Moody torch

[Thub]

Hi guys, I'm new to the coral game, and gave a torch I'm absolutely in love with, but he seems extremely moody. The two pictures here were taken about an hour apart, but it could've been 5 minutes. After about a half hour, he'll be back to full size waving in the breeze. Is that a normal behavior? Or should I be worried? All the other corals are ok, and parameters look pretty good except NO3 which is a little under 12 (nyos kit)

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Hey that’s a nice piece. It is normal for them to retract and release to an extent. Mine do it 2-4 times over a 24 hour period. Mainly at night. If you see your torch doing this frequently,Or closed up for long duration during the day(when your grow lights are running), then something may be wrong. Things to look for are; potential pest and bad water parameters. (Fish nipping or bumping into it) My nitrates are around 20-30 so I think your fine there. When to worry, look for signs of receding flesh during extension. For euphyllia, one sign of good health the is when the soft skeleton plumps over the hard skeleton (mainly around the mouth) when fully extended.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Oh I forgot to mention that they also do this to help process/release waste. If it eats a lot it will poop a lot hah

 

[Nburg's Reef]

My euphyllia stay out and mostly puffy all day unless something bothers it. Do you have a fish that nips or something else near by that could bother it? Dwarf angles or algae pickers possibly? How long have you had it? Newer coral typically act finicky at first.

 

[Thub]

The fish definitely leave it alone, and so far the cleaner shrimp has only grazed it with a feeler that I've seen.
I've noticed it happens when the sun sets, The tank gets a bunch of indirect light that cuts off pretty suddenly and he'll close up for a bit. But he does it for a few minutes at random a few times a day too. He's brand new in the tank though, only a week old.
Sounds like he's probably ok and doing fine, I'm just paranoid and ignorant, so trying to learn. Thanks

 

[Flippers4pups]

Aside for the above mentioned, @NowGlazeIT do you keep peppermint shrimp in your tank?

 

[Thub]

I don't, but I did have one. He's been relocated (alongside an emerald crab) for eating coral, despite being intentionally fed. (Fiancee thought he was cool and I expected an aiptasia problem that has not developed)

 

[Flippers4pups]

I don't, but I did have one. He's been relocated (alongside an emerald crab) for eating coral, despite being intentionally fed. (Fiancee thought he was cool and I expected an aiptasia problem that has not developed)

Okay, good. They are known for attacking euphyllia.

It is a common sight at times to see them retract at times. Not frequently though, like back to back in a short time frame. If this happens, something may be up.

Have you seen it expell anything from it's mouth?

 

[Thub]

Okay, good. They are known for attacking euphyllia.

It is a common sight at times to see them retract at times. Not frequently though, like back to back in a short time frame. If this happens, something may be up.

Have you seen it expell anything from it's mouth?

That's literally the first thing the peppermint did. He didnt even get to a rock before he grabbed a handful of my little frogspawn!
He's never been closed for more than 10 minutes as well.
I haven't seen anything come out of him. I've seen brown threads from some other corals in the past, though. What does that mean?

 

[Flippers4pups]

That's literally the first thing the peppermint did. He didnt even get to a rock before he grabbed a handful of my little frogspawn!
He's never been closed for more than 10 minutes as well.
I haven't seen anything come out of him. I've seen brown threads from some other corals in the past, though. What does that mean?

One of two things, expelling waste or BJD (Brown jelly disease)

With BJD, the head will retract and stay retracted. Starts to recede over it's skeleton. It's a bacterial infection and can effect other near by LPS corals, especially euphyllia.

I would watch it for now and see what it does.

 

[Thub]

Well that's super worrisome. I had a hammer that started with that following a light change (prior to the torch in the original post's arrival). He appears to have stabilized and maybe grown back a bit though. Is BJD a guaranteed death sentence?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Well that's super worrisome. I had a hammer that started with that following a light change (prior to the torch in the original post's arrival). He appears to have stabilized and maybe grown back a bit though. Is BJD a guaranteed death sentence?

No not necessarily. It's possible for them to recover, but more often than not they don't. Dipping in Lugol's solution can help.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

Light changes can also effect them, so if you don’t notice signs of BJD and it doesn’t looked bleached, it may be acclimating to the light. The sunlight might act like a flashlight to the eyes until it gets use to it.