Cutting wall Hammer questions?

skinz78 · Mar 9, 2013

I just brought home a new wall Hammer from the LFS and I got it at a great price because it has about 8" of dead skeleton on the one side of it. I'm wondering if I cut the skeleton off with a hacksaw if the coral will be OK? How close can I cut the skeleton off?

Ninjapotamus · Mar 10, 2013

You can cut away the dead skeleton no problems. Give it about 25% margin of safety and go for it.

Honestly tho, if you place it in a lower flow area and give it a month it will probably expand so large that you cant see that part of the skeleton.

ritter6788 · Mar 10, 2013

I'd cut that as close as you can to the flesh without tearing it more. I like to use frag cutters and slowly grind away the excess skeleton until it's smooth. Dead skeleton on LPS is very sharp and does more damage if the living tissue is brushing up against it. LPS also has a very hard time growing back over sharp dead skeleton. If it's smoother then it will grow back over the dead part faster.

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skinz78 · Mar 10, 2013

Thanks for the replies. I cut it off last night. I dipped the coral in some Revive for a few min and low and behold a flatworm came out of it. Once in the tank it was fully opened up within about 5 min. I'll try to get some pic's of it tonight.