Help! Torch coral

[Kyle9021]

Alright so here's the situation. I purchased a torch coral from returnofsid (thank you again!) and it was doing great when I put it into the tank. It was probably in the tank for two days but then I had to pack up my tank and go back to Pullman. I moved everything on Sunday and after the move the corals looked a bit stressed. I preformed a 25% water change and then turned on the lights the following day.
Here's the problem, everything has opened up and looks good again except for the torch coral. It's skin seems to be slowly receding and a couple of the tentacles look like they're tearing. The coral looks limp and there is a tear up one of the sides. I checked my basic pararams and they were good with no nitrates, nitrites or ammonia. The PH looked good at about 7.9. I followed returnofsid's advice and moved the coral to a lower light area with lower flow and here's the second part to his advice.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on what to do? I really don't want this coral to die. Thank you in advance.

Oh yeah, I bought a filter on the way home and added that into my tank as well. I've been changing out the carbon everyday since I've been home. Also, I took out the sponge part and didn't put in the bioballs.
My tank is a 10 gallon nano tank with 48 watts of T-5 lighting. thanks again

 

[returnofsid]

After talking on the phone, I wonder if the flesh got torn, by the sharp skeleton, during the move?

 

[Kyle9021]

that could be it...but I bagged it and set it in the 3 gallons of water I had drained from the tank.

 

[Kyle9021]

sadly it died, but everything else is looking good. I think you were right returnofsid disturbing the sand bed caused a mini cycle and that stressed everything out. The torch and the xenia both didn't make it. Any ideas on how I can prevent this from happening the next time I decide to take my tank home? Thanks! Kyle

 

[BCT182]

dude, how often are you moving it?

 

[Reefreak]

For a small tank that needs to moved on occasion it might be easier if you kept it bare bottom.

 

[Kyle9021]

well I move it for any breaks I have from college since most the people I know in town are students and are away for vacations as well and couldn't really look after the tank. Bare bottom...hmmm...I haven't thought about that one. What are the pros and cons of going bare bottom?

 

[cdbdis]

Ohh boy..."the ol' bare bottom debate" - watch out! Lots of opinions on that one. All kidding aside though - I would suggest looking through some of the larger forums and researching the bare bottom debates. For your situation though I think it is a viable alternative to consider.

 

[Aristarchus]

I've heard of people keeping a portion of the old sand bed and putting new sand on top of it after the relocation. Also try taking the old sand out in layers and then put it back in the tank in the opposite order you took it out in. HTH

Kyle

 

[Burke]

What about keeping the coral in a bucket (with flow and heat )for a day or two to let the sand and tank settle, then move the coral in?

 

[Kyle9021]

Thats a good idea! I never thought of that. Do you think the coral will be fine without the light right after the move?

 

[Kyle9021]

The layers of sand sound like a good idea too. This may sound stupid but I kinda like the look of the sand in my tank. Would digging up the sand bed kill all the life in it?? Thanks in advance.

 

[returnofsid]

If you're moving the tank on a regular basis, you probably would be better off going bare bottom, OR, replacing the sand after each move (which would be a PITA IMO). Each time you move, it's going to disturb the sand bed, quite a bit, and could potentially cause a mini-cycle. No matter what you do, as often as you're moving your tank, it's going to stress everything out, with each move.

As for a bucket, your corals would be just fine for a couple of days, without any light, as long as they have flow and warm enough water.

Sorry to hear that the Torch died. Unfortunately, that was the colony and not a frag, or I'd be able to replace it. Stop by next time you're in the area, and I'm sure we can come up with something to replace it with!! Though, this time, we'll replace it the day you head home. That way it's only being relocated once, in a short period of time, instead of twice. If I remember right, when you got the coral from me, you put it in your tank, here in Spokane and then a few days later, moved the tank back to college? The 2 moves, in a short period of time, would cause more stress than a single move.

You'll also want to consider your species of corals carefully. Corals such as the Torch, are more delicate, when it comes to moving. The sharp skeleton can easily rip the heavy tissue. Until you're settled in to a place, more long term, I'd suggest staying away from any of the Euphellia species of corals, such as Frogspawn, Torch, Hammer...etc. Any coral with heavy, bulbous tissue and a sharp skeleton, should be moved as little as possible, to limit the chances of tearing it.

 

[Kyle9021]

Sid,
As always your suggestions are very helpful. Alright, so I suppose the next thing for me to do is get more buckets and place everything in it before the move home next week. The last time I moved things I drained about 3 gallons from the main tank and took some of the corals out and put them in baggies with some water and put them in the bucket as well (including the torch coral) my thought process being if the water sloshed around I didn't want some of the corals to touch one another in case of them being stung. So this time I guess I'll drain the tank completely and put everything in buckets and throw away the sand bed. Oh question...would like a really really shallow sand bed still cause a cycle each time? Thanks!

 

[returnofsid]

I'm not sure if it would or not. If so, it'd be a smaller cycle. Also, I'm not sure that your tank is ever set up long enough for "gunk" to really develop and build up in the sand bed. The releasing of this "gunk" and nasty gasses, is what causes the mini-cycle. No matter what, you'll experience a diatom bloom, each time you disturb any sand bed though.

 

[Kyle9021]

hmm it sounds like I'm going to try to to go bare bottom in the near future. Thanks sid