How hard are torch corals to take care of?

[sdergar]

The friend of mine that is getting out of the hobby (his brother has picked up most of the equipment, etc.) has offered me a torch coral. It currently has two branches. I have a leather and zoo frag from him as well. How hard are these to take care of? Should I pass on it for now?

My tank is 2 -1/2months old
cycled with 3 raw shrimp
ph 8.2
alk 3.2
cal 390
ammonia 0
nitrites (my test kit says 0.05 but lfs says 0)
nitrates <10

I have two small leathers, one zoo frag, and cuc in DT. The clownfish pair are in QT and about 1 week away from DT. Hmmm...will they host in a torch? Are torches easier than an anemone?

 

[cmor1701d]

As long as you keep the water parameters stable you should be fine. Just make sure to keep several inches of space around it and other corals as it will sting others with it's sweeper tentacles. It needs moderate lighting and flow.

Normal water changes should be all it needs, but you should start testing Calcium and Alkalinity to make sure those parameters are also in teh normal range.

 

[sdergar]

Thanks for the reply Cmor. Can the torch sting humans? Will latex gloves stop the sting when I'm acclimating and placing in the tank?

 

[austinsdad]

Its in the euphyllia family with the hammers and frogspawns. Like Cmor said, keep its sweeper tentacles away from others as it will attack. These corals are good water quality monitors as the polyps will not extend as weel when something ain't right with the water. It'll need better than average light (bright, indirect light as Borneman describes it) and a location where the water has decent flow. Brown jelly infection is the most common problem they can have if things aren't well. They work best placed in areas where lighting, water flow, and passing food are optimal.

You'll have fun watching those tentacles clamp down on passing food as it then disappears into the "mass of waving tentacles".

And yes, I belive torches are easier than anenome. Never know, Clowns host weird things. Mine hosted a featherduster for a while, but its favorite hangout was my frogspawn.

 

[sdergar]

Thanks Ray. I think between the both of your comments I will go and pick it up today.

Steve

 

[melosu58]

You should be good to go. If you have two heads now you`ll have many more in the years to come. Mine started out with 4 heads and then I got the dreaded brown jelly disease. It was reduced to one head as I broke the infected heads off. I now after 4 yrs have about 13 heads and going strong. Good luck on the new pick up.

 

[sdergar]

Thanks Mike. Can the tentacles sting humans? What precautions should I take for that? I'm going to do an hour long acclimation.

 

[austinsdad]

Mine never stung me, but some folks may have higher sensitivities. I do always recommend having some aquarium gloves anyway for prolonged aquarium work. I used these Aqua Gloves... Aquarium Protective Gloves

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

It's best to assume any coral will sting humans - some people are more sensitive than others. Best thing is to use latex gloves when handling any corals.

Of the corals I've had, a torch has been one of the few corals that has made small welts on my arms when I accidentally brushed against it while reaching for something else. Ricordeas are the other. Can't say it really "stung", but it definitely felt uncomfortable. I had to get rid of the torch because it was reaching out and stinging anything it could get its hands on. Just give it plenty of room and you should be OK.

 

[sdergar]

When I was doing my research on the torch some posts mentioned not to expose the tentacles to air. Obviously I don't want to get the LFS water in my tank so how do you do this after the acclimation? Does a few seconds of exposure really matter?

 

[austinsdad]

After acclimating for some time, there should not be much of a trace of LFS water left I'm thinking. Even so, you should be able to lift the coral out of the acclimation container and have it in the main in a half second. Not seconds IMO.

Just think, an hour's worth of new water dripping on top of the old, then pouring off the top (keep the coral still submerged), and adding more new water, should allow you to submerge a small bag or something into the main.

 

[sdergar]

Well, it's home and in the DT. It has 6 heads and has started to extend its tentacles already. Not all the way but it's getting there. Thanks for the help...

Steve

 

[mr_X]

i've exposed plenty of them to air. i don't think that's accurate.

 

[sdergar]

Thanks Doug. I didn't think so but with everything I like to post and get a consensus then make my decision from there.

Steve

 

[mr_X]

oh...i hear ya.
someone mentioned brown jelly disease earlier, and i just wanted to mention that no one has figured out a cause for this problem, but what i will tell you is if you see a head start to close up and then show signs of brown jelly disease( which you can imagine is a brown jelly-like substance covering the flesh) frag the head off immediately, and discard it. it spreads very quickly.

btw, that is a very nice torch. it's actually sold as an "ultra colored" torch. i hope you have good luck with it.

 

[melosu58]

A well established torch coral of mine

 

[austinsdad]

Nice Steve!

 

[sdergar]

Thanks very much. I'm very happy with it. I always pictured my marine tank having something waving in the current and I've not been able to take the smile off my face. And the colours with the moon lights on blew me away.

Thanks again to all of you. Not sure how far I would have come without all your help...this website and all the good people have truly made this foray in saltwater a lot smoother than I thought.

Very nice Mike. I like it a lot.

 

[melosu58]

I was just showing you so you could see how your`s will be once it gets going good.

 

[sdergar]

Thanks Mike. Just wondering how much flow you have going over it? I'd say mine is about a medium indirect flow over the top. Also do you feed it specifically? If so how much and what do you feed it?

Steve