Golden (orange) Torch Coral..pics

[mcfa2403]

My gold torch is my favorite piece, its so hard to capture how amazing these look

still trying to figure out dslr especially with leds

[Taipan]

Here are my contributions.....



If you look closely at the following pics; you can see it's spawning. I was fortunate to come home one day and had a camera available and close by to capture it.

[toky916]

Here is my Aussie gold

1 1/2 heads

[mcfa2403]

Very nice Taipan, it must be very happy to spawn! I'm glad to see that I am not the only one that love these corals

[toky916]

There by far my most favorite coral. What do you guys feed yours ?

[nystang]

I feed them with mysis shrimps. They always seam to be very hungry.

[maroonman]

Came home to A Spawning Gold Torch .

[CqSmrtazz]

Hello to all, beautiful pics. My wife has soon to not have a gold torch. It looked fine this morning and when she came home this afternoon, the flesh from 3 heads all but gone. it's like it just melted away or fell off. What would cause this?

220gal MIXED REEF
50gal water change monthly.
Monthly test ran:
Cal. 500-600+ppm (tried everything, cant get it down. LFS has same test results)
Alk. 13-15dKH
SG. 1.023+/-.001
Temp. 75.5
pH 7.96-8.23
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10.0-60.0
Ammonia 0.0
Phosphate usually at 0.25
I run high capacity GFO when PO4 starts rising.

Cal reactor/co2 been off all year, no dosing of any kind. I always use Reef crystals but been doing 10 gal per day water changes with Instant Ocean for a total of 150 gal.

[gatsby174]

Originally Posted by CqSmrtazz

Hello to all, beautiful pics. My wife has soon to not have a gold torch. It looked fine this morning and when she came home this afternoon, the flesh from 3 heads all but gone. it's like it just melted away or fell off. What would cause this?

220gal MIXED REEF
50gal water change monthly.
Monthly test ran:
Cal. 500-600+ppm (tried everything, cant get it down. LFS has same test results)
Alk. 13-15dKH
SG. 1.023+/-.001
Temp. 75.5
pH 7.96-8.23
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10.0-60.0
Ammonia 0.0
Phosphate usually at 0.25
I run high capacity GFO when PO4 starts rising.

Cal reactor/co2 been off all year, no dosing of any kind. I always use Reef crystals but been doing 10 gal per day water changes with Instant Ocean for a total of 150 gal.

I would guess that your sky high alk is what did it in. You need to find a way to let the Alk go down. Good luck!

[Reef Frog]

Originally Posted by gatsby174

I would guess that your sky high alk is what did it in. You need to find a way to let the Alk go down. Good luck!

Agree. Nutrients are high, salinity is on the low end for LPS, pH is wandering a bit, and Ca is indeed high. Do you trust your tests? Are you jsing good quality tests or entry level kits? And turning a GFO reactor on & off willy nilley could also prove problematic. If PO4 is really .25ppm you need to run GFO 24/7. Are you dosing? GL.

[CqSmrtazz]

Thanks for the replies. I always kept my salinity on the lower end, no particular reason. I figured as long as it was within range, I was ok. Didn't know it made a difference on corals.
I use Salifert kits and double check "OFF" readings with API tests and if not satisfied, I take a sample to the LFS that also uses Salifert kits. I replace all kits yearly regardless of the expiration date.
As for my GFO reactor, I do run it 24/7 until I get a 0 test result, then run it an extra week. Media is changed weekly when in use.
PH always drops at night when lights go out.
Stopped dosing 2 part when I got a calc reactor. Turned that off around Feb 2013 when my calc and alk went off the chart.
I can raise the Salinity with a strong salt slurry, but what can I do to lower the ALK and CAL?

[mcfa2403]

Looking at your ph range it looks like you are chasing your ph, if so that could be the cause of the sky high alk (buffers raise alk). I would say 20-30 percent water change once a week and let it come down naturally.

[mcfa2403]

Also reef crystals has a higher calcium content than the instant ocean salt. How many fish and what are you feeding? The nitrates and phosphates seem pretty high for that size tank and level of equipment/testing and dramatic ph shifts at night I would think indicate some sort of algae/bacteria respiration (maybe I'm just making that up). Also those dramatic shifts can be stressful for your coral. I would say your best bet is to normalize your parameters naturally: avoid overfeeding/overcrowding, don't stress over calc instead normalize alk 7-9 range, if you run reactors do it on a consistent schedule, and do routine water changes preferably the same day once a week. Also make sure that lighting and flow in that area of the tank have not changed. In my experience coral can adapt to many environments as long as it is a consistent one

[trinidiver]

Originally Posted by CqSmrtazz

Hello to all, beautiful pics. My wife has soon to not have a gold torch. It looked fine this morning and when she came home this afternoon, the flesh from 3 heads all but gone. it's like it just melted away or fell off. What would cause this?

220gal MIXED REEF
50gal water change monthly.
Monthly test ran:
Cal. 500-600+ppm (tried everything, cant get it down. LFS has same test results)
Alk. 13-15dKH
SG. 1.023+/-.001
Temp. 75.5
pH 7.96-8.23
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10.0-60.0
Ammonia 0.0
Phosphate usually at 0.25
I run high capacity GFO when PO4 starts rising.

Cal reactor/co2 been off all year, no dosing of any kind. I always use Reef crystals but been doing 10 gal per day water changes with Instant Ocean for a total of 150 gal.

Your Alk is really to high, but how come the huge fluctuation on the Nitrates.

[CqSmrtazz]

I stopped using reef crystals and switch to instant ocean in hopes of getting the calc levels down. 1st water change was 50 gallons once a month for 2 months, then 10 gallons weekly for 2 months and then 10 gallon a day for a week. still cant get calc and alk back on the chart.
15 fish, the biggest being a fox face. I feed once in the morn and once in the evening. Frozen brine, Mysis and emerald entrée. 1 cube of each for both feedings. The wife feeds the corals a mixture of several different things, 3 times a week.
About 2 1/2 to 3 months ago I replaced metal halides with 3 Radions, (did the preprogramed acclimation) other than color, seen no other changes in coral.
Nothing else has changed.
On a side note, I recently had an adjacent room completely gutted (lath and plaster) I did notice some plaster dust on the water surface. Could that have had any type of effect?

not sure on the nitrates, maybe over feeding? although I didn't know that I was supposed to pull caulerpa out on a regular basis.

[Reef Frog]

Ok now in focus. With NO DOSING whatsoever, with that ALK & Ca level, your salt must be to blame. Or whatever else you have in your tank has not utilized much in the last 10-11 months after your levels reached the levels they are today. What else is in the tank coral or clam wise?

Maybe a bad batch? if it absolutely won't go down maybe a switch to a less concentrated brand is the best long term answer. But a salt change is a big decision and should be done slowly, as it can stress sensitive corals. 1.023 salinity isn't bad, your Ca level isn't lethal per se, but I would address the ALK & Ca along with the nutrients and try a torch again.

[CqSmrtazz]

Just to be clear, I am not dosing ANYTHING. I stopped using 2 part over 2 years ago when I got the calc reactor.
I mix 50 gallons of salt at a time in a 55 gallon plastic drum for 2 straight days and also aerate it at the same time.
Never thought of testing the newly mixed water before a water change, I only checked the salinity and temp. I buy the salt by the box (4 bags, each makes 50 gallons) One thing I have recently noticed is 1 bag is not making 50 gallons. it takes an additional 1/3+/- of a bag to get a salinity of 1.024.
My drum is translucent enough to see the level of the water at the 50 gallon mark that's molded in the drum itself and the float turns off the RO/DI at that level, so I know its not the amount of water per mix. I have some mix left over for a water change from 2 days ago, I'll test it and see. In the mean time, any suggestions on another brand of salt if needed?

[CqSmrtazz]

Originally Posted by Reef Frog

Ok now in focus. With NO DOSING whatsoever, with that ALK & Ca level, your salt must be to blame. Or whatever else you have in your tank has not utilized much in the last 10-11 months after your levels reached the levels they are today. What else is in the tank coral or clam wise?

Maybe a bad batch? if it absolutely won't go down maybe a switch to a less concentrated brand is the best long term answer. But a salt change is a big decision and should be done slowly, as it can stress sensitive corals. 1.023 salinity isn't bad, your Ca level isn't lethal per se, but I would address the ALK & Ca along with the nutrients and try a torch again.

I have 5 out of 8 hard corals left. the biggest being about the size of a baseball, was doing really well, now not so good. the others are frags that are barely hanging on. For some reason, I never could keep hard corals.
3 different leathers, some blastos, 4 different frogspawns, 1 hammer, 3 different types of zoa polyps, 2 cynarina brains, 1 plate, all I can think of off hand.
I always used reef crystals. The instant ocean had about the lowest amount of calc that I could find, plus it was made by the same company. By the way, about 600 lbs of live rock, about half coverage with coralline algae, hardly any on back glass. Seams to me the calc level is high because its not being used.

[mcfa2403]

Q: After dissolving Instant Ocean® in purified water, my calcium and/or magnesium concentration seems lower than expected. Why?
A: Instant Ocean® is formulated to provide a solution with levels of calcium and magnesium found in natural seawater (NSW), assuming you use purified water to dissolve the sea salt. Tap water most often contains dissolved calcium, magnesium and other minerals that will add to the levels provided by Instant Ocean®. The specific gravity of NSW is typically 1.026 (35 parts per thousand, or ppt, salinity). When dissolved in pure water to a specific gravity of 1.026, Instant Ocean® should provide a solution that has 400 mg/L calcium ion and 1320 mg/L magnesium ion. If Instant Ocean® is dissolved to a lower specific gravity, then these concentrations (and, in fact, the concentration of every other ion) will be proportionately lower


this is from the instant ocean faq page.


with the few number of corals you have it will be hard to bring down calcium and alkalinity levels without water changes. I would definitely check your mixed water before adding it to the tank, also do not bother with buffering it.

Keep in mind that if the water your adding is at the correct alk of 8 and your current water is at 15 doing a 10 gallon change (4.5 percent) will only bring your alk down to 14.685 and that each subsequent change will have a less dramatic effect as the current water gets closer to the alk of the water you are adding.

Also check you might check your magnesium to see if your chemistry is just off balanced (if all else fails)

[CqSmrtazz]

Hear are the test results of my premix:

SALIFERT API
KH- 13.4dKH 14dKH
Ca- 660ppm 600ppm
Mg- 1740ppm N/A
Salinity- 32 SG 1.024

This is a new box of Reef crystals, first of 4 bags.

I might hand mix a small batch of the Instant Ocean and test that just to see.

[Reef Frog]

Wow that water is rich. Can't say for sure it did in your coral though. But you will never go wrong keeping normal, standard reef parameters.

[nonstopfishies]

Originally Posted by CqSmrtazz

Hear are the test results of my premix:

SALIFERT API
KH- 13.4dKH 14dKH
Ca- 660ppm 600ppm
Mg- 1740ppm N/A
Salinity- 32 SG 1.024

This is a new box of Reef crystals, first of 4 bags.

I might hand mix a small batch of the Instant Ocean and test that just to see.

How much of a 2nd bag of salt did you add to get to 1.024?

[P3t3r]

Nnnnniiiccceeeee very nice. I've been having trouble with my latest hammer/torch additions. It seems they are fine for a few days and then they close, not completely but mostly. Is this due to too much flow (mainly)?

[CqSmrtazz]

Originally Posted by nonstopfishies

How much of a 2nd bag of salt did you add to get to 1.024?

I'd say a 1/4 maybe a 1/3 of the 2nd bag.


All of my hammers, torches and frogspawn are "flowing" in the current. Nothing real strong, just enough to keep them moving