What’s going on with my torch?

[AstroMelly]

Hi Everyone!

We bought this (Aussie?) torch about a month ago - within a week we noticed one of the heads was receding and this has gotten worse over the last few weeks. I’m not sure if I should try and cut this receding head off before it spreads to the remaining healthy heads. Also it looks to me like there is not a well defined separation between this receding head and the next so how would I cut that, or should I just leave it for now? If the advice is to cut off the affected receding head I will look for more info - I have a Dremel which I’ve heard references to.

Also, and my main reason for posting, I just noticed this morning that the tentacles on the head at the other end of the coral have been extended all night and have changed colour to be nearly white. If I were to hazard a guess I would describe the whole head as bleached. Is this bleaching? If so what may have caused it since I would assume most of the heads are getting similar light and the 2 central heads seem healthy. If I were to hazard a guess at the PAR the coral is getting it would probably be less than 100 and maybe more like 75 since it is at bottom of tank and we do not run the lights above about 50% - 4 x Radion XR15 gen 5.

I did some quick reading around and it seems that random or sporadic bleaching could be attributed to internal bacterial infection or possibly poor water quality. We know our tank water is considered ‘dirty’!

Our tank is quite new still (6 months). We are new to reefing - this is our first reef tank - but experienced fish keepers - 15 years with freshwater and brackish (1 green spotted puffer still going strong after 12 years). Well aware of what we were getting into but still very much on the curve.

Water params tested yesterday.

Nitrates 20ppm (exact iDip)
Nitrite/Ammonia always zero though we had a blip of nitrite about 3 weeks ago - 0.7ppm for about 1 week)
Calcium 464 ppm (exact iDip)
Mag 1365 (Salifert drip test), 1160 (exact iDip - this seems to be spurious as it usually reads at around 1300 with the iDip)
Phosphate 0.32 ppm (iDip 1 week ago)
Salinity 1.025 steady
PH 8.3
Temp 25.3-25.7 C

We have several other euphyllia which are all doing very well. More pictures are readily available on request.

 

[Arego]

It's probably a stability thing above all else with a 6mo old tank. How close and tight do you keep alk? Everything you've shown to have for parameters is fine unless they are jumping around more then they should.

 

[AstroMelly]

Alk comes in at 7.0 dKH (iDip - 18th April) which I know is low but we have really only started adding corals in the last month or 2. Started with a few softies and moved to euphyllia. What’s the best way to raise alkalinity for a new reefer? I know there are several options including dosing - I don’t think we are ready for that yet but I would like to buffer the water a bit better than currently.

Our params do not change much. Nitrate swings between 20-25. We had cyano for about 6 weeks but have been doing 20% water changes with sand cleaning/rinsing weekly and now that seems to have been beaten down. Brown diatoms are now out competing the cyano but that seems not as bad in terms of the speed it is growing. It’s a 6ft x 2 x 2 peninsula. When we first put this torch in the tank it was sitting in a rock and we moved it to the sand bed when we noticed the receding head was touching the rock. Whether this positioning caused the recession or not we do not know but we first noticed after we moved it to its current location.

 

[Duncan62]

Alk comes in at 7.0 dKH (iDip - 18th April) which I know is low but we have really only started adding corals in the last month or 2. Started with a few softies and moved to euphyllia. What’s the best way to raise alkalinity for a new reefer? I know there are several options including dosing - I don’t think we are ready for that yet but I would like to buffer the water a bit better than currently.

Our params do not change much. Nitrate swings between 20-25. We had cyano for about 6 weeks but have been doing 20% water changes with sand cleaning/rinsing weekly and now that seems to have been beaten down. Brown diatoms are now out competing the cyano but that seems not as bad in terms of the speed it is growing. It’s a 6ft x 2 x 2 peninsula. When we first put this torch in the tank it was sitting in a rock and we moved it to the sand bed when we noticed the receding head was touching the rock. Whether this positioning caused the recession or not we do not know but we first noticed after we moved it to its current location.

Less flow. Turn that head away from the flow.

 

[AstroMelly]

Done! I was wondering if perhaps that head was getting too much flow. I have moved the coral further into the tank away from the edge and also turned it slightly. What made you suggest that may I ask? Is this the kind of reaction you might see when a torch or other euphyllia has too much flow?

I’ll keep an eye over the next few days and report back!

Thanks again!

 

[Duncan62]

Done! I was wondering if perhaps that head was getting too much flow. I have moved the coral further into the tank away from the edge and also turned it slightly. What made you suggest that may I ask? Is this the kind of reaction you might see when a torch or other euphyllia has too much flow?

I’ll keep an eye over the next few days and report back!

Thanks again!

Good luck. I've had torches act weird for a while after a stressful event. Don't panic about bjd if tou see a coral poop or expelled algae. Good luck.

 

[AstroMelly]

Good luck. I've had torches act weird for a while after a stressful event. Don't panic about bjd if tou see a coral poop or expelled algae. Good luck.

Seems that’s exactly what I saw last night. Some black goop around the centre of the bleached head. I’ll keep an eye on it and report back.