Why do my torches keep dying?

[corey904]

Everything in the tank looks happy. Even harder to keep sps have polyps extended and bright colors. All other lps including frogspawn and hammers are happy too
Suddenly my torches seem to let go of their polyps and flesh
It starts off as them looking unhappy and then a day later you can notice which ever way they are getting the most water flow the skeleton is exposed where just a few days before way flesh
After another 2 days all the flesh seems to let go and just a skeleton remains
Hammers and frogspawn have had no issue but this is my 5th torch dying in this way
Dipped in coral revive for 15 mins
If you can help with advice I’d appreciate it

 

[blaxsun]

Water parameters, lighting and flow would be the first things I’d look at. If those are all good, fish behavior would be something I’d check next. I had trouble keeping torches as my clownfish were harassing the crap out of them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Torches are challenging to begin with. Requirements are fairly simple, yet they are challenging to the most experienced reefer. For starters, If you have leather corals, this may be part of the issue. Many leather coral species produce and release toxic chemicals, called terpenes, into the water to protect themselves and to stunt the growth of other species. One of the biggest problems I have seen beginner hobbyists have is failing to account for the calcium demand for these corals. If there is insufficient calcium in your aquarium water, these corals will not be able to make their coral skeleton. You should also never lift a torch coral out of the water if you can avoid it. You could tear the polyps, and torn polyps are prone to infection followed by necrosis
Torch require typical parameters including a temperature around 78 degrees, a specific gravity of about 1.025, ph of about 8.2, and a calcium level of about 400 ppm. Like most large polyp stony corals, a torch coral benefits from moderate water flow. The polyps will remain retracted and under-inflated if the water current is too fast because the large flowing polyps are prone to rip and tear in high or ultra-high current environments.
The torch coral is a photosynthetic coral, meaning it has a relationship with symbiotic zooxanthellae (single-cell photosynthetic organisms) that live inside its tissues that converts the light energy into sugar. In exchange for a home inside the coral, the zooxanthellae split their harvest and feed the coral. Therefore, it is possible to keep the Torch coral without any feeding at all. However, all corals are animals, and animals are meant to eat.
The best placement for a torch coral is in a location that gets moderate water flow and moderate-intensity lighting. Torches are aggressive corals that protect themselves by wielding their sweeper tentacles maliciously. Sweeper tentacles are specialized tentacles that extend much larger than the typical tentacles and are equipped with stinging cells. Torches will send out these long tendrils to zap anything nearby within reach.

 

[Beau_B]

Vette, if you’re going to copy/paste, at least reference it.


Unless you are Mr. Albert B. Ulrich…

Torch coral care: best placement, feeding & light requirements

 

[DaveWrasse]

Interesting thought regarding the toxicity of leather corals. I have a neon green leather, quite large and have had similar torch death issues as the OP. I think I will remove it.

 

[Heres_doe_]

Crazy i also have a torch that recently died and i have a toadstool in the tank. My other euphyllia is good tho

 

[Pistondog]

Everything in the tank looks happy. Even harder to keep sps have polyps extended and bright colors. All other lps including frogspawn and hammers are happy too
Suddenly my torches seem to let go of their polyps and flesh
It starts off as them looking unhappy and then a day later you can notice which ever way they are getting the most water flow the skeleton is exposed where just a few days before way flesh
After another 2 days all the flesh seems to let go and just a skeleton remains
Hammers and frogspawn have had no issue but this is my 5th torch dying in this way
Dipped in coral revive for 15 mins
If you can help with advice I’d appreciate it

I have better luck with the indo torches, vs Australians

 

[corey904]

I have better luck with the indo torches, vs Australians

How do you tell the difference from indo vs Australian

 

[Pistondog]

How do you tell the difference from indo vs Australian

Usually in the coral description when you buy it.

 

[madlos123]

Sometimes they like lower flow too. It its getting blasted with flow on that area it can cause that. I did an experiment recently i placed 10 heads of torches ( one head per frag plug on the same area)(same coral grew over time) in my new tank and 3 out of 10 wasnt happy while the rest were open.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Vette, if you’re going to copy/paste, at least reference it.


Unless you are Mr. Albert B. Ulrich…

Torch coral care: best placement, feeding & light requirements

Lol.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Interesting thought regarding the toxicity of leather corals. I have a neon green leather, quite large and have had similar torch death issues as the OP. I think I will remove it.

I have a large toadstool in my biocube, which is a smaller tank and have no issues with my torch. I have a hammer and blasto in there too and it’s not bothering anyone. A skimmer will remove most of these chemicals and I run carbon just in case

 

[Forty-Two]

I’m having something similar happening to my Aus golden torch. I noticed a few days ago what looked like damage on the side where the flow is coming from.

this seemed to happen after I relocated it from the bottom of the tank where I put it to acclimate. I moved it because the colours were not coming out properly and I’ve read this is a result of low light levels - which it definitely had.

for the last few days it’s used it’s tentacles to cover up the damaged side. I’m hoping it’s going to heal but it isn’t looking so healthy these days. I guess the old adage is true - if the coral is happy - don’t move it!

 

[Forty-Two]

I’m having something similar happening to my Aus golden torch. I noticed a few days ago what looked like damage on the side where the flow is coming from.

this seemed to happen after I relocated it from the bottom of the tank where I put it to acclimate. I did so because the colours were not coming out properly and I’ve read this is a result of low light levels - which it definitely had. (I think)

for the last few days it’s used it’s tentacles to cover up the damaged side. I’m hoping it’s going to heal but it isn’t looking so healthy these days. I guess the old adage is true - if the coral is happy - don’t move ot