Torch Polyps turning white

[RaymondL]

Not sure what's happening here - all my water parameters are spot on and have not changed drastically in many months as I check weekly, lighting is as is, and recently noticed some of my Torch's extensions are losing its colors - ie. fading and turning whitish. Nothing was added new to the tank - no new new corals, etc.

I checked for pests, and there isn't anything evident. All corals doing fine in tank.

The ONLY thing of change was flow - I had to change it slightly to a higher flow - I don't think it's the cause of it. Come to think of it, maybe it has something to do with feeding? I did try some LPS foods 2 days ago, but then I don't think it would impact that much so fast.

 

[crazyfishmom]

C

Not sure what's happening here - all my water parameters are spot on and have not changed drastically in many months as I check weekly, lighting is as is, and recently noticed some of my Torch's extensions are losing its colors - ie. fading and turning whitish. Nothing was added new to the tank - no new new corals, etc.

I checked for pests, and there isn't anything evident. All corals doing fine in tank.

The ONLY thing of change was flow - I had to change it slightly to a higher flow - I don't think it's the cause of it. Come to think of it, maybe it has something to do with feeding? I did try some LPS foods 2 days ago, but then I don't think it would impact that much so fast.

Can you please post your parameters just so everyone can see?

 

[RaymondL]

C

Can you please post your parameters just so everyone can see?

dKh: 9.3
Ca: 450ppm
Mg: 1450
Nitrates: 7.0
Phosphates: 0.02
Temp: 76
Salinity: 1.0262

The coral has been in the same spot for over 1.2 years under the same light, so I do not believe moving it anywhere else is necessary, or if there's a light issue. Unless it 'thinks' it needs more light...I'm not sure. It's a mystery.....again, corals are a life of their own and sometimes it's difficult to understand what's happening as in my case.

 

[crazyfishmom]

dKh: 9.3
Ca: 450ppm
Mg: 1450
Nitrates: 7.0
Phosphates: 0.02
Temp: 76
Salinity: 1.0262

The coral has been in the same spot for over 1.2 years under the same light, so I do not believe moving it anywhere else is necessary, or if there's a light issue. Unless it 'thinks' it needs more light...I'm not sure. It's a mystery.....again, corals are a life of their own and sometimes it's difficult to understand what's happening as in my case.

Thanks for posting parameters. It’s the first thing anyone always asks to make sure that’s not a concern. Definitely looks like it isn’t. The next argument will be that phosphates are probably close to zero due to test error. Possible but not necessarily the problem. Has the Coral grown in the last year and a half? How many heads to how many heads? If it’s getting substantially bigger, I wonder if it does think it needs a bit more light or whether it needs more nutrients in the form of target feedings. Larger colonies start to do funky things when they reach critical mass.

 

[RaymondL]

Thanks for posting parameters. It’s the first thing anyone always asks to make sure that’s not a concern. Definitely looks like it isn’t. The next argument will be that phosphates are probably close to zero due to test error. Possible but not necessarily the problem. Has the Coral grown in the last year and a half? How many heads to how many heads? If it’s getting substantially bigger, I wonder if it does think it needs a bit more light or whether it needs more nutrients in the form of target feedings. Larger colonies start to do funky things when they reach critical mass.

Thank you for the additional reply. Ok, I did a recheck on the Phosphates using a Hanna checker, and it reads 0.02 as is.

The coral has been growing very slow - it started with 2 heads, and a 3rd head is emerging. I have not been feeding it until recently, so likely that's on me, but it was looking healthy - just not growing. I just don't know what to do here.......my thoughts here it's not too much light as it's been exactly the same for over a year, and so the only conclusion I have is that it needs more light for the growth, but then do corals lose their color during this process, or need additional PAR in this phase?

Of course, I'm no specialist on corals per se, but if I can determine that coral growth needs more PAR that's the only logical thing I can think of doing to save this coral.

I really hate losing any form of lifeform so this is stressful.

 

[ryanjohn1]

2nd phos is low. Toss in reef roids or something like that. May be starving them a bit

 

[crazyfishmom]

Thank you for the additional reply. Ok, I did a recheck on the Phosphates using a Hanna checker, and it reads 0.02 as is.

The coral has been growing very slow - it started with 2 heads, and a 3rd head is emerging. I have not been feeding it until recently, so likely that's on me, but it was looking healthy - just not growing. I just don't know what to do here.......my thoughts here it's not too much light as it's been exactly the same for over a year, and so the only conclusion I have is that it needs more light for the growth, but then do corals lose their color during this process, or need additional PAR in this phase?

Of course, I'm no specialist on corals per se, but if I can determine that coral growth needs more PAR that's the only logical thing I can think of doing to save this coral.

I really hate losing any form of lifeform so this is stressful.

The other thought might be depletion of some trace element. Do you dose any of those? Also, frequency of water changes might be good to add to the thread so that when others who may have seen this before come around seeing it they would also know. I know that with gonis for example, iron and manganese are important; they don’t extend as well and start to lose color when those are insufficient.

 

[RaymondL]

The other thought might be depletion of some trace element. Do you dose any of those? Also, frequency of water changes might be good to add to the thread so that when others who may have seen this before come around seeing it they would also know. I know that with gonis for example, iron and manganese are important; they don’t extend as well and start to lose color when those are insufficient.

I water change every 2 weeks, and I don't dose for Trace Elements - I should do an ICP test someone mentioned, so maybe I'll start there. Perhaps you're onto something here.....this issue is specific to the Torch I have while the rest of the LPS are doing fine.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I water change every 2 weeks, and I don't dose for Trace Elements - I should do an ICP test someone mentioned, so maybe I'll start there. Perhaps you're onto something here.....this issue is specific to the Torch I have while the rest of the LPS are doing fine.

Depending on what your water volume and Coral load is, this could be a big deal. Crossing fingers she turns around for you soon but do try an ICP. Would certainly be good to know whether anything is too low. I might also consider dosing aminos. They’re a good source of readily available food and they shouldn’t cause issues in tanks like yours that have been up for a while.

 

[RaymondL]

Depending on what your water volume and Coral load is, this could be a big deal. Crossing fingers she turns around for you soon but do try an ICP. Would certainly be good to know whether anything is too low. I might also consider dosing aminos. They’re a good source of readily available food and they shouldn’t cause issues in tanks like yours that have been up for a while.

Thanks - I'll do the water test. I was thinking of picking up a bottle of PhycoPure tm Zooxanthella

 

[Uncle99]

Do You have a pic of the torch and DT?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Thanks - I'll do the water test. I was thinking of picking up a bottle of PhycoPure tm Zooxanthella

If you try them please let us know how it goes! I’ve been curious about the product.

 

[RaymondL]

If you try them please let us know how it goes! I’ve been curious about the product.

Will do! Just got back from LFS and dosed as per instructions. One thing I noticed is that one of my Duncan Corals closed, so if anything, it's not just sea water

 

[RaymondL]

If you try them please let us know how it goes! I’ve been curious about the product.

Wanted to report back: I have been dosing with PhycoPure daily and here's what I've noticed. The torch has actually gain some color back on some of the polyps - I'm hoping my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, but some of them do appear less white. Since I'm examining the torch so closely, I just noticed that the head where I"m noticing the color fade is actually splitting into another head.

I don't know if this 'white' is actually as a result of this division and perhaps it is because nothing has changed with lighting, or water parameters. Maybe someone reading this can validate that this might be a common symptom as a result of coral growth - I hope it is, but am not sure.

I emailed Algaebarn about dosing - the bottle says use entire contents in the system, and at the same time instructions says to use 1 or 2 capfuls per 10 gallons.

Will report back again.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Wanted to report back: I have been dosing with PhycoPure daily and here's what I've noticed. The torch has actually gain some color back on some of the polyps - I'm hoping my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, but some of them do appear less white. Since I'm examining the torch so closely, I just noticed that the head where I"m noticing the color fade is actually splitting into another head.

I don't know if this 'white' is actually as a result of this division and perhaps it is because nothing has changed with lighting, or water parameters. Maybe someone reading this can validate that this might be a common symptom as a result of coral growth - I hope it is, but am not sure.

I emailed Algaebarn about dosing - the bottle says use entire contents in the system, and at the same time instructions says to use 1 or 2 capfuls per 10 gallons.

Will report back again.

Thanks for the recap… I wonder if the Coral has been using most of its energy resources toward splitting and not toward pigmentation. At any rate, I’m glad it’s still going strong.

 

[RaymondL]

Thanks for the recap… I wonder if the Coral has been using most of its energy resources toward splitting and not toward pigmentation. At any rate, I’m glad it’s still going strong.

Here's an update after daily dosing: what I did was a mix of direct dosing the torch with the product and sometimes just dumping in water and turning off the flow. It appears that the color has returned and actually the 3rd head is splitting nicely. I'm out and might consider getting another bottle. Maybe this is coincidence I don't know - whatever it is, I'm happy the Torch is looking okay again....let's hope it stays that way.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Here's an update after daily dosing: what I did was a mix of direct dosing the torch with the product and sometimes just dumping in water and turning off the flow. It appears that the color has returned and actually the 3rd head is splitting nicely. I'm out and might consider getting another bottle. Maybe this is coincidence I don't know - whatever it is, I'm happy the Torch is looking okay again....let's hope it stays that way.

Thanks for the update! I am glad that it’s back to healthy!

 

[RaymondL]

Thanks for the update! I am glad that it’s back to healthy!

Another update: definitely, the Torch has recovered and the head that was growing is branching out nicely.

Here's another detail that I left out: a hammer coral had flesh retraction and Polyps not opening and some fell off - I was also dosing this coral at the same time with the PhycoPure. I also was also dosing Amino Acids as well.

From the looks of things this hammer is recovering to my surprise! I for sure thought it was a goner as it was 1/2 bare, and now it's plumping up and polyps are growing.

I don't think this is coincidental, or perhaps if it was and if another same situation comes up, I'll purchase and dose again. Actually, I might just purchase another bottle for reassurance and dose regaradless.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Another update: definitely, the Torch has recovered and the head that was growing is branching out nicely.

Here's another detail that I left out: a hammer coral had flesh retraction and Polyps not opening and some fell off - I was also dosing this coral at the same time with the PhycoPure. I also was also dosing Amino Acids as well.

From the looks of things this hammer is recovering to my surprise! I for sure thought it was a goner as it was 1/2 bare, and now it's plumping up and polyps are growing.

I don't think this is coincidental, or perhaps if it was and if another same situation comes up, I'll purchase and dose again. Actually, I might just purchase another bottle for reassurance and dose regaradless.

Awesome to hear! I’m going to purchase some and see whether it helps one of my cynarinas.

 

[RaymondL]

Awesome to hear! I’m going to purchase some and see whether it helps one of my cynarinas.

Please let me know how it goes. I didn't dump the entire bottle in as instructed, but instead turned off all the flow, and using my feeding pipette I injected the solution directly on the corals. I turned on the pumps/wavemakers 15 minutes later. I did this daily until the bottle was empty.

Algabarn says to dump the entire bottle in one shot to ensure the product concentration remains high and viable, my thought process is that direct injection via feeding tube is more effective.