Do Chimera LPS Corals Lack Robustness?

[fandaga]

I bought my first chimera torch coral with 4 heads a few weeks ago at NJ Frag Fest. It seemed to do well for a couple weeks and then over two days 3 out of 4 heads had polyp bailout. The last remaining head seems to be doing okay for a few days. I have several other torches in the same part of my tank that have been doing very well over the last 7 months (Dragon Soul, Dragon Tamer, Drunken Noodles, Malaysian Miami, holy grail, and unnamed purple with green tips). The chimera had two heads of torches that I currently have (Dragon Tamer and the unnamed purple with green tips). Flow was medium and lighting was about 100-150 par. Other parameters are 420 cal, 8-9 alk, 1400 Mg, 3-5 NO3, 0.03 PO4, 77C temp.

Initial showing 3 heads:

After bailout:

My other torches:

 

[Zyk5280b]

Maybe check for pests? From the pictures you shared most of your colonies/frags extension seems to be off/limited. Phosphate being too low or bottoming out can also contribute to reduced extension/increased failure rate for torches.

 

[fandaga]

Maybe check for pests? From the pictures you shared most of your colonies/frags extension seems to be off/limited. Phosphate being too low or bottoming out can also contribute to reduced extension/increased failure rate for torches.

I do dip my corals in 15 mins Bayer followed by Revive and then inspect each before placing in DT. I didn’t see anything come off this piece. Overall pretty minimal pests in my tank at the moment. I found about 4 valonia the other day on filter floss that I manually removed. So far no flatworms, aiptasia, vermetid snails, etc.

Have you had chimera torches before that did well?

 

[VintageReefer]

Is this 3 torches glued / epoxied near each other ?

 

[fandaga]

Is this 3 torches glued / epoxied near each other ?

That’s what I thought at first when I saw the frag but actually looks they were all growing out from the same skeleton. The vendor told me the same thing. I’ll try to take a better picture out of the tank later.

 

[VintageReefer]

Sounds like some kind of “human influenced hybrid” which to me sound like it naturally would not be as durable as something nature created.

My first thought when I saw the healthy pic, was the right torch has swollen tips, and the middle torch is a thick tentacle type and the outside torches are thin tentacle. Not sure if the region these are from but A lot of times torches from different regions don’t like to touch.

I tried searching and didn’t see much on “chimera” torches - mostly sales postings from two vendors - including googling it. And pricing of 1000 when they came out, to as low as 250 now. Maybe they realized there are durability issues

 

[twentyleagues]

There is no possibility that is natural. Someone glued it and they may not have been compatible with each other long term. Not all torches "get along".

 

[VintageReefer]

There is no possibility that is natural. Someone glued it and they may not have been compatible with each other long term. Not all torches "get along".

Maybe they use a big big mound of epoxy shaped look like it’s a skeleton for the three torches wedged in it

 

[fandaga]

Maybe they use a big big mound of epoxy shaped look like it’s a skeleton for the three torches wedged in it

So actually there were four different torches originally but only the one torch head is left. One head was super small. This was what the vendor showed me when I questioned that they were glued and I fell for that. The price was $240, which I thought was pretty cheap for a chimera and in line if I bought these separate. But yes I agree that true chimera seem to be growing out of the same head.

 

[fandaga]

Below is a bit better close up early in the morning when lights just came on. I decided against pulling out of the tank since I do still see some flesh on the left torch head. It’s hard for me to see any glue there between the two heads.

 

[VintageReefer]

So actually there were four different torches originally but only the one torch head is left. One head was super small. This was what the vendor showed me when I questioned that they were glued and I fell for that. The price was $240, which I thought was pretty cheap for a chimera and in line if I bought these separate. But yes I agree that true chimera seem to be growing out of the same head.

So is / was this a “chimera” imposter and just multiple torches glued / attached to be a garden ?

 

[fandaga]

So is / was this a “chimera” imposter and just multiple torches glued / attached to be a garden ?

Vendor sold to me as a chimera, but yeah I’m skeptical too. Explanations of torch warfare make sense.

 

[VintageReefer]

Tbh I can’t see / tell what’s going on. But I’ll tell you there’s no way it’s natural and 4 different torches all grew from one trunk.

If they did then the only way I can imagine it was from some form of seeding / genetic altering / implanting process and that would not seem long term stable to me. I will bring in the best torch guy I know of

@MERKEY what is a chimera torch and how are they grown ? Is 240$ reasonable for one? Are they less durable than normal torch. Can you review this short thread and offer any explanation

 

[VintageReefer]

Vendor sold to me as a chimera, but yeah I’m skeptical too. Explanations of torch warfare make sense.

who was the vendor?

 

[fandaga]

Jays exotic aquatics

 

[fandaga]

I found one pic of the 4th head on the back of the Dragon Tamer. That head only had a few polpys and was super tiny. It was really odd to me that they would have bothered gluing it. Also this head lost its polyps first.

 

[VintageReefer]

I found one pic of the 4th head on the back of the Dragon Tamer. That head only had a few polpys and was super tiny. It was really odd to me that they would have bothered gluing it. Also this head lost its polyps first.

Maybe one of the torches was splitting ? Or was it a 4th torch

 

[fandaga]

It looked like a 4th torch on the back of one rather than a typical head split, but again I didnt see any glue. So I thought it was really weird at the time.

 

[VintageReefer]

It looked like a 4th torch on the back of one rather than a typical head split, but again I didnt see any glue. So I thought it was really weird at the time.

This whole thing sounds weird. A torch wouldn’t grow a baby head. It would split. How the heck did they make this? Nuke it in a microwave lol

 

[fandaga]

This whole thing sounds weird. A torch wouldn’t grow a baby head. It would split. How the heck did they make this? Nuke it in a microwave lol

Yeah, I agree pretty weird. I should have asked more questions. I actually didn’t buy originally and only came back to the vendor at the end of show. The price was reduced from $300ish. He did have some other nice pieces like a very long tentacled HG.