Torch Coral Orientation??

[JEFFR259]

Hi All,

Should I place my Torch Coral with the heads facing up? It is currently more or less on its side (better viewing angle for me). I'm worried that the lower rows of heads may not be getting the light they need as it's laying horizontally and the upper heads kind of keep the lower heads from getting full lighting because they are so big.

Anything to worry about? I've had the piece for about 3 months, and everything seems ok, but I was wondering about this last night while checking out the tank. I noticed that the lower rows don't get 100% light input because of the rows above them.

Thanks!

 

[Phyxius]

Mine was slightly sideways for 2 yrs and it was fine.The new heads grew out the bottom side also with no issues

 

[kpendarvis]

You can probably just leave it alone. In time it will grow to the angle that gives it the best light exposure. I usually tilt my corals slightly toward the front so I can see them better. I put the lights toward the front of the tanks also so the corals will point that direction as time passes.

 

[johnna12]

hello, i need help with my torch. i got a really good deal on one and after about a month or so 1 stem is just about gone. my tank has been set up for about 7 months and the water seems to be in order. i feed the corals with about 4 times a week with phyto-feast. not sure whats going on, the rest of the corals are doing great. any help woulld be appreciated.

thanks,
john

 

[MisterTang]

I did this, but several of my heads started to wilt. Just make sure that you don't have excessive laminar flow - my tank is oriented so the top has more random-turbulent, but my sides tend to be more laminar. Kind of like a toilet bowl, I guess

 

[dragonette]

alot of people underestimate torch corals. I know they are LPS and are strongly associated with frogspawn and hammer coral but in my experience they are a little more tempermental than the other two.

A torch is more sensitive to getting banged up from shipping/bringing home from the store/reaquascaping your tank etc.

I would suggest to have the tank be at least 1 yr old before trying torch as they tend to 'die off' head by head very easily.

I have a torch that has about 15-20 heads in my 24g and over the weekend I noticed it got what looked like a brown jelly on one of the heads in the MIDDLE of the colony. The torch hasnt been moved/touched/etc in like 6 months.

I fragged off the bad head and a few smaller heads (was getting crowded) and now it looks happier than ever. The head with the jelly was a stalk that was splitting into 3 heads and the whole thing wasted away in one day just for no reason.

Take ALOT of care when handling torch corals as they will react quite quickly to any negative stimulus.

Good Luck
Jess

 

[ptomoson]

I recently purchased a used 135 that had torch coral from one end to the other. It grew like a weed! Unfortunately it was the only coral in the tank due to the previous owner negligence. Anyway, this stuff seems hardy, I've moved it, broke it, added it to a new tank, etc. All the things a newbie does and the only heads I've lost were the one the anemone crawled over.

Anyway, to answer your question, I had torch coral branches laying at the bottom of my tank and they did fine. As a matter of fact they started growing new heads on the side that was up. If frogspawn and hammer coral are hardier than I don't think you could ever kill them!!:lol:

 

[JEFFR259]

Thanks everyone for your input!

I've decided to leave it put as it's looked fine since day one. Why mess with it if it ain't broke

Thanks again!