What’s going on with this torch?

[Brah02]

The polyps are retracted, there is a little bit of white slime (white, not brown at all) and on one of the 4 heads some skeleton is visible. I’ve had this torch for 6 months and it started with two heads. It’s been huge and happy. Just tested, water is no different than it’s been except magnesium was 1260 I usually keep it above 1300 so I added some a bit ago. Can a small dip in mag cause this?

 

[Brah02]

Not sure if these posted. App is weird.

 

[BryanM]

Small dip in mag wouldn't do "this".

I put this in quotes because I doubt anything is wrong, the expel waste, and something might have bothered it... I wouldn't worry about this look unless it stays this way for a while. All of my torches look like this 1-2x a day for a small amount of time, and usually look just fine an hour later, two tops.

 

[Brah02]

Small dip in mag wouldn't do "this".

I put this in quotes because I doubt anything is wrong, the expel waste, and something might have bothered it... I wouldn't worry about this look unless it stays this way for a while. All of my torches look like this 1-2x a day for a small amount of time, and usually look just fine an hour later, two tops.

Yeah, a couple others were doing this yesterday the normal poop type close up where you can see them expel waste. The reason I am worried on this one is I can see the skeleton and the white mucus. Hopefully thats all it is.

 

[Brah02]

Small dip in mag wouldn't do "this".

I put this in quotes because I doubt anything is wrong, the expel waste, and something might have bothered it... I wouldn't worry about this look unless it stays this way for a while. All of my torches look like this 1-2x a day for a small amount of time, and usually look just fine an hour later, two tops.

This is it today. Is this concerning?

 

[twentyleagues]

This is it today. Is this concerning?

I would say yes that is cause for concern. Take it out and smell it. Does it smell like death or like a coral? BJD is not always "brown". It is in very bad shape though.

 

[Brah02]

I would say yes that is cause for concern. Take it out and smell it. Does it smell like death or like a coral? BJD is not always "brown". It is in very bad shape though.

I would say it just smells like a coral... I put it in an iodine dip. That and a couple others that were near it, there are about 8 torches there in a "garden" a couple others were closed up, and then some frog/hammer/octo to the right of it which all look fine. I put it in its own dip though.

 

[BryanM]

I would say it just smells like a coral... I put it in an iodine dip. That and a couple others that were near it, there are about 8 torches there in a "garden" a couple others were closed up, and then some frog/hammer/octo to the right of it which all look fine. I put it in its own dip though.

Yeah, I would not be happy with that lasting a day+

Hopefully the dip will help it, glad it didn't smell like death, that's definitely a plus.

 

[Brah02]

Yeah, I would not be happy with that lasting a day+

Hopefully the dip will help it, glad it didn't smell like death, that's definitely a plus.

I smelled one of the others I dipped, this one definitely smells more oceany, but I wouldnt say death lol Just put them back in after the dip, hopefully they all perk up.

 

[twentyleagues]

I would say it just smells like a coral... I put it in an iodine dip. That and a couple others that were near it, there are about 8 torches there in a "garden" a couple others were closed up, and then some frog/hammer/octo to the right of it which all look fine. I put it in its own dip though.

I am not saying this lightly or saying it will help 100% of the time all the time. I would invest in some Cipro. It seems to help a lot of euphyllia issues other than starvation .

 

[Brah02]

I am not saying this lightly or saying it will help 100% of the time all the time. I would invest in some Cipro. It seems to help a lot of euphyllia issues other than starvation .

I just bought some from a website, hopefully its the real stuff! It won't be here until next week though. I don't know any reefers locally either to borrow any

 

[kevgib67]

I just bought some from a website, hopefully its the real stuff! It won't be here until next week though. I don't know any reefers locally either to borrow any

Unfortunately, if it’s bjd, it’s a time thing. Bjd kills the coral extremely fast. I’m afraid that you won’t have a coral to treat next week. If you have a good relationship with a veterinarian, explain the situation and you could get some today. If not reach out to your family and friends and see if anyone has some in their medicine cabinet.

 

[twentyleagues]

I just bought some from a website, hopefully its the real stuff! It won't be here until next week though. I don't know any reefers locally either to borrow any

Euphyllia have become so touchy. I had a 120g full in the early 2000s and had many mishaps and I may have lost a head here or there but not like since I have been back. You even look at some of them funny now and they are popping heads off or going all slimy.

 

[Lavey29]

If you do have BJD it is typically triggered by something being very off in the tank environment. Can you post complete parameters and par please.

 

[Uncle99]

Every now and then one of my fish bumps a torch head when feeding.

Very common.

Sometimes they recover, sometimes not.

 

[Brah02]

If you do have BJD it is typically triggered by something being very off in the tank environment. Can you post complete parameters and par please.

Salinity 1.025 ALK 8.1, Cal 435, Mag 1410, my phosphates and nitrates have always been low, Phos .02, Nitrates 5.

I did have a dip in Mag, went down to 1260, and I had to dose cal yesterday to get back up as well, it was down to 385 so those two could have been a factor. In the last week i've put a couple orders of frags both SPS and LPS so the Cal/Mag was being used more than normal i'm assuming because they've never dipped that much.

 

[skey44]

If you do have BJD it is typically triggered by something being very off in the tank environment. Can you post complete parameters and par please.

I don’t agree with this. I had a presumed brown Jelly issue in one of my Maricultured torches (smelled awful each time I dipped it). It died and the rest of the tank is thriving definitely nothing “very off”. Maybe true in some cases but in my case it just slowly happened and despite amputations and dips the coral slowly succumbed polyp by polyp. It died from the inside out.

I do agree it could be triggered by a stressor but the disease had to come from somewhere. BJD does not seem to spread by opportunism alone. Are we just assuming brown jelly is always present but just waiting on its next victim? Luckily my aquacultured torches all seem fine for now.

 

[Brah02]

I don’t agree with this. I had a presumed brown Jelly issue in one of my Maricultured torches (smelled awful each time I dipped it). It died and the rest of the tank is thriving definitely nothing “very off”. Maybe true in some cases but in my case it just slowly happened and despite amputations and dips the coral slowly succumbed polyp by polyp. It died from the inside out.

Yeah, I have about 30 SPS frags in my tank as well, if something major was off, I would think those would show the first sign as they're so sensitive but I am by no means an expert hence this post lol

 

[skey44]

Yeah, I have about 30 SPS frags in my tank as well, if something major was off, I would think those would show the first sign as they're so sensitive but I am by no means an expert hence this post lol

I do think torches are more sensitive than Acropora in some senses. I have a lot more issues with my torches than my Acropora FWIW. My LFS says the same.

 

[kevgib67]

Salinity 1.025 ALK 8.1, Cal 435, Mag 1410, my phosphates and nitrates have always been low, Phos .02, Nitrates 5.

I did have a dip in Mag, went down to 1260, and I had to dose cal yesterday to get back up as well, it was down to 385 so those two could have been a factor. In the last week i've put a couple orders of frags both SPS and LPS so the Cal/Mag was being used more than normal i'm assuming because they've never dipped that much.

Low calcium and magnesium could have definitely been a contributing factor but your nitrates and phosphates are a much greater factor. You’re starving your corals. Add all four factors and you have put major stress on your coral. I like where your calcium and magnesium are now but you need to get your phosphate to .05-.1 and nitrate to 10-15. I hope you can get those corrected and you can get your hands on cipro asap.