Clownfish harming hammer coral during breeding

[Israel John Laws]

My pair of clownfish has recently laid eggs beside my splatter hammer. They used to lay eggs in a cave formed by a rather large Hollywood stunner chalice. About 2 months ago I removed the stunner chalice because it was too large for my tank and was shading out other corals. Now that they have laid eggs beside the hammer, one of the polyps is very aggravated and is recessed back into the skeleton. Today is the first day I noticed the new batch of eggs. I am quickly trying to decide whether I need to move the hammer away from the clowns. I am afraid that if this polyp is continuously aggravated and recessed for 2-3 weeks that it will die and weaken the entire corals immune system. Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

 

[BlennyTime]

It certainly could irritate the coral to death. You may want to consider moving it.

It looks like a branching hammer, in which case a head dying wouldn’t necessarily mean others dying as well.