Black Skelton around the edge of hammer

[smarcuscofer]

So I've noticed the edges of the skeleton that look like teeth on my hammer are starting to turn black where they used to more of a bright white is this algae, infection, dieing? My other corals seem pretty happy but the hammer is not extending well on top of this any thoughts I'd appreciate any thoughts it's hard to get a good pic but I tried any way

 

[Timfish]

Yup, it doesn't look happy. You're probably seeing some tissue loss and subsequent growth of algae on the exposed skeleton. To be honest, it looks to me like your PAR might be on the low side.

 

[smarcuscofer]

Yup, it doesn't look happy. You're probably seeing some tissue loss and subsequent growth of algae on the exposed skeleton. To be honest, it looks to me like your PAR might be on the low side.

I run a prime hd on an ab+ spectrum over a wb 20 cube like on brs videos I've got it on acclimation for a new toad stool and birdnest but it's been running the normal for a while before that it has been struggling since a round with dino a while back I think I've not tested par so I couldn't tell you I've been moving it around trying to find a good spot it doesn't seem to like any thing I do... Do I need to dose with vibrant or peroxide or do a dip to push the algae back or will the flesh take it back assuming I can make it happy

 

[Timfish]

How long are you letting it adjust to hte new lighting conditions when you move it? It can take weeks to months for a coral to adjust it's photobiology to new lighting. Constantly moving it around can just be an additional source of stress. Not have PAR (or even lux) readings the next best thing would be to find someone with the same fixture and similar hammer and duplicate their settings. If it was mine I wouldn't dip it, it's jsut an other source of stress for it and the algae is more a secondary issue. (if it was hair algae or turf algae I would dip it as they release lots of DOC that's not good for corals, see ROhwer's "COral Reefs in the Microbial Seas".) I personally wouldn't use vibrant but if you do don't stop doing water changes or monitoring your alkalinity, pH, calcium and magnesium.

 

[smarcuscofer]

How long are you letting it adjust to hte new lighting conditions when you move it? It can take weeks to months for a coral to adjust it's photobiology to new lighting. Constantly moving it around can just be an additional source of stress. Not have PAR (or even lux) readings the next best thing would be to find someone with the same fixture and similar hammer and duplicate their settings. If it was mine I wouldn't dip it, it's jsut an other source of stress for it and the algae is more a secondary issue. (if it was hair algae or turf algae I would dip it as they release lots of DOC that's not good for corals, see ROhwer's "COral Reefs in the Microbial Seas".) I personally wouldn't use vibrant but if you do don't stop doing water changes or monitoring your alkalinity, pH, calcium and magnesium.

I've moved it 3 or 4 times in a year I think and probably 2 months was the shortest time in-between moves I try to be patient with it... I've had it for a little over a year and it's always been just ok never really thriving maybe tried to but hadn't been the same since the dino battle.... Any clue what makes the rocks look so black all the time it's green in normal light but black almost when the light comes on

 

[Timfish]

That's good you're not moving it around too much. You might try keeping in in a small hospital tank for a few days or a week and try Cipro as outlined by @AquaBiomics in his thread here:

Experimenting with in-tank antibiotic treatments for Brown Jelly Disease

Brown Jelly Disease (BJD) is an issue many reefers have run into. Like most coral diseases, the pathogen causing BJD has not been conclusively determined. Here I will share some observations and test results supporting the idea that its caused by a bacterial pathogen, and so may be treatable...

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