24K Gold Torch – 1 Polyp (Euphyllia glabrescens) - $250 from The Underwater Gardener

This listing is for one head of 24K Gold Torch — Single Head (Euphyllia glabrescens), grown in The Underwater Gardener’s Key West systems and priced per polyp.

“24K Gold” is a trade grade rather than a registered cultivar. The existing product record documents a brighter-light color response for this coral: 200–300 PAR to hold the gold coloration, while 100–150 PAR may keep the coral alive but allow the color to fade. Acclimate upward slowly; this is not permission to move a newly received head directly into intense light.

This is a torch-form Euphyllia; its long, single-ended tentacles and more forceful sting require more room than hammer or frogspawn corals.

Care Guide

CARE INFORMATION

Care Level	Intermediate
Lighting	200–300 PAR to maintain the documented gold coloration; 100–150 PAR may sustain the coral with color loss; acclimate upward gradually
Flow	Moderate, varied and indirect; tentacles should sway without being folded over or blasted
Placement	Lower–middle rockwork on a stable mount, with open water around the fully extended head
Feeding	Optional; offer appropriately sized meaty food 1–2× weekly in reduced flow
Aggression	Aggressive; preserve the product-specific minimum of 4 in from another torch and 6 in from other corals, measured from the fully extended head
Water Parameters	Salinity 1.025–1.026 · Temperature 76–78°F · Alkalinity 8–9 dKH · Calcium 420–440 ppm · Magnesium 1300–1400 ppm

Placement check: Evaluate clearance with the coral fully extended and recheck after dark. A daytime gap is not sufficient if sweepers can reach a neighbor at night.

What to expect when it arrives

Open the box the day it lands. A shipped Euphyllia arrives retracted, often with the tentacles pulled almost completely into the skeleton, and it can look alarming if you have not seen it before. That is normal. Float the sealed bag for 15 minutes to match temperature, then drip acclimate over 45 to 60 minutes. Do not add the shipping water to your tank.

Give it a low-flow, moderate-light spot on the first day and leave it there. Most torches and hammers begin partial extension within 24 hours and are fully open in one to three days. The single most common mistake is deciding after six hours that the spot is wrong and moving it — every move restarts the adjustment clock, and a coral moved four times in a week may never settle.

Placement, once it has opened

Watch the tentacle behavior rather than the PAR number. Tentacles should drift and sway with a slow rhythm. If they stream in one direction and stay there, flow is too strong. If they hang limp and short with the coral inflated, flow may be too weak. Adjust one variable at a time and give it three days between changes.

Allow six inches of clear space in every direction before you commit to a location. Euphyllia sweeper tentacles extend well beyond the daytime footprint after lights out, and the neighbor that looks safe at noon may be getting burned at 2 a.m. If you keep other Euphyllia, they generally tolerate each other, but torches will win any exchange.

Growth and fragging

A settled Euphyllia adds heads by splitting, and in a stable tank with occasional feeding you should see a head begin to divide within three to six months. Branching forms separate onto their own stalks and can be cut apart cleanly once the branch has elongated; wall forms are harder to divide and most keepers leave them whole. A colony that has not split in a year is usually reporting a flow or light problem rather than bad genetics.

Tank mates and compatibility

Keep it away from any coral it can reach. Peaceful fish are fine, but large angels, some butterflies and a few wrasses will pick at Euphyllia tentacles, and a coral that retracts every time a specific fish passes is telling you something. Clownfish will sometimes host in a torch; this is usually tolerated but can damage the tissue over months.