you should try and bring that closer to 0 in my opinion.

Like I said it doesn't seem to be a parameter thing. If you have other torches doing well it might be a pest of some sort or the coral just wasn't going to live anyway. It might be cleaning itself out too. Have you dipped them at all yet?

The montipora bleaching could be from parameter swings or its getting too much light. Have you tried moving them to different spots?

 

[Patto005]

I don't think your parameters are the issue if they have been holding at those numbers. What have your ph readings been? If you have been seeing swings then maybe that's the cause. If the phosphate is .3 then that's fine. If the nitrate is .5 then you should try and bring that closer to 0 in my opinion.

Like I said it doesn't seem to be a parameter thing. If you have other torches doing well it might be a pest of some sort or the coral just wasn't going to live anyway. It might be cleaning itself out too. Have you dipped them at all yet?

The montipora bleaching could be from parameter swings or its getting too much light. Have you tried moving them to different spots?

Ph has always been 8.1 when I checked it. Never anything different but my apex isn't set up on this tank yet so I haven't checked the ph. But if I was having ph issues, it should be affecting like corals very similarly IMO and I'm not seeing this at all. Yes all corals were dipped with coral rx prior to installing them. But this particular torch has been in the same spot for 7-9 months. Should I try re-dipping? And I'm not familiar with "cleaning itself out" do u mean like vomiting? More info about this please

 

[Dextereef]

Just touching on all bases with the PH. Just because something was at a certain level doesnt mean that it is still at that level. Anyhow, if a coral is weakened for some reason it may stress easier than surrounding corals. Yes, I suppose vomiting is an appropriate term. I see this with my anemones, trachy's, welso's, plates, and acans/acantho's. Sometimes they expel their insides to clean themselves out but then they usually return to normal. How is it looking today? You can try re-dipping in revive or coralx but if it has been in the same spot for 7-9 months and is just now showing stress while other corals around it are looking healthy, then I can only guess that it wasn't totally healthy from the start. You would have no idea either and it sounds like you took the appropriate steps when introducing it to your tank. Sometimes a coral will look great when you first put it in the tank and for no explainable reason it just dies. I know many are seeing this sudden decline with the gold torches that are so popular. They look vibrant for a good period of time and then one day the heads just pop off the skeleton and die.

Don't give up or be discouraged. Keep up with your normal tank husbandry routine and hopefully it pulls through. As reefers, we just have to accept that some critters wont make it no matter what you do. It stinks but thems the brakes. Good luck!

 

[Patto005]

Just touching on all bases with the PH. Just because something was at a certain level doesnt mean that it is still at that level. Anyhow, if a coral is weakened for some reason it may stress easier than surrounding corals. Yes, I suppose vomiting is an appropriate term. I see this with my anemones, trachy's, welso's, plates, and acans/acantho's. Sometimes they expel their insides to clean themselves out but then they usually return to normal. How is it looking today? You can try re-dipping in revive or coralx but if it has been in the same spot for 7-9 months and is just now showing stress while other corals around it are looking healthy, then I can only guess that it wasn't totally healthy from the start. You would have no idea either and it sounds like you took the appropriate steps when introducing it to your tank. Sometimes a coral will look great when you first put it in the tank and for no explainable reason it just dies. I know many are seeing this sudden decline with the gold torches that are so popular. They look vibrant for a good period of time and then one day the heads just pop off the skeleton and die.

Don't give up or be discouraged. Keep up with your normal tank husbandry routine and hopefully it pulls through. As reefers, we just have to accept that some critters wont make it no matter what you do. It stinks but thems the brakes. Good luck!

It looks even more deflated today but I can tell that there is something brown looking in its mouth. Cant tell if it's some type of pest or waste and I can't get a good picture of it. I think I'll try removing it with tweezers and re-dipping today when I get home if it hasn't changed by then. And the montipora that's bleaching is getting worse. Any suggestions on it? It's only been in the tank for about 1-2 months. It's bleaching from the lowest area around the rim

 

[Dextereef]

I would definitely not try and remove whatever it is in the corals mouth. Too much risk of damage to the coral.

How is your flow around the monti?

 

[Patto005]

Noted on the non-removal. Maybe it will pull through after another dip. The side of the monti that's bleaching has less flow than the rest of it. Do you think this may be the issue? If so, It's gonna be hard to resolve this due to it being crusted on a rock that's pretty much shaped like a baseball

 

[Dextereef]

With SPS they secrete mucus to rid themselves of sediment/algae/etc... that may settle on them. If there isnt sufficient flow to remove the mucus it could harm it. I'm not saying it is the problem but could be contributing to it. In my experience, bleaching comes from a nutrient issue or lighting issue. What I guess is happening, if you have one side that is healthy, is that the monti started to encrust to that side and it did not find the environment to be suitable so its halting/retreating from that side. This assumption is based on your water quality/lighting being sufficient for the monti

Someone else feel free to chime in here in the monti?!:noidea:

 

[Patto005]

I would definitely not try and remove whatever it is in the corals mouth. Too much risk of damage to the coral.

How is your flow around the monti?

Update: I dipped the torch the day I said I was going to, it looked the same for several days afterwards, then the mouth started really pushing something out. The next day it was really gaping open, two days later it died and I'm only left with a calcium structure

 

[Dextereef]

Bummer Patto. Sorry for the loss. Sounds like it wasn't going to make it no matter what you did. That is one of the most frustrating realities of this hobby. You can do everything right and still not be able to make a difference. Keep your head up and keep working!