Torch Troubles

[shesacharmer]

I have three great Torch coral heads. One has two heads on a branch and one is a stand alone. The stand alone has long thin tentacles and the twins have shorter thicker tentacles but basically they are all tan with green tips.

Yesterday I awoke to discover one of the twins was radically deflated...the tentacles were completely flat and barely moving while the other two looked completely fine. What to do?

First I dipped the twins in Seachem Reef Dip in case the one head had a pest I couldn't see. After rinsing and not seeing any immediate improvement I thought about anything that would be suddenly different in my tank. I realized I had put a sorry specimen of a Xenia frag near the Torches so I moved that away from them. Next I did a 14% water change. I also tested my water parameters which have been very stable at

Ph 8.1
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate all 0
Calcium 24
Dkh 10
Phos .12 (an ongoing struggle)
Salinity 1.025
Magnesium 1200

I dosed Magnesium for the first time and brought it up to 1300. I'm not sure which of these remedies did the trick but while the Torch is not 100% improved I'm confident that it is no longer dying. It's tentacles, while not fully extended, and no longer flat. The color is still darker than it's twin but it is looking otherwise far better.

I'm just posting this for others who are having sudden Torch problems as I didn't find a lot of solutions when I searched for what proactive approaches to take to save my Torch when it was obviously in dire need of attention.

Comments welcome...I'm trying so hard to keep all these creatures happy and healthy in my care.

 

[Waters40]

How long was it deflated? I would have given it a little time before jumping into action. Mine sometimes deflate and then recover....it is just what they do.

 

[Pife]

A fish or hermit might have made it retract.

 

[GMay]

Calcium 24? That cannot be correct. It should be somewhere about 400 ppm.

 

[UMass14]

Check your lights or water flow. Torches retract when there is to much flow or when there is not enough light. Good luck!

 

[saltfishguy18]

I would not have done anything to it. One of my torches occasionally does that. Like stated a fish or hermit could have startled it to make it retract. I would have given it at least a day or two before doing anything. If he was melting away and was showing the "brown jelly" then I would have done something.

 

[shesacharmer]

Sorry for the confusion, Calcium is 480. The head in question was not just retracted or deflated it was positively withered and turning a very dark gray color. It's tentacles were entirely flat with no inflation at all, wrinkled in fact, for the entire day. It did not show any indication it intended to snap out of it. Although it's entirely possible that I overreacted after having a trachyphyllia dissolve after only 48 hours in my tank I am somewhat paranoid about not acting. I didn't feel as though the actions I took were too radical...the magnesium needed to come up anyway...the water change can't really hurt...and the reef dip...well that was a shot in the dark. I think moving the Xenia might actually have been the winning answer but who knows. I did not take a photo of it while it was in distress but I'm not sure if you can see the color difference in the photo I just took. It is still darker than it's mate but it certainly looks healthy enough to me. Thank goodness!