ORA Micronesian Torch Coral

Description

Torch corals can be found in several locations in the Indo-Pacific. A lot of torch corals in the hobby originate from Australia and Indonesia. These particular torch corals originate from Micronesia. Micronesia is a collection of islands north of Papua New Guinea and East of the Philippines, including Palau, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. These torch corals are maricultured by ORA in the Marshall Islands. torch corals are a species of Euphyllia related to hammer corals, frogspawn, and octospawn. There are two growth forms of Euphyllia: wall and branching. Wall Euphyllia are significantly more difficult to keep than branching Euphyllia. Fortunately, these torch corals are branching. Torch corals are possibly the most difficult of the branching Euphyllia, but they aren’t necessarily difficult corals either. Let’s go over the basic care requirements for this magnificent coral. Unlike other Euphyllia such as hammer corals and frogspawn, torch corals need higher light to display the best coloration. You should provide medium to high lighting. Make sure to acclimate it to the light first by starting it in lower light and gradually moving it into higher light over a month or even several months. Flow is where things get a bit more complicated. It is easy just to say “they need moderate flow”, but you really have to adjust it to the behavior of the coral. You should see quite a bit of swaying from the tentacles, but if they appear to be being blasted with flow, that might be too much. If the coral is not extended fully, that could be a sign of too much flow (though it could mean too much light as well). It varies from coral to coral, so it’s something you may have to experiment with a bit. Next, let’s go over water chemistry. This is probably where most people run into problems with torch corals. Torch corals are stony corals, which means they need consistent levels of calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium to grow. Rapid fluctuations with these levels can be bad news for this coral. On the nutrient side of things, you need to be able to keep your nutrients low but not 0. Ideally, your nitrates should be around 1-5 ppm and your phosphates should be as close to 0.01 as possible but not 0. This is not an all agreed upon range, but instead a recommendation. You could have higher nutrient levels, but then you start to risk lots of unwanted algae growth. High levels of nutrients (30-40 ppm of nitrate) may cause issues such as tissue recession and eventually death. As for feeding, torch corals are surprisingly finicky. They don’t need to be fed because of the photosynthetic algae within them which provides them with most of their nutritional needs. However, feeding can promote faster growth and better coloration. You may have to experiment with different kinds of foods. Just remember not to overdo it, as you don’t want your nutrients to spike.

Care requirements

Purchase Size: 2″

Placement: You can place this coral anywhere in your aquarium as long as its lighting and flow needs are met.

Lighting: Medium to high.

Flow: Moderate

Parameters:  72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 32-35 ppt

Calcium: 350-450 ppm

Alkalinity: 8-12 dKH

Magnesium: 1,250-1,350 ppm

More Information

These corals are grown on the ORA Marshall Islands Mariculture Farm. Instead of being taken from real reefs, they are grown either on land using real seawater or in the ocean close to shore. These corals are more sustainable and environmentally because they are not taken from real reef environments. They also tend to transition into aquariums better than corals taken from reefs.