The "light" or glow effect I used only because originally this flame was just a plane solid black background (BLAH!) and totally lacked any atmosphere so I added 1 more transform with blur3d and noise variations (about .1 weight) just to give a touch of illumination and atmosphere.
Fabulous work and post work.
It reminds me of coral underwater. The light coming from the top is PERFECT. (OK, there's no actual light, but you've made it seem that way)
But thanks.