The Torch Coral: An Icon of the Reef Hobby
If there's one coral that stops people in their tracks at a reef store, it's the Torch Coral (Euphyllia glabrescens). With long, flowing tentacles tipped in gold, green, or neon, a healthy torch coral in full extension is one of the most breathtaking sights in the hobby. It's the coral that turns casual fish-keepers into obsessed reefers.
At Lakeside Reefing, torch corals are what we're known for. We've spent years sourcing, growing, and studying these animals — and this guide is everything we've learned distilled into one place.
Torch Coral Varieties
Not all torch corals are created equal. The hobby has exploded with named morphs over the past decade:
- Gold Torch: The classic — green body with bright gold tips. Hardy and widely available.
- Indo Torch: Typically single-headed, more affordable, great for beginners to the species.
- Aussie Torch: Generally more colorful and branching, with vivid green or purple tips. More expensive but stunning.
- Ultra/Designer Morphs: Named collector pieces with rare colorations — purple tips, bi-color tentacles, neon green bodies.
Browse our current selection to see what's available — our stock changes regularly as we source new pieces.
Water Parameters
Torch corals are moderately demanding but very achievable for intermediate reefers. The key word is stability:
- Temperature: 76–80°F (24–27°C)
- Salinity: 1.025–1.026
- pH: 8.1–8.3
- Alkalinity (dKH): 8–10 dKH — do not swing more than 0.5 dKH per day
- Calcium: 400–450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1350–1500 ppm
- Nitrate: 5–20 ppm
- Phosphate: 0.05–0.1 ppm
The #1 torch coral killer is alkalinity instability. A torch can handle slightly elevated nutrients or imperfect calcium far better than it can handle alk swings. If you're dosing two-part or running a calcium reactor, dial in your alk first and keep it rock-solid.
Lighting
Torch corals prefer low to moderate light:
- Ideal PAR: 50–150 PAR
- Placement: Lower half of the tank — sandbed to mid-rock
- Spectrum: Blues make the tips pop with fluorescence; whites show the natural gold and green tones
New torches should always be placed low and acclimated slowly. A torch that came from a low-light system and gets blasted with 300 PAR will bleach fast. Start low, watch for a week, then move up incrementally if needed.
Signs of too much light: tentacles shortened and retracted during the day, bleaching at the tips, polyp not fully extending.
Flow
This is where many reefers go wrong with torches. They need gentle, indirect, random flow:
- Tentacles should sway gently — think of seagrass in a mild current, not a flag in a windstorm
- Direct, high-velocity flow causes chronic stress, retraction, and eventually tissue damage
- Wavemakers set to random/alternating modes are ideal
- If your torch is consistently retracted during the day, flow is the first thing to check
Feeding
Torch corals are active, aggressive feeders and will reward you for it:
- Target feed optional 1-2 times per week with Reef Roids, LPS pellets, or Coral Frenzy
- Turn off flow for 15–20 minutes after feeding
- Use a pipette or turkey baster to place food directly on the tentacles — they'll grab it immediately
- Feed at night or in the evening when tentacles are most extended
A well-fed torch will grow noticeably faster, branch more readily, and display richer coloration. Feeding is one of the highest-ROI things you can do for your torch collection.
Aggression and Tank Placement
Torch corals have long, potent sweeper tentacles that extend at night — sometimes 6 inches or more beyond the visible polyp. They will sting and kill neighboring corals that get too close.
- Give torches at least 6–8 inches of clearance from non-Euphyllia corals
- Euphyllia compatibility: Torch, Hammer, and Octospawn can generally touch each other without issue — they recognize each other as the same family
- Keep away from: Mushrooms, Acans, Blastos, Chalice, Favia, and any coral that can't defend itself
- Clownfish hosting: Many clownfish will host in torch corals. This is generally fine but watch for excessive clownfish activity that damages the tissue (called "clownfish love")
Branching and Fragging
A healthy torch coral will branch over time, creating new heads from the base of existing ones. This is one of the most exciting things to watch:
- Branching is a sign of a thriving, well-fed coral
- To frag a torch, use bone cutters or a Dremel to cut the skeleton between heads — never pull or twist
- Dip freshly fragged pieces and place in low-flow, low-light conditions to recover
- Fragged torches can take 2–4 weeks to fully open again — be patient
Troubleshooting Common Torch Coral Problems
- Brown Jelly Disease (BJD): The most feared torch coral disease. A bacterial infection that appears as brown, slimy, spreading tissue. Act immediately — frag below the infection, dip in CoralRx or iodine solution, and move to clean water. BJD can destroy a torch in 24–48 hours.
- Torch not opening: Check flow (too high?), lighting (too intense?), water parameters (alk swing?), and look for pests. Also check if a fish or crab is nipping at it.
- Tentacles shredded or torn: Usually a fish or crab. Common culprits: filefish, some wrasses, emerald crabs. Observe at night.
- Bleaching: Too much light or a sudden parameter change. Move to a shadier spot and stabilize parameters.
- Tissue recession from the base: Often caused by alk instability, physical damage, or the beginning of BJD. Stabilize parameters and watch closely.
- Euphyllia-eating nudibranches: Tiny, white, slug-like pests that hide at the base of the skeleton and eat tissue at night. Inspect with a flashlight. Treat with a Bayer dip or CoralRx.
Dipping and Inspecting: Don't Skip It
We always recommend dipping and inspecting new torch corals before adding them to your display tank. Torch corals are particularly susceptible to BJD after the stress of shipping, and Euphyllia-eating nudibranches are notoriously hard to spot. Dip and inspect new torches using a gentle dip, we use potassium chloride.
Shop Torch Corals at Lakeside Reefing
We carry a rotating selection of hand-picked torch corals — from classic Gold Torches to rare collector morphs. Every piece is selected for color, health, and branching potential.