whats wrong with my torch??? HELP

[purebullet417]

i just noticed this today it seems as though one head has sort of peeled off of the coral and another is almost peeled off. there are 2 more back heads and they seem to be fine. this coral about a week ago started shrinking up for no apperent reason then i noticed this. any clues? it used to look like this

edit just did a 5 gal w/c tank is a 45 gal with 15 gal sump

 

[sufunk]

Ouch!!

I hope i'm wrong but i think he is a goner. That looks REALLY bad. It looks like 2 heads are already gone and covered in cyano and the last head looks like it will be gone in a day or so unfortunately.

Do you know what your parameters were before the water change or what they are now? I would say it has to be a water issue if it was fine before.

 

[The_Taz_Devil]

Looks like cyano to me as well - did you knock or move it atall though - from the 2nd pic looks like it was getting good flow ?

 

[purebullet417]

nope no movement at all iv been doing bi weekly w/c of 5 gals the only thing i can think of was about a week before this i had low sality of 1.023 and brought it back up. could this have been the problem

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Its probably too late for that coral; sorry.
Can you post all your tested water parameters? Thats the most likely culprit. Also, 1.023 isnt really that low; what have you taken it back up to, and how quickly?

 

[Aquarist007]

what fish and inverts do you have in the tank?

 

[purebullet417]

ill see if i can get some tests up in a little wile.
fish are just 2 clowns as my wrase jumped a couple of weeks ago
inverts are 2 red leg hermits 1 sea hare 5 nerites 10 turbos and unknow number of criths and nassarius snails

 

[purebullet417]

i dont have results from before the w.c but just now i got
ammonia nitrite nitrate 0
ph 8.2-8.4(cant really see looks right in the middle)
ca 350-360
alk 7.4 think im gana test this again
btw salt was brought up over the course of about 6 hours

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10404857#post10404857 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purebullet417
i dont have results from before the w.c but just now i got
ammonia nitrite nitrate 0
ph 8.2-8.4(cant really see looks right in the middle)
ca 350-360
alk 7.4 think im gana test this again
btw salt was brought up over the course of about 6 hours

alk 7.4 Dkh??
calcium is low but that is not a huge deal for lps's

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10404857#post10404857 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purebullet417
i dont have results from before the w.c but just now i got
ammonia nitrite nitrate 0
ph 8.2-8.4(cant really see looks right in the middle)
ca 350-360
alk 7.4 think im gana test this again
btw salt was brought up over the course of about 6 hours

alk 7.4 Dkh??
calcium is low but that is not a huge deal for lps's

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10404680#post10404680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purebullet417
ill see if i can get some tests up in a little wile.
fish are just 2 clowns as my wrase jumped a couple of weeks ago
inverts are 2 red leg hermits 1 sea hare 5 nerites 10 turbos and unknow number of criths and nassarius snails

I suspect those 2 red leg hermits---they crawl all over my toadstool and irriatate that heck out of it--somethimes it closes up for days.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10399371#post10399371 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The_Taz_Devil
Looks like cyano to me as well - did you knock or move it atall though - from the 2nd pic looks like it was getting good flow ?

did you have cyano on the substrate close to this coral? Cyano will grow over coral and "smother it"

 

[purebullet417]

iv had cyano before but i haven't had it for months. i guess ill try to change my phosguard media agian and see if that helps i now see cyano on the coral but not anywhere arond it

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10407951#post10407951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purebullet417
iv had cyano before but i haven't had it for months. i guess ill try to change my phosguard media agian and see if that helps i now see cyano on the coral but not anywhere arond it

I am starting to get second thoughts about phosban. I have had a cyno outbreak on the bottom of my tank for the last week due to trying to coach a redline anthias to eat. I've been running the phosban reactor for months--it has done little to help

 

[purebullet417]

ill change the media then at the end of the week ill do another w/c and siphon it off. the coral hasent gotten any worse or better since the pic. wonder wats goin on

 

[The_Taz_Devil]

The alkalinity could be a little higher (8-10dKH) and your calcium should be around 420 for balance. Did you test your magnesium ?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10413185#post10413185 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The_Taz_Devil
The alkalinity could be a little higher (8-10dKH) and your calcium should be around 420 for balance. Did you test your magnesium ?

I agree but in clarification magnesium does not (directly)affect the health of corals---it is added to help keep up the levels of calcium up.

 

[Aquarist007]

I wonder if a fresh water dip would work here(chancy with the frail health of the coral but if its got critters that will solve it)

 

[elegance coral]

I don't think it was the water. I believe it was the clowns. Corals like torches and Elegance will appear fine with clowns in them for quite some time. They will eventually get weaker and weaker until an infection takes over and all is lost. An iodine dip may help, but I believe this coral is gone. Sorry.

 

[Aquarist007]

I do feel the same as elegance--but I wouldn't give up entirely--I would freshwater dip and move it to a nice quiet corner of the tank or a quarantine tank for a long while to see what happens.

I have had a head of torch coral die for no apparent reason, excellent water quality, done nothing and the rest of flourish on for a long time