Feeding corals

[garywyatt]

Have 90 gallon tank with 2 torch corals, Duncan, star polyps, mushroom, pumping Xenia and zooanthid.
Mushroom has gone from 1 polyp to 3, Duncan sprouted 5 new heads, star polyps spreading across rock and Xenia going nuts as well. Torch corals seem to be retracting back tentacle length. Zooanthid looking for lack of better word shaggy, but they are spreading new polyps as well. Torch are on bottom of tank, one under rock overhang, one on side out of direct light. Feeding coral frenzy weekly. Duncan's get some meaty treats such as chopped krill, also have small frag of ?staghorn? Given by lfs as a new customer appreciation. What is wrong with torches?? T-5 lighting 2 10k, 1actinic, 1 purple light.

 

[TimeConsumer]

Perhaps too much flow or too little light? Torches don't like being whipped around. And 4 bulbs over a 90g isn't too intense, especially if you have a weak fixture. Not to mention those actinic bulbs (unless you mean blue plus) have very weak par. Try moving them out of the shade.

 

[garywyatt]

Flow at the bottome is pretty mild, is it more of a lighting issue than a feeding issue?? 55w each bulb with reflector. Guy at store said mod light/flow

 

[CStrickland]

Idk t5s enough to say whether that's enough light or not from the fixture, but the bulbs do wear out and need replacing. I think twice a year?

Torches are among the pickier lps, I'd put them a step or two above the rest of your corals in difficulty because they are easier to anger. They eat both light and food, so you can target feed like you do the Duncan to keep them from giving up, but they really need enough of both light and food to thrive. The very bottom of a 90 with weak lights isn't likely enough.

Star polyps and Xenia are hard to kill. It's common for a new Duncan to push out a bunch of new heads right around the face of the frag that you bought, as well as any cut branches. And mushrooms are hardy too. I wouldn't take any of that to mean your tank is particularly happy. If you post your water parameters, that's a better picture of how good an enviro your giving the torch.

When you say the zoa look "shaggy" do you mean sort of spread out and stemmy? They are like garden plants in that way. Similar to a tomato that doesn't get enough light they will "stretch" upward for it, at the expense of growing nice faces and spreading outward (if you've see an under lit tomato, it's a spindly little stem that's too tall for its trunk, and if it bears any fruit it breaks under the weight of it before it can ripen.)

 

[TimeConsumer]

Can you tell us which 4-bulb fixture you have and how high it is above the water? And just because the bulbs have individual reflectors doesn't mean much. Often those reflectors are little more than a piece of sheet metal with 2 bends. and a flat surface underneath the bulb. Also, what brand bulbs are you using? How many hours a day are they running?

 

[garywyatt]

Aquatic life 48" with 4 t-5 bulbs. 55 watts each. Actinic from 8-8, 10k from 9-6. Copepods running around. Have only seen the yellow tang eat those. Have been target feeding mostly brine shrimp, recently switched to krill.

 

[garywyatt]

Torch