Tiger Torch Colonies!?

[BriansBrain]

Are there reefers out there with a tiger torch variant that has a colony with 10+ polyps out there? Generally curious what they look like in colony form.

I feel like I’ve only ever seen freshly imported frags. Are they not a very successfully kept variant like the old elusive Aussie golds? I’ve never tried a tiger for that reason.

 

[i cant think]

Are there reefers out there with a tiger torch variant that has a colony with 10+ polyps out there? Generally curious what they look like in colony form.

I feel like I’ve only ever seen freshly imported frags. Are they not a very successfully kept variant like the old elusive Aussie golds? I’ve never tried a tiger for that reason.

I’ll be intrigued on this as well, I’ve seen some nice tigers appear but never seen colonies (even in suppliers I’ve only ever seen single heads). Now this could be due to Tigers often being a Cristata torch which on the whole, they aren’t kept too easily and can take years before they split even just once.

 

[BriansBrain]

I’ll be intrigued on this as well, I’ve seen some nice tigers appear but never seen colonies (even in suppliers I’ve only ever seen single heads). Now this could be due to Tigers often being a Cristata torch which on the whole, they aren’t kept too easily and can take years before they split even just once.

That would make sense. I didn’t know cristatas grew at such a slow rate.

 

[i cant think]

That would make sense. I didn’t know cristatas grew at such a slow rate.

Ive had one in my own tank for about a year now and it remains to be one head, maybe splitting into two.

 

[BriansBrain]

Ive had one in my own tank for about a year now and it remains to be one head, maybe splitting into two.

So I guess me asking for someone with 10+ polyps is asking a little to much haha! Just never seen a tiger torch long term or even a small few head colony. Was just one of my Sunday afternoon random thoughts

 

[JohnNYC8]

Good question, Reef Builders has the only colony shot I could find. They appear to be slow growers that stay compact. https://reefbuilders.com/2019/02/13/euphyllia-cristata-the-forgotten-coral/

 

[i cant think]

Good question, Reef Builders has the only colony shot I could find. They appear to be slow growers that stay compact. https://reefbuilders.com/2019/02/13/euphyllia-cristata-the-forgotten-coral/

Okay, that’s stunning (looks quite saturated) but gorgeous nonetheless.

I’ve also seen an imported colony of Black Tiger Torch, but it was one that got cut and unfortunately only one head out of the 10-15 remained after the cut.

 

[VintageReefer]

Tiger torch only returned to the market a few months ago. Prior to that you’d only see them if a hobbiest had one they fragged. The current tigers popped up on many many vendors websites all within a few weeks of each other. They are all the same. Two variants, a gold/purple and a green/yellow.

I believe a popular wholesaler has been working on mariculturing them and released a large batch at once and the vendors all bought a few

Nobody knows what they look like long term because nobody saw the parent colony. I was told by a vendor there was many many to choose from and they were all the same and small heads.

Are they small head or just young? Who knows. The tigers on the market as of a few months ago are not the same tigers as I’ve seen in the past many years ago. I was told these are cristata, I owned 4 tigers bought this year. 2 died. 2 lived and I still have them. I don’t believe it’s cristata

The two I still have are doing well

These are the two I lost
The purple one was two head, they were both small heads but not abnormally small.

 

[VintageReefer]

Ive had one in my own tank for about a year now and it remains to be one head, maybe splitting into two.

Agree. I was lucky to come across a natural graft two head cristata in July 2024. It is now August 2025.

One head is midway through a split. The other head is about 80%. This has been going on for about 4months.

The cristata is completely grumpy during this process and some days opens fully and other days looks stressed.

So just over a year of ownership and I don’t have a full split on either head

 

[i cant think]

Agree. I was lucky to come across a natural graft two head cristata in July 2024. It is now August 2025.

One head is midway through a split. The other head is about 80%. This has been going on for about 4months.

The cristata is completely grumpy during this process and some days opens fully and other days looks stressed.

So just over a year of ownership and I don’t have a full split on either head

I’ve got a split going the same way, it’s been going that way probably since October - I lost count of how long it has been splitting for. It’s nothing fancy, just a gold 24K with a bright green mouth. I like it enough to not complain about it - it’s behind my Holy Grail.

P.s. Torch of the Gods is in recovery just not back in this system yet.

 

[JohnNYC8]

Tiger torch only returned to the market a few months ago. Prior to that you’d only see them if a hobbiest had one they fragged. The current tigers popped up on many many vendors websites all within a few weeks of each other. They are all the same. Two variants, a gold/purple and a green/yellow.

I believe a popular wholesaler has been working on mariculturing them and released a large batch at once and the vendors all bought a few

Nobody knows what they look like long term because nobody saw the parent colony. I was told by a vendor there was many many to choose from and they were all the same and small heads.

Are they small head or just young? Who knows. The tigers on the market as of a few months ago are not the same tigers as I’ve seen in the past many years ago. I was told these are cristata, I owned 4 tigers bought this year. 2 died. 2 lived and I still have them. I don’t believe it’s cristata

The two I still have are doing well

These are the two I lost
The purple one was two head, they were both small heads but not abnormally small.

This is a good point. I have one of the new ones that just came out and the tentacles are starting to stretch out. I don't think it's going to stay as compact as I once thought. We'll see--it'll look cool either way.

 

[VintageReefer]

This is a good point. I have one of the new ones that just came out and the tentacles are starting to stretch out. I don't think it's going to stay as compact as I once thought. We'll see--it'll look cool either way.

Did you get the purple or green version? They are both nice

 

[JohnNYC8]

Did you get the purple or green version? They are both nice

I got this one.

Over the past few days it has been stretching out and the tentacles are looking more like my HG. And don’t worry, those zoanthids are safe, the perspective is weird but there’s a lot of room between the two.

 

[JohnNYC8]

Did you get the purple or green version? They are both nice

My purple and green one is definitely stretching out and not staying compact. I don’t think it’s a cristata. How does yours look?

 

[VintageReefer]

The tentacles will stretch out but I don’t think the heads get large

My purple/gold started to get larger and then began splitting

My green yellow is doing well but no split yet, it is showing 3 colors now

I have 2 large tigers coming in, a new type that hopefully will be on market soon. These are full size tiger torches, the mounting plate for reference is 3” across

My importer says one head of this is equal to 4 heads of the current tigers on market