Torch troubles

Hello everyone:

I have this torch that has grown very good over the past year. It has split many times. I notice a few days ago that the color is going out of its tenticles. Its loosing its zooxanthellate and turning white in places. This has gotten worse and spread to the other heads. The flesh that covers its stalke has started spliting (see pics). All my water parameters are within bounds and all te other corals are doing great. I have gave it a bath in coral dip
(iodine bath). The tank has been running 82 to 83 degrees lately but that hasnt hurt things before. Has anyone else seen this before? What should I do?
I keep it in the sand at the bottom of my 55 gallon that has 4 48 inck 110 watt vho bulbs 2 super actinic and 2 actinic white URI bulbe. The current has not changed as far as the powerheads . It has done great right where it is.

Please let me know if you can shed some light on this.

Jay

http://www.3reef.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=347&cat=500&page=1

 

Bump Bump Bump

 

Nobody Yet?? Bump

 

That looks pretty bad:-[


Is this the same coral you had posted a week or two ago with the "cuts" or injury?

I would say, the temp could be an issue. It makes biological waste more toxic and free oxygen less available.

Do you have copperband shrimp? Sometimes, they have been known to tear open corals to get to the food they had just eaten.

Do you feed it?

Sorry for all the ???...just trying to think of an answer for ya!

I would have recommended the dip , so you got that going for ya already.

Anyone else...???

 

Angels picking on it at all? Any other corals near it that may be stinging it? Do any fragging in your tank (particularly zooanthids)?

 

No on the shrimp. I have a fire shrimp and a red and white banded shrimp. What puzzles me is the expelling of the zooanthelle. Its on 3 heads. If you look at the head from the top only 1/4 of the actual tissue has the darker spot. About half of the tenticles are white...this looks strange. I have tryes feeding this torch before many times but its not very succesful eater. It may have taken a few Mysis that I target fed it before but usually the food would just sit there in the tenticles for a while then eventually fall off or get robbed by a fish. None of the fish bother it. ( dont let anyone tell you that domino damsels and flame angels dont eat xenias...they graze mine all day ..good thing they grow fast). I am a firm beleiver in feeding the reef heavily. I feed about a 1.5 inch square chunk of mysis every day. The fish tear it up pretty good but I have a heavy stocked this tank with corals that need the leftovers. Then the 3 brittle stars are always half starving it seems. I never see and food left on the sand. I also have lots of blue hermits and snails to get the rest. Heres a question...does coral count tward the bioload on your tank?. Back on subject... I also feed twice a day with reef chilli...the corals love it and have really grown very large. Also I dose Live Phyto twice a week about a half cup each time.

Anyone else have some advice? Thanks Birdlady...please let me know if you can think of anything else to do. I am thinking of moving it to my other tank with the 250 watt halides but am thinking that this bay be too much for it right now to acclimate. I really dont want to loose ANY of the heads on this guy. It is beautiful and is really growing good. My favorite coral in the tank you get pretty attatched to them after so much nurturing and care to bring to where they are.

Thanks BL
Jay

 

Yes I have been fragging mushrooms, Colt coral and this one that I dont have a name. My Kenya tree rains buds like 3 every week by its self does that count?

Unknown coral pic? Help me identify

http://www.3reef.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=263&cat=500&page=1

The fish leave it alone.

Jay

 

Corals do not add enough to a tank's bioload to cause problems.

Do you run carbon in the tank when you frag? How close to the torch are the mushrooms? No other corals near the torch that could be stinging it? Regular bud dropping would not "count"

The coral in the pic looks like a type of sinulara (finger leather)

 

I have shrooms right by the torch but I have not fragged them. I run carbon all the time hanging it once a month. There are other corals close to it but there is breathing room so they dont touch. Well this morning it doesnt look any worse then yesterday. Birdlady: this is the same coral that had the blemishes on the stalks about 2 or 3 months ago. I did notice that my salt levels had dropped down a little but I have been slowly bringing this up.
Whats the best way to slowly add salt to your tank? I just put 2 cup fulls in a 2 gallon container and dripped it just like kalk for 2 days into the tank.

Jay

 

;D DOH! I wrote Copperband shrimp! LOL! Don't even know what that is!


I meant, Coral Banded Shrimp , which sounds like the one you have,,,,the red and white banded one.

Anywhooooo...

Salinity....how low did it go, and where is it now. Dripping seems fine, but would seem to take forever! How about a water change? with some higher salinity water..? Did the torch recover completely before? and then got sick again?

I agree with Amcarrig on the sinularia (nepthilia family? I am working on the latin!)

NO FRAGGING IN THE DISPLAY TANK!;D

It also seems to me, that you are overfeeding the system! Half cup of Phyto!? Yikes!!!! I use , like a capful. Plus reef chili? ( not sure what it is,) but twice daily? too much.

I feed every other to every 3 days.