Coral suggestions

[Uzair Aiman]

Hi. Ive a 27 gallon AIO tank which has been up for 3 months now. A pair of clown and a 6 line are my current stockings.

I only have a frag of GSP and a wall hammer coral.
Ive made a realisation of having a mistake of not asking my LFS what type of hammer it was as I didnt do enough research on hammer corals when I bought it. Its has come to my attention that wall hammers are hard to keep. So technically, as a beginner, my wall hammer is showing tissue recession :/.
Like real bad. I run a BB magus QQ protein skimmer, a bag of carbon, seachems Phosguard (because I had a diatom bloom), Seachems Purigen (because I guess my nitrates and phosphates were going crazy, thought that was the cause of the tissue recession, this was available at my LFS at the time and the testers were out of stock so I had to order online), and a filter floss for my filtration.

My Nitrate and Phosphates testers are coming in from postage in a few days.
All I know for now is :
Salinity : 1.025
Alk : 7-8 (last tested 2 days ago)
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0.

I feed my clowns and 6 line pellet food, Zooplanktos-s and mysis shrimp. (not altogether but change every feeding).
I keep feeding on the low.

I can say that its most likely to die. (my hammer).

So from this, is there any way I can make him okay again? When I had him in my tank 3 weeks ago it bloomed beautifully.
I tried feeding it mysis and Zooplanktos-s.

Is it my fault? Cause it is my first LPS coral and I just felt guilty and failed due to this. Feeling down and scared in buying new corals.
Was I rushing into LPS corals? Was it my fault? What can I do to try and save this wall hammer? Is it safe to add more corals?

My GSP seem to be happy.

I was thinking of adding a bubble coral next, is it okay? What type of bubble corals are there? (are there branching ones and walls too? or are there only branching?, Ive heard that bubbles are hardy).

Any other coral suggestions that are easy to care for is welcomed. Softies or LPS (I want LPS though haha).

I feel bad and down as I spent my good earnt money on that coral.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Do you have pictures of the hammer? It may still be salvageable. How long has it been in the tank? Could be stressed.
Very important to check phos and nitrate when it comes too. They are the very important, as corals feed off of them. Too high and algae blooms occur and it the concentration can simply become toxic, too low and the corals starve.

Don’t sweat the wall hammer. Only way to learn is to do. I lost and expensive wall the same way when my tank was more mature than yours. It just receded more and more h til brown jelly got it.
Even the most experienced reefers have trouble with them. In the future look for branching, they are far hardier, as is frogspawn.
Bubble is similar in care to other euphyllia. I believe it grows similar to Aussie torches, where the main head grows and divides making a sort of wall/branch at the same time.
Easy lps for beginners are trumpet, favia, frogspawn, and blasto.
For colorful softies, look at the green leathers and zoas. Xenia and their relatives (cloves and gsp) and beautiful. Gsp is basically impossible to kill, so opposite the spectrum from wall hammers.
Mushrooms are also beautiful.
At 3 months in, it is on the early side for lps, but not bad. The easier lps should do fine.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Do you have pictures of the hammer? It may still be salvageable. How long has it been in the tank? Could be stressed.
Very important to check phos and nitrate when it comes too. They are the very important, as corals feed off of them. Too high and algae blooms occur and it the concentration can simply become toxic, too low and the corals starve.

Don’t sweat the wall hammer. Only way to learn is to do. I lost and expensive wall the same way when my tank was more mature than yours. It just receded more and more h til brown jelly got it.
Even the most experienced reefers have trouble with them. In the future look for branching, they are far hardier, as is frogspawn.
Bubble is similar in care to other euphyllia. I believe it grows similar to Aussie torches, where the main head grows and divides making a sort of wall/branch at the same time.
Easy lps for beginners are trumpet, favia, frogspawn, and blasto.
For colorful softies, look at the green leathers and zoas. Xenia and their relatives (cloves and gsp) and beautiful. Gsp is basically impossible to kill, so opposite the spectrum from wall hammers.
Mushrooms are also beautiful.
At 3 months in, it is on the early side for lps, but not bad. The easier lps should do fine.

I have my lights off right now and my fish are sleeping, is it fine if I turn it on for a sec to take a pic?

I will test my nitrates and phosphates ASAP.

I have realized some brown stuff coming off of it, like a string, but Im not sure if its just the poop (since I feed it idk if it even ate) or brown jelly disease Quite frightened by it.

For bubble corals, are they only one type? or are there walls and branching like these hammers are too? Cause Im afraid that Id buy a wrong one again.

Ive been interested in frogspawns. Other corals there are kinda hard to find here in Malaysia where I live.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I have my lights off right now and my fish are sleeping, is it fine if I turn it on for a sec to take a pic?

I will test my nitrates and phosphates ASAP.

I have realized some brown stuff coming off of it, like a string, but Im not sure if its just the poop (since I feed it idk if it even ate) or brown jelly disease Quite frightened by it.

For bubble corals, are they only one type? or are there walls and branching like these hammers are too? Cause Im afraid that Id buy a wrong one again.

Ive been interested in frogspawns. Other corals there are kinda hard to find here in Malaysia where I live.

Fine to turn lights on for a second.
For reference, poop looks like this, a thin brown strand coming from the mouth:

And this is brown jelly, where the flesh becomes brown jelly and sloughs off:

I believe bubbles only come branching. They grow like Aussie torches, where the head splits into two, making branches. They grow in a wall like fashion though, and the heads are much more connected than in a branching coral (if that makes sense).

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Fine to turn lights on for a second.
For reference, poop looks like this, a thin brown strand coming from the mouth:

And this is brown jelly, where the flesh becomes brown jelly and sloughs off:

I believe bubbles only come branching. They grow like Aussie torches, where the head splits into two, making branches. They grow in a wall like fashion though, and the heads are much more connected than in a branching coral (if that makes sense).

Sorry if these pictures are unclear.

Thats how it looks like most of the time. Sometimes SOME flesh do come out (not long thought just like a bubble of flesh on top of the skeleton, I still see the purple skeleton).

One string on the left side is I guess the poop getting stuck there along a mysis shrimp head haha Ill remove that tomorrow.

this is my concern after you sent me that photo.
Im not sure if you can see it there but there some brown right in the middle there. Im not sure if its stringy or bubbly since it technically like lodged in the center of the hammer.

I get the bubble coral explanation. Should I go for bubble corals next? Maybe in a few weeks.

 

[Sharkbait19]

In a few weeks a bubble would be safe.

The hammer doesn’t look too good. Even at night while pooping, that is bad. The brown string is poop, but it looks like brown jelly is setting in. Iodine dip might help, but at this point I am not sure it will make it. If/when it dies, be very careful taking it out. Put a ziploc or plastic bag over the top and turn off flow when taking it out. If Bjd gets off it can contaminate all other lps. You would want to get that out before any other lps.
@Eagle_Steve
@Just John
Thoughts?

 

[LuizW13]

My immediate response is that you have no Nitrates/Phosphates. You mentioned a protein skimmer, phosguard and purigen in a 27 gallon that has been up for 3 months with 3 small fish; to me that confirms my suspicion.

I lost so many corals including Euphyllias to no nutrients (and bad lights) when I first started off. You may want to get Nitrate and phosphate additives when you get your tests in. But for now, If it was me, I'd remove the filtration with the plan to increase those Nitrates and Phosphates (slowly).

 

[Uzair Aiman]

In a few weeks a bubble would be safe.

The hammer doesn’t look too good. Even at night while pooping, that is bad. The brown string is poop, but it looks like brown jelly is setting in. Iodine dip might help, but at this point I am not sure it will make it. If/when it dies, be very careful taking it out. Put a ziploc or plastic bag over the top and turn off flow when taking it out. If Bjd gets off it can contaminate all other lps. You would want to get that out before any other lps.
@Eagle_Steve
@Just John
Thoughts?

Is it better if I just gave up on it? Just remove it from the tank for now. Getting dips and any medication is hard here in my place. Or maybe move it to a quarantine tank? It really pains me to remove it though, but if its for the best :/

 

[Uzair Aiman]

My immediate response is that you have no Nitrates/Phosphates. You mentioned a protein skimmer, phosguard and purigen in a 27 gallon that has been up for 3 months with 3 small fish; to me that confirms my suspicion.

I lost so many corals including Euphyllias to no nutrients (and bad lights) when I first started off. You may want to get Nitrate and phosphate additives when you get your tests in. But for now, If it was me, I'd remove the filtration with the plan to increase those Nitrates and Phosphates (slowly).

I dont think I dont have nitrates/phosphates in the first place. I added the filters because I thought I had too high of them. The coral shrunk up before I added the Skimmer, Phosguard and Purigen. I suspected high Nitrates and Phosphates due to algae.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Is it better if I just gave up on it? Just remove it from the tank for now. Getting dips and any medication is hard here in my place. Or maybe move it to a quarantine tank? It really pains me to remove it though, but if its for the best :/

If you have a qt you may want to move it there for now.

 

[LuizW13]

Is it better if I just gave up on it? Just remove it from the tank for now. Getting dips and any medication is hard here in my place. Or maybe move it to a quarantine tank? It really pains me to remove it though, but if its for the best :/

If the only other coral you have is GSP, I'd leave it in. You never know, maybe it'll bounce back.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

My immediate response is that you have no Nitrates/Phosphates. You mentioned a protein skimmer, phosguard and purigen in a 27 gallon that has been up for 3 months with 3 small fish; to me that confirms my suspicion.

I lost so many corals including Euphyllias to no nutrients (and bad lights) when I first started off. You may want to get Nitrate and phosphate additives when you get your tests in. But for now, If it was me, I'd remove the filtration with the plan to increase those Nitrates and Phosphates (slowly).

I forgot to mention that I had a diatom bloom, now transitioning into a green algae. And the coral started to shrink when diatoms came into the tank

 

[Uzair Aiman]

If you have a qt you may want to move it there

Woops I just realized that I would need more rocks/sand and cycle a tank to set up a safe tank haha. So technically I dont have a qt tank...Plus I dont have extra lights for the coral in a qt tank

 

[Uzair Aiman]

If the only other coral you have is GSP, I'd leave it in. You never know, maybe it'll bounce back.

My concern in leaving it in is the brown jelly disease would infect my tank. What I mean is, if I were to remove it when its totally dead, there are still traces of the disease and it will kill future corals I add. Or does it not spread like that?

 

[Sharkbait19]

With no corals to infected it would starve and die eventually. And medicines can be used to kill it.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

With no corals to infected it would starve and die eventually. And medicines can be used to kill it.

How long will it last til I can add new LPS corals if I were to leave this hammer in my tank? (and if it dies with brown jelly :/ ). What medicines can be used and can it be used directly into the DT?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Antibiotics like cipro are used. I’m not sure how long it stays in a system.

 

[Just John]

In a few weeks a bubble would be safe.

The hammer doesn’t look too good. Even at night while pooping, that is bad. The brown string is poop, but it looks like brown jelly is setting in. Iodine dip might help, but at this point I am not sure it will make it. If/when it dies, be very careful taking it out. Put a ziploc or plastic bag over the top and turn off flow when taking it out. If Bjd gets off it can contaminate all other lps. You would want to get that out before any other lps.
@Eagle_Steve
@Just John
Thoughts?

I agree with this. I have never had a hammer coral, but it is clearly struggling. Since you don't have any other lps, I don't think it needs to be taken out immediately because the gsp won't catch brown jelly disease from it. But, once it dies the soft tissue will decay fast, so you need to do what sharkbait19 recommended with a plastic bag.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

I agree with this. I have never had a hammer coral, but it is clearly struggling. Since you don't have any other lps, I don't think it needs to be taken out immediately because the gsp won't catch brown jelly disease from it. But, once it dies the soft tissue will decay fast, so you need to do what sharkbait19 recommended with a plastic bag.

Alright, I guess Ill just leave it in the DT for now and try my best to see whats wrong in the first place. Ill check my Nitrates and Phosphates ASAP. If it lives, thank god but if it dies Ill do the bag technique to remove it. Wait a couple of weeks and then add a bubble coral. Sound like a good and safe plan? or do I need to have a longer window between removal and addition of the bubble coral

 

[Just John]

Personally, I would not do anything but the easiest LPS for now. It would be best if your parameters are stable in the correct ranges for a while first. There are a lot of good soft corals so you don't feel like you are looking at an empty tank. For example, pulsing Xenia is great, but you just need to keep it on an island, because it will spread all over anything it is touching.