Torches

akitareefer

New member
Just got this torch from the LEAR frag swap and noticed that it has pretty short tentacles. Is this common? do you think its stressed? I have an orange torch and have noticed that most of the orange torches have short tentacles but I have never seen short tentacles on the green variety...
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input or pictures of torches are welcomed :)
 
Looks good to me. :)

Sometimes when they're getting a lot of flow, the polyps won't extend too much. You might want to move it someplace else for awhile and see what happens. GL.
 
Looks good to me, when they are stressed the head will be super small and shriveled up. I have had a few that did this before the heads melted off. This specimen looks pretty good tho, good pick up! If your really worried dose a bit of iodine it helps with the corals ability of photosynthesis
 
I have the exact same torch. Its tentacles are fully extended. When I put it in a high flow area, the whole head would shrink. One of those things where you will have to experiment. My torch like low flow and sits at the bottom of my 46g (1400 total flow in the tank).
 
I have four frags of Hammer/Frogspawn that seem to be doing the same thing. I'm going to go home and try and redirect the flow a bit and see what happens. Hopefully that will make them happy(ier).
 
I've had five different types of torch, and my first two were VERY long tentacled. The third was super short, 1/4 of an inch, the fourth is 1/2-3/4 an inch long, and the newest addition is about an inch long.
The I've had two green torch, and one was really long tentacled, the other is still very nice, but no where near as long. There is HUGE variety in torches. Also, this shorter green, when it closes up at night, looks like it's dying-you can see the skeleton, with the tissue still over it, but still-so different corals also just act different too. In knowing your corals, you'll have a little more peace of mind(since I was about to have a heart attack the first morning I saw it!)
Here's the two green torches-
Longer(old pic, bad quality, sorry!)
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Shorter-
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And the even shorter torch that was a lemon-lime color but is now morphing light pink...go figure.
IMG_1124_zps3f75c545.jpg
 
Nice pictures... :) I'm still not sold on one torch being a short tentacle while the others are long. Not yet at least... It might be like this with a coral such as a fungia, but I haven't read anything "solid" that differentiates the torches. If you've got the information, please let me know.
 
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I have two torches. The torch on the left has thicker tentacles, but the torch on the right has longer tentacles.

img2079d.jpg
 
Nice pictures... :) I'm still not sold on one torch being a short tentacle while the others are long. Not yet at least... It might be like this with a coral such as a fungia, but I haven't read anything "solid" that differentiates the torches. If you've got the information, please let me know.

I didn't think so either, I've had two different 'batches' of torches, one was the green and purple in the first pic with the super long tentacles, and I had those within my first six months in the hobby. I had some tank problems and sold them before they could die, thinking it would be no biggie to find more. (Boy was I wrong!) This time between what I've bought and what I've seen while shopping...there is definitely variety out there. I don't have anything other than photos to prove it, and I know that flow, lighting, nutrients, etc, get factored into polyp extension. As far as lighting and flow go, they're level in the tank and about four inches apart, so that's probably pretty equal, too. For mine at least, they're happy, they're growing and being fed, and have very different tentacle length.

Love everyone else's photos! So many pretty torches <3
 
They all look the same to me... Conditions are the ultimate factor in this case IMO. (flow in particuliar) FWIW, I sure as hell hope you didn't pay any extra money for this "so called" variety. Colors are one thing, polyp extension is another.

Just as an example, here's a picture of a small torch I had awhile ago. Would this be considerd short, or long?

torch_zps30b21187.jpg
 
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They all look the same to me... Conditions are the ultimate factor in this case IMO. (flow in particuliar) FWIW, I sure as hell hope you didn't pay any extra money for this "so called" variety. Colors are one thing, polyp extension is another.

Just as an example, here's a picture of a small torch I had awhile ago. Would this be considerd short, or long?

I'd call it short ish. Kind of in between. That's a really pretty torch!
I buy for color, and really prefer the longer tentacles, but as a high school senior, don't have the luxury of over paying for anything! The most I've spent on any of the LPS I have currently is $15.
By the way, to the OP, you green torch looks fine to me! I think it's fine :)
 
Here is my torch a few months ago. I need to get some updated pictures once I get my tank upgraded :spin1:

Its a red torch with orange stripes down the tentacles.
 

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FWIW, I sure as hell hope you didn't pay any extra money for this "so called" variety. Colors are one thing, polyp extension is another.
Spent $20 on it :)

Still not getting any longer. i was thinking that it might have been fragged from a large colony. Maybe these were some of the lower polyps that havent been getting the best lighting/flow. If so it could take a while for them to grow and extend. I will post pics if I see any changes over time.

My lemon lime torch reaches about 5inch+ when fully extended
This is right before lights out
P2286730_zps04799d9e.jpg
 
Mine stayed short when I introduced it into the tank. After a few weeks it started getting much longer. Now it's started about three head splits and they have all gotten shorter again.
 
that is so pretty... ever plan to see it or frag it,

Spent $20 on it :)

Still not getting any longer. i was thinking that it might have been fragged from a large colony. Maybe these were some of the lower polyps that havent been getting the best lighting/flow. If so it could take a while for them to grow and extend. I will post pics if I see any changes over time.

My lemon lime torch reaches about 5inch+ when fully extended
This is right before lights out
P2286730_zps04799d9e.jpg
 
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