Torch reaching for light??

[goisles1]

Hi guys.. been a while since I've posted.. I guess that's a good thing as my tank is just freaking awesome.. LOL

Minor Question about my $10 Torch frag. Lately I've notcied that 1 or 2 of the tentacles are like super extending. They are like 2or3 times longer then all the others. I'm wondering if this is a normal behavior, a good sign of health, or perhaps a sign that the coral needs more light?

It's about mid height in a 45Gal tank which is 2ft high. So, approx 1 foot from the light source which is a T5 (6x39w) fixture.

Here's a pic I just snapped with my phone. It kind of shows what I mean though they extend much further then the pic shows.

[melosu58]

Mine reach for the sky everyday. Looks normal to me.

[Kurt_Nelson]

The longer tentacles are normal, kinda. It's normal for them to do that when they're trying to protect themselves. I'm thinking there is another coral just off to the right of where the picture ends? My guess is that it's trying to reach it to kill it off.

My torch did that with a not-so-nearby stylophora. It eventually reached it. I don't have the torch anymore... it found a new home through my LFS!

[goisles1]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

The longer tentacles are normal, kinda. It's normal for them to do that when they're trying to protect themselves. I'm thinking there is another coral just off to the right of where the picture ends? My guess is that it's trying to reach it to kill it off.

My torch did that with a not-so-nearby stylophora. It eventually reached it. I don't have the torch anymore... it found a new home through my LFS!

Wow Kurt....You are correct..... Pretty impressive.. There is a Hammer Coral about 6-8 inches to the right of the torch. I guess ONE of them will be moved. Might be hard to find a spot where it wont be threatened though as it's such a small tank with alot of coral.

Will the Hammer behave the same? I ask because neither of them are glued down so either one could be moved. I do know that both will sting nearby corals if they touch them.

[AMDPhenomX4]

It wont hurt the hammer. Just leave them be.

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm not so sure it won't hurt the hammer, but I don't have first-hand knowledge with the combo of the two. They're from the same family, so you might be OK. Not sure...

I made the mistake of putting my rather large colony of branching torch in the middle of my tank as a "centerpiece". Wrong move. It grew very nicely and behaved very well. Then it started sending out those long sweepers toward my stylophora. I actually watched it reach out, latch on, and sting the stylo one time. You could see the immediate tissue damage on the stylo. As a last resort, I actually "snipped" several tentacles of the torch. Others took over the job within a day. Really amazing to watch nature in action. Problem was, I couldn't move the torch anywhere else in the tank where it had more room. I sold it to the LFS.

My "lessons learned" from that was to only locate torch corals (or most of the Euphyllia family) in the corner of a tank where you only have to worry about it "reaching out" in one direction. Even if it won't hurt the hammer, I'd still move it into a corner so you don't have as big of a "no-go" zone around it in the future. If it likes your tank, it will grow fast.

[melosu58]

I do agree with Kurt but it`s not only limited to the torch. Frogspawn, Hammer, torch and bubble corals to name a few have sweepers and can sting other corals but 6 to 7 inches between should be OK. Here is mine reaching to the sky.

[dannyb]

wow nice torch. I got a torch today. Ill post some pics up when his use to my tank.