Torch Corals! INSANE Colors and Movement! | Coral Care Guide

What's going on reefers? Blaine here. In today's video, we are back in the farm and we're going to be doing another coral spotlight series. In today's video though, we're going to be focusing on the genus Euphilia, but overall focusing in on torches. Torches are an amazing coral that can bring some great movement to your system, some awesome color, and overall a fairly hearty nature. Be sure to stay tuned all the way throughout the course of this one because there's going to be a ton of information. Let's dive in. [Music] In this video, we're diving into another iconic LPS coral and one that is instantly recognizable in the reef hobby. Torch corals come from the genus Euphilia. These corals are known for their long flowing tentacles that sway in the current, often giving off that mesmerizing movement that so many reefers love to see in their systems. Their unique polip extension and dramatic coloration make them a true showpiece coral in any reef. When it comes to coral morphs, torches are some of the most sought-after LPS. While there were once mostly limited to green, gold, and brown shades, the hobby has exploded with high-end strains like New York Knicks, Holy Grails, Dragon Souls, Indo Golds, and much more. Here at TSA, we're constantly working with them and growing out different strains, hunting for those high color, high impact torch morphs that hobbyists dream about. For lighting, torch corals tend to do well in moderate ranges. In our farm, we keep them in a PAR range of about 100 to 250 depending on the strain and acclamation. Like most other corals, they can adapt to higher intensities, but pushing them into the highlight zones isn't usually necessary. What's more important is the quality of the spectrum of the light. Good blues tend to make those fluorescent colors really pop. Flow for torches is an absolute balance. These corals need moderate indirect flow, enough to keep detritis from building up, but gentle enough that the tentacles sway gracefully instead of whipping violently. Too strong of direct blast can cause the polyps to retract or even tear off the skeleton. On the flip side, too little flow can result in debris settling between the tentacles and base, which can irritate the coral, creating a varied flow pattern in your system where the tentacles are moving naturally back and forth is the sweet spot. When it comes to water chemistry, stability is going to be the biggest factor for all of our corals here at TSA, but of course torch corals as well. These euphilia do best in a stable reef environment where the key parameters stay within a healthy range. Here at TSA, we're keeping them in parameters as follows. 7 to 9 dKH, 380 to 450 calcium, 1300 to,500 magnesium, and we like to have an 8.1 to 8.4 for pH as our sweet spot. Nutrients are another piece of the puzzle. Unlike some corals that thrive in ultra low nutrient system, torches actually do a little bit better when nitrates and phosphates are present in the water. We aim to keep the nitrates anywhere from 5 to 20 ppm and phosphates between 0.03 to 0.15. That slight bump in nutrients tends to support strong coloration and p-up extension, giving them that full and fluffy look hobbyists love. We just talked about nutrients, so let's get into the nutrition side of things for these corals. Nutrition is another piece of the puzzle. Torch corals are photosynthetic in nature, but also benefit from supplemental feeding. In the wild, their long tentacles are great at snagging food out of the water column. And in our farm as well, they can catch plenty of nutrition from our regular feedings we do. You can absolutely spot feed them with small meaty foods like micus or refoids, but we don't rely on that here at TSA. Instead, they thrive off the collective nutrient load in our systems and the dosing of our reef genetics phytolanton and the slurry we create here in the farm to feed all of our reef tanks. If you do decide to do direct feedings, keep it limited to about once a week. Placement is key when we're talking about torches. While they're less aggressive than most corals, their long sweeper tentacles can still sting neighboring pieces. You want to give them adequate room to expand fully without brushing up against other corals. Many reapfers like to build out torch gardens where multiple euphilia strains are grouped together, but you'll want to avoid mixing them with hammers or frog spawns as aggression between different euphilia species can cause issues. Also, try to avoid placing them too low on the sandbed if detritus tends to settle there. Mid-level rock work with room to grow and sway is ideal. Another thing we need to touch on when keeping torch corals is one of the biggest concerns hobbyists may run into, brown jelly disease. This is something that commonly affects euphilia corals and it gets its name from its brown jelly-like substance that forms over the coral's tissue. The exact cause isn't fully understood, but it's believed to come from a bacterial or protozonean infection. What makes brown jelly so dangerous is how quickly it spreads. It often starts as a small spot of brown slime on the coral's tissue, but it can rapidly overtake the entire head, causing tissue loss, color fading, and eventual death if not addressed quickly and promptly. To make matters worse, brown jelly is highly contagious. If one of your torches in your tank gets it, it can spread to others nearby if immediate action isn't taken. Symptoms to look out for include tentacles retracting, tissue turning brown and slimy, and an overall loss of color. If you notice any of these signs, it's crucial to isolate the coral right away and begin treatment to prevent the infection from spreading further. Quick intervention can make the difference between losing one coral and losing multiple prized pieces in your system. All right, now that we've talked about some of the care requirements and the things you need to know before owning a torch coral, let's go ahead do our favorite thing of these videos. Let's make our way around the farm and pick out some of our TSA favorites. Probably the nicest torch we currently have at our facility is the TSA Baby Grail. One that has been grown out since a tiny head that arrived on a wholesale shipment has now developed into one of the most beautiful aquaculture torches we have here. Much like a holy grail, but is just on a whole different level. A timeless torch in the TSA facility is the TSA pot of gold. This is a variety we have been aquaculturing for a long time and showcases some really nice mixture of gold and green. The blue tips as well are a nice little cherry on top to an already beautiful torch strain. [Music] The New York Knicks torch is a strain collectors alike have chased after for quite some time. As the years have passed though, the torch has started to become much more affordable. This is one of those torches that offer a nice darker tone with accents of bright green and bright tips. Overall though, the New York Knicks torch is a mustave. [Music] Obviously, if you take a look on our website, you will see we have a bunch of different varieties that are not mentioned here in today's video, but I just wanted to give you all a taste of what we have to offer here, and you can be the judge of which strain you feel needs to find a new home in your reef tank. All right, that wraps up our coral spotlight video here today, talking about one of our favorite things from the Euphilia genus. Torch corals are some amazing corals that really can bring the movement to your tank. If you're interested in picking up any of the torches we talked about today or shopping all the different torches we have available here at the TSA farm, be sure to head over to the website now and shop the entire collection. If you guys have hung out all the way till the end, I want to say thank you very much. Be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the bell notification so you don't miss out on any future uploads. [Music] Hey.