Torch Coral Starter Care Guide
A practical introduction to torch coral care, including health risks, water quality, tank setup, food and behaviour.
Use this guide to notice and organize information. Contact a qualified veterinarian for medical concerns or urgent change.
About the Torch Coral
Torch corals are large-polyp stony corals with long flowing tentacles, usually ending in a single contrasting tip. Their soft tissue extends over a hard, sharp skeleton and can tear if the colony is handled roughly or blasted by flow.
They have a strong sting and need much more personal space than their closed daytime size suggests.
Health risks to know about
Important concerns include rapid tissue loss, brown-jelly-like infections, bleaching, alkalinity or salinity swings, skeleton exposure, copper exposure and damage from handling or neighbouring corals.
Brown mucus, tissue pulling rapidly from the skeleton, sudden deflation, a gaping mouth or bleaching needs prompt isolation-aware expert advice.
Tank, water and equipment
Use a mature, stable reef aquarium with suitable reef lighting, low-to-moderate changing flow and a generous clear area around the colony.
Monitor salinity, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium consistently. Secure the skeleton so the fleshy polyps cannot fall against rock or another coral.
Food and feeding
Lighting supports much of its nutrition, and the coral can take appropriately sized pellets or small marine foods when feeding tentacles are extended.
Feed modestly and remove anything the coral rejects.
Behaviour, tank mates and enrichment
Long tentacle extension and gentle swaying are normal. The tissue should move without being snapped, folded or rubbed against its skeleton.
Torch corals can sting neighbouring corals from surprising distances, and they should not be handled by the living tissue.
When to contact an aquatic veterinarian
Get help for gasping, collapse, severe wounds, major swelling, inability to stay upright, rapid unexplained deaths or a problem that continues after water parameters are corrected.
Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, temperature and salinity whenever behaviour changes. Water quality is part of the medical history, so record results before contacting an aquatic veterinarian.
Read the supporting material
These sources stay with their original publishers. WiseTails links to them and provides its own summary; it does not republish their text or images.
Supports the species-specific care summary for Torch Coral.
Original source ↗02professional org · Ornamental Aquatic Trade AssociationHow to Test for Water Quality in a Marine Tank / AquariumSupports the aquarium cycling and water-quality context used in this guide.
Original source ↗