Torch coral left its skeleton.

[RollaJase]

I have had a few cynarina and elegance do this. It is usually called socket pop or skeleton bailing. This can be caused by nutrients, coral warfare and too much direct flow actually tearing the coral from its skeleton. From experience the coral never recovers and will eventually wither away and die. I have read a few cases of the coral reattaching to the skeleton if you can hold it in place in a low flow area.

[Sharbuckle]

Almost a month later the torch is still "alive"

 

[smiz]

id be amazed if its still alive but any update? this happened to me and my hammer has been happy and healthy floating around for almost 2 months now.

[Sharbuckle]

I ended up losing it, came out of the snail shell and floated somewhere

 

[Lugmos12]

what a wild ride lol nature is so interesting!

[TeeshaP]

On 9/12/2016 at 7:27 PM, Sharbuckle said:

Thanks for the info. Not that negative! Realistically the odds of it surviving have gotta be pretty slim. Fingers crossed either way.

One of mine bailed too, 2 weeks ago. It's still very much alive and happy sitting in the sand in a low flow area. I tried putting it back on its skeleton but it moved back to the sand. I'm feeding it and it seems happy so I'm leaving it alone. I'm hoping it survives. So far so good. My other torches are happy so I assume a shrimp or something bothered it too much which caused it. My tank is stable, no changes.