Solomon Islands Wild Torch

[Ballyhoo]

so lm being in San Diego, AQUA SD is a local coral shop for me. They have these Solomon island torch. And I spend a lot of time in their back going through each one individually and very few of them have any white meaty bands compared to what we look for with other torch where we look for a nice thick band. I was told wild sol end that they do not always have white meaty bands around their polyp heads. I find it quite odd, though that the Solomon Island torch can retract to the point of where you think they're dead. At night time the polyps are retracted to where the coral surface is hard and to me that means the torch is dead. This happened with one of the Solomon island torch on the bottom of my tank , it completely became a hard coral and I went to return it and they gave me store credit, but I accidentally brought it home again and put it back in the tank and the polyps came out again. Very odd. I'm just wondering if this is unique to the Solomon Island wild torch. Where they can retract the polyps and become hard coral which would in most cases be the equivalent of death in most torch varieties. if you look at the first image on the left, it looks like a dead torch but a few hours later there it is all puffy. The one in the bottom is a different one. Also that's the one I returned because I thought it was dead, but it's very much alive. but maybe I'm wrong, I think most people would look at the torch on the top picture center and think that is a dead torch. If my $600 holy Grail torch felt hard like that I would have a conniption.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I don’t know the answer myself, but if I have doubts, I usually pass on getting a coral.

 

[i cant think]

so lm being in San Diego, AQUA SD is a local coral shop for me. They have these Solomon island torch. And I spend a lot of time in their back going through each one individually and very few of them have any white meaty bands compared to what we look for with other torch where we look for a nice thick band. I was told wild sol end that they do not always have white meaty bands around their polyp heads. I find it quite odd, though that the Solomon Island torch can retract to the point of where you think they're dead. At night time the polyps are retracted to where the coral surface is hard and to me that means the torch is dead. This happened with one of the Solomon island torch on the bottom of my tank , it completely became a hard coral and I went to return it and they gave me store credit, but I accidentally brought it home again and put it back in the tank and the polyps came out again. Very odd. I'm just wondering if this is unique to the Solomon Island wild torch. Where they can retract the polyps and become hard coral which would in most cases be the equivalent of death in most torch varieties. if you look at the first image on the left, it looks like a dead torch but a few hours later there it is all puffy. The one in the bottom is a different one. Also that's the one I returned because I thought it was dead, but it's very much alive. but maybe I'm wrong, I think most people would look at the torch on the top picture center and think that is a dead torch. If my $600 holy Grail torch felt hard like that I would have a conniption.

I have a torch which behaves very similarly
to this, I moved it down the tank yesterday as it began to almost fully retract during the day (it still had some polyp extension but minimal compared to what it previously had).
But, I know mine is a Malaysian Torch (and I’ve seen other Malaysian Torches retract quite a lot at night like mine does but then extend fully in the day).
The torch is the one in the back here, and in the night it is almost like your top photo.

 

[VintageReefer]

I wouldn’t recommend to buy a torch if the band wasn’t 1/2” or greater

 

[Kasrift]

so lm being in San Diego, AQUA SD is a local coral shop for me. They have these Solomon island torch. And I spend a lot of time in their back going through each one individually and very few of them have any white meaty bands compared to what we look for with other torch where we look for a nice thick band. I was told wild sol end that they do not always have white meaty bands around their polyp heads. I find it quite odd, though that the Solomon Island torch can retract to the point of where you think they're dead. At night time the polyps are retracted to where the coral surface is hard and to me that means the torch is dead. This happened with one of the Solomon island torch on the bottom of my tank , it completely became a hard coral and I went to return it and they gave me store credit, but I accidentally brought it home again and put it back in the tank and the polyps came out again. Very odd. I'm just wondering if this is unique to the Solomon Island wild torch. Where they can retract the polyps and become hard coral which would in most cases be the equivalent of death in most torch varieties. if you look at the first image on the left, it looks like a dead torch but a few hours later there it is all puffy. The one in the bottom is a different one. Also that's the one I returned because I thought it was dead, but it's very much alive. but maybe I'm wrong, I think most people would look at the torch on the top picture center and think that is a dead torch. If my $600 holy Grail torch felt hard like that I would have a conniption.

Hey local San Diego friend. I bought the same one out of curiosity, it is bizarre and then some. I haven't figured out what's going on with it, but it does extend to be fluffy again.

For what it's worth, I killed one already. I thought the same thing as you, it was dead/stressed, so I dipped it and stressed it more. I did a modified Kung Fu Dip and it just died. I got a second and I am just letting it do its thing.

 

[VintageReefer]

Torch Coral is classified as a Large Polyp Stony (LPS) Coral. Its natural habitat originates from the Indo-Pacific region including Figi, Tonga, Solomon Islands and the Great Barrier Reef.

So it sounds like it’s what we broadly call an Indo torch, they are just able to identify the specific part of Indo pacific region it comes from

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Torch Coral is classified as a Large Polyp Stony (LPS) Coral. Its natural habitat originates from the Indo-Pacific region including Figi, Tonga, Solomon Islands and the Great Barrier Reef.

So it sounds like it’s what we broadly call an Indo torch, they are just able to identify the specific part of Indo pacific region it comes from

That sounds plausible, given that it's origins should be fairly easy to trace until purchased. Who knows how many corals are named after a specific region or country simply as a trade name though...I guess it really depends on the route it went through in the supply chain.

 

[Ballyhoo]

well, it kind of makes sense that we would find coral from the Solomon Islands as it's a large chain island of coral. But also it's not a popular tourist place today as it's kind of off the beaten path. Great history with World War II, Iron bottom sound, etc.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

well, it kind of makes sense that we would find coral from the Solomon Islands as it's a large chain island of coral. But also it's not a popular tourist place today as it's kind of off the beaten path. Great history with World War II, Iron bottom sound, etc.

Not doubting they have plenty of corals or that they export them, it's very plausible your coral is from the Solomon Islands. My point was just that marketing drives this hobby more than many others and if labeling a coral as "from Australia" or "from Palau" drives up the price, it would absolutely be done.

 

[Kasrift]

Not doubting they have plenty of corals or that they export them, it's very plausible your coral is from the Solomon Islands. My point was just that marketing drives this hobby more than many others and if labeling a coral as "from Australia" or "from Palau" drives up the price, it would absolutely be done.

Well for reference, there are a few places getting shipments from the Solomon Islands lately, not just coral. Several fish vendors are listing things as Solomon Islands too.

Also, ASD had fuzzy lobos which I think are specific to that region.