Major Torch Coral Problem

[simonas]

my torch has split since I moved it and a small amount is now seemingly doing well where it fell, I;m just concerned about the state of the main one as there is a strange jelly like blob on the rock its sitting on, its hard to describe hope the pics help

since I took these pics and have come home tonight both sides have been covered with the jelly stiff and all arms have disappeared within them self. looks like all the arms have come off but I can;t see them in the tank

 

[GAB99]

by what ive readup the jelly seems to mean its not doing to well, the fact that the arms are gone means it is most likely dieing/melting

are the arms actually detached or retracted?

ive read more and it seems to be that you might have a chance if you cut the jelly off, dont go just by me though as i dont know too much about corals as yet

 

[sorgan]

I think that is tge dreaded brown jelly! RO water dip, iodine and luck are your best weapons.
Unfortantly this disease spreads like herpes in a whorehouse so you wanna be quick.

 

[simonas]

cheers chaps

Sorgan does that mean it spreads to every coral or just the torch?

I have no iodine only plain ro but I;m away at 7am for 36 hours!!

 

[sorgan]

Any euphyllia coral (torch, hammer, frogspawn and trumpet I believe) are prone to jelly, if both heads are covered it's a lost cause I would say.
Syphon the jelly off and inspect the coral, if it's skeleton is empty then I would commend it's body to the bin.
Healthy corals can fight off jelly but once infection has taken hold of a specimen it declines very fast, move any other euphyllia away from the torch and they should be ok if they are healthy.

Just be aware that this disease is brutal, I had a massive torch that got completely destroyed by it.

 

[simonas]

cheers Sorgan

just had a good look online bout brown jelly, just going to remove it now and syphon what I can. then its fingers crossed

a small piece of torch snapped off a week ago when i moved it and thats looking ok, hopefully I WILL BE ABLE To grow that on

 

[GAB99]

not to spoil the mood but i was right for once

and can someone post symptons or leading causes so people can help prevent it later on???

 

[sorgan]

Good params will see that frag thrive but it sounds to be like that may of been the infection point.
Brown jelly takes root in damaged polyps, these could of been cut or grazed by rock or by breaking of the coral, that's why when you frag you do so well away from living tissue.
Get iodine when you can incase of future problems, I am usually loath to dose tanks with anything but iodine is known to help corals recover from diseases (just don't dose all the time )

 

[GAB99]

for iodine dip its 20 drops per gallon if i remember correctly

 

[sorgan]

Brown jelly can be Triggered by many things, stress, injury or chemical (toxin) damage are the main causes I believe.

Usually it occurs when a coral has been injured, this may be a laceration or sting from another coral or a breakage, where there is a wound there is the potential for infection.

You will know you have brown jelly pretty quick after onset as it totally engulfs a polyp quickly turning flesh into a jelly like substance, the jelly you see is actually the remains of the coral rather then infection itself (almost akin to pus)

Brown jelly is very contagious to damaged/stressed corals but can be easily prevented with good parameters and proper coral care.

An infected coral can be treated with Fresh RO water dips and iodine dosing, in extreme cases coral fragging has been known to help ( total removal of infected heads)

 

[simonas]

not to spoil the mood but i was right for once

and can someone post symptons or leading causes so people can help prevent it later on???

lol well done!!!

looking on another forum its been very common with torches

 

[GAB99]

not to spoil the mood but i was right for once

and can someone post symptons or leading causes so people can help prevent it later on???

lol well done!!!

looking on another forum its been very common with torches

yeah i noticed that too, might be a good idea to just make sure to treat the corals with extra extra care, id hate to have something melt as imo it sounds (and looks) disgusting lol

 

[simonas]

cheers for the info Sorgan

I;d moved the torch about 7-10 days ago which may have been the reason for the disease as it had been spot on before then, funny enough I saw the mouth of the torch for the first time last night which was probably an indicator

 

[GAB99]

was it doing well afterwards?? i aggree it was doing great did your hand bump against anything whilst moving it??

what about params?

 

[simonas]

it was fine to be honest but then i noticed what i now is the start of the problem a couple of days ago as i posted on another forum askin what it was

params have been no different than usual

I know my calcium is down