dying torch

[Perureef]

I'm having a issue with my torch coral. i had him for 3 months now with no issue, but now within the past few days one head has died off. there are some factors that might have lead to this. first of all the coral is placed at an angle, and the head that died was the one that was most shaded. can heavy shading cause this? also, most of the coral is in general at an off angle from the light (4*54W T-5's ). the current is not crazy strong but is strong overall relative to other locations. finally, in the past few days my Ca levels have been low as i waited on a pH probe for my Ca reactor (360 ppm), would this have an effect. the heads more proximal to the dead one have not expanded, while those more distal stil have more expansion. should i remove the head? what can i/should i do? should i move it? any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
pH: 8.13 (6 pm)
Ca: 360 ppm
Alk: 8.0 dKH
salinity: 1.024

[awestruck]

Do a water change while you're waiting for the Ca reactor--remember, the salt has calcium. Also, can you tilt the position of the torch so that all of it is receiving equal amounts of light? I have seen similar situations even with my mushrooms--the ones getting the best light grow larger than, say, the ones on the side of the rock that don't receive as much light. Good luck! :)

[RTKBA308]

My torch coral just crapped out me:( . I only had it for about a month. He was at the center-top of my tank and appeared to be doing well. Woke up one morning and half of it turned white, three days later, it was completely white.

I was thinking one of my crabs got to it, but I'm not sure

[Perureef]

thanks for the info. i removed the torch from its present location and placed it in an area with less flow and more light, all the heads, even the dead one, are now pointing towards the light. its not nice stylistically, but i hope it does the torch well. however, if some of the detached tissue were to touch the other heads or other corals, would it cause the issue to spread? i vaccumed as much as i could out of the tank, but a bit remains. i've been meaning to cut the head off but have not got around to it yet. any advice?

[awestruck]

Leave it for a few days and see how it's doing. Also, often times when corals get too much light they begin to bleach. If this is happening move it lower. Good luck!

[unclereefer]

I almost killed a couple of my first LPS due to improper placement. I figured it was because of water parameters or something like that. I would put placement at the top of the list of important things. Also, if there is any tissue left on the head that died off, it may end up coming back when it's happy. Thats what mine did.

[Perureef]

thanks for the info. since the initial incident i have lost a total of 4 heads, but the rest seem salvagable. at the time however my calcium levels were low, around 350, and i am slowly working it up. could this also have been a factor? also, could dead tissue have a negative affect on other coral? i ask because as of late my other coral seem to be in some kind of decline. thanks again