bsfmaximus
Active Member
What’s going on here?
Torch expelling brown stuff
- Thread starter bsfmaximus
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Crabs McJones
I'm so shi-nay
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Article Contributor
Moderator Emeritus
Hospitality Award
Reef Tank 365 Boss
Wisco Reefers
My Tank Thread
What are your parameters and what lighting are you using? It doesn't look happy.
Mg, ca, kh, phosphate, nitrates?
Crabs McJones
I'm so shi-nay
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Article Contributor
Moderator Emeritus
Hospitality Award
Reef Tank 365 Boss
Wisco Reefers
My Tank Thread
Yes, all your parameters. Salinity, ammonia, nitrite nitrate, phosphate, calcium, mag, alkalinity ect...
Lovemyreef2015
Reefing Mom!
- Joined
- May 21, 2017
- Messages
- 6,123
- Reaction score
- 30,570
It looks like it is expelling waste. Imo
Jguido1987
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2017
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 90
I wouldn't worry. I have no idea what it is or what causes it. But I have had two torches do the exact same thing. The first one would do this maybe once or twice a month. ppl told me it wasn't happy and it was dying that I should worry. That my parameters were off. Well the first one grew so much I had to switch it out. His "tenticals" would extend close to 5-6 inches. So I switched him out and my new one does the exact same thing. I honestly think it's just going to the bathroom. I do feed my torches pellets and shrimp. And use marine snow and add amino acids. It looks scary and the first time it happened i freaked out. The entire head almost shrivels up completely and out of the mouth comes a long stringy mucas brown substance. I have seen each head do this and when it's done the coral goes right back to normal. Don't stress. I'm no expert but it never seemed to become a major issue. My torch went from two heads to 5 complete heads and 2 new ones startingwhen I traded him in 6 months later.
Many of the euphyllia species I've kept have expelled waste but I fed a lot. If It was expelling zooxanthellae then I would suspect a loss in color. I agree with it expelling waste and wouldn't worry to much.
OP
OP
bsfmaximus
Active Member
Thanks all. I doubt it’s parameters, I’m pretty stable but numbers are below for reference. I moved him about a week ago but same height in the tank, same area, same flow, just further from other corals. Same lights I’ve had for years - current USA marine orbit.
Parameters:
Alk 10.5
Mg 1400
Ca 480
pH 8.05
Nitrate and phosphate 0
Salinity 1.025
Parameters:
Alk 10.5
Mg 1400
Ca 480
pH 8.05
Nitrate and phosphate 0
Salinity 1.025
OP
OP
bsfmaximus
Active Member
I wouldn't worry. I have no idea what it is or what causes it. But I have had two torches do the exact same thing. The first one would do this maybe once or twice a month. ppl told me it wasn't happy and it was dying that I should worry. That my parameters were off. Well the first one grew so much I had to switch it out. His "tenticals" would extend close to 5-6 inches. So I switched him out and my new one does the exact same thing. I honestly think it's just going to the bathroom. I do feed my torches pellets and shrimp. And use marine snow and add amino acids. It looks scary and the first time it happened i freaked out. The entire head almost shrivels up completely and out of the mouth comes a long stringy mucas brown substance. I have seen each head do this and when it's done the coral goes right back to normal. Don't stress. I'm no expert but it never seemed to become a major issue. My torch went from two heads to 5 complete heads and 2 new ones startingwhen I traded him in 6 months later.
Thanks for that! Hoping that’s the case and he fills back out quickly
Water parameters are ok. So it is settle down in its new place and it seems the brown thing is waste
hopefully it will be happy in few days 
rkpetersen
walked the sand with the crustaceans
Excellence Award
Reef Squad Emeritus
Pacific Northwest Reefers
I mean, it looks to me like it's just expelling zooxanthellae-laden feces. Many corals do this normally from time to time, with no change in appearance, especially if under bright lights with relatively high nutrients. But it can also be a sign of stress and that's when it results in bleaching and possible death of the coral. Usually other visual clues plus tank conditions or history will clue you in to which is more likely.
OP
OP
bsfmaximus
Active Member
The only thing I’ve noticed is that his tentacles have been retracted. They were at their worst that day and haven’t bounced back completely yet. Could he just hate the spot in the tank? It’s medium flow, medium light.
TheLadyCrash
Active Member
^^ This
CanadianReefer
Active Member
I'd be cautious of brown jelly disease. I had it in my tank once and it looked very similar. It spreads quickly. Research it, and if you feel it might be there, take the necessary precautions.
OP
OP
bsfmaximus
Active Member
Seems to be rebounding! Still not opening fully but definitely better than worse. Thanks!
Elegance Coral
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2014
- Messages
- 560
- Reaction score
- 670
It is discharging zooxanthellae. Corals do not have bile from a liver, or dead blood cells to turn their waste brown. If they ever discharge waste, it will be the left over remains of what they ate. If they ate pink shrimp meat, their waste will be pink.
All photosynthetic corals regulate the population of zooxanthellae inside them. Normally, these are minor adjustments that go unnoticed. Occasionally, there can be events of mass zooxanthellae expulsion. (Like pictured above) All of witch can be considered stressful. In an overly simplified view, for our purposes, and to better understand this process we can divide the causes into three categories.
1. General stress. Many factors can fall under this category. Excessive heat is probably the most common. Especially in wild corals of the south Pacific. Others could be infectious microbes like we see in the Caribbean. There is still a great deal of research needed before we understand all the causes of sudden stress related zooxanthellae expulsion.
2. Sudden PAR increase. Each zooxanthellae cell produces X amount of O2, based on the PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation/light intensity) it is exposed to. If the PAR suddenly increases, the amount of O2 produced also suddenly increases. This O2 can reach such high levels within the coral that it actually begins oxidizing the cell walls of the coral itself. In a desperate act of self defense, the coral can discharge large quantities of zooxanthellae all at once.
3. Excessive nutrients. Zooxanthellae reproduce at a rate that is directly influenced by the resources available to them. When nutrient levels (fertilizers ) are high, zooxanthellae can reproduce at a very rapid pace. This brings on the same symptoms as we see in example #2 above. While each individual zooxanthellae may not be producing any more O2, the growing colony as a whole produces much more O2.
In our systems, if a coral does this fallowing an increase in PAR, like moving from one tank to another, or upgrading lights, it's a good idea to reduce the PAR and give the coral more time to acclimate to the brighter light. If the coral is doing this on a regular basis, it's a very good indication that the nutrient levels in the system are excessive. This forces the coral to utilize energy for zooxanthellae regulation that could otherwise be used for growth, reproduction, or immunity. In such a case, it would be a good idea to step up maintenance and/or invest in more efficient filtration.
HTH
Peace
EC
All photosynthetic corals regulate the population of zooxanthellae inside them. Normally, these are minor adjustments that go unnoticed. Occasionally, there can be events of mass zooxanthellae expulsion. (Like pictured above) All of witch can be considered stressful. In an overly simplified view, for our purposes, and to better understand this process we can divide the causes into three categories.
1. General stress. Many factors can fall under this category. Excessive heat is probably the most common. Especially in wild corals of the south Pacific. Others could be infectious microbes like we see in the Caribbean. There is still a great deal of research needed before we understand all the causes of sudden stress related zooxanthellae expulsion.
2. Sudden PAR increase. Each zooxanthellae cell produces X amount of O2, based on the PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation/light intensity) it is exposed to. If the PAR suddenly increases, the amount of O2 produced also suddenly increases. This O2 can reach such high levels within the coral that it actually begins oxidizing the cell walls of the coral itself. In a desperate act of self defense, the coral can discharge large quantities of zooxanthellae all at once.
3. Excessive nutrients. Zooxanthellae reproduce at a rate that is directly influenced by the resources available to them. When nutrient levels (fertilizers ) are high, zooxanthellae can reproduce at a very rapid pace. This brings on the same symptoms as we see in example #2 above. While each individual zooxanthellae may not be producing any more O2, the growing colony as a whole produces much more O2.
In our systems, if a coral does this fallowing an increase in PAR, like moving from one tank to another, or upgrading lights, it's a good idea to reduce the PAR and give the coral more time to acclimate to the brighter light. If the coral is doing this on a regular basis, it's a very good indication that the nutrient levels in the system are excessive. This forces the coral to utilize energy for zooxanthellae regulation that could otherwise be used for growth, reproduction, or immunity. In such a case, it would be a good idea to step up maintenance and/or invest in more efficient filtration.
HTH
Peace
EC
Similar threads
