Hammer colony dying
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Vincent100
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I'd say possible sting or that it's just a wall hammer and they can be hard to keep long term and just all of a sudden start dying off.
Some people have success long-term with them and some struggle....like me twice
I can keep branching no problem but wall 3 /4 months later they start to die on me
I've frog spawns torch hammers all branching so to speak but no wall hammer and never will again
Some people have success long-term with them and some struggle....like me twice
I can keep branching no problem but wall 3 /4 months later they start to die on me
I've frog spawns torch hammers all branching so to speak but no wall hammer and never will again
It really looks like you have a case of brown jelly on your hands. It is an infection that can devastate your LPS corals. I have seen it wipe out entire colonies in a matter of a day. If possible using a turkey baster, remove as much of the brownish looking gel on the hammer as possible.
The biggest issue with wall hammers is unlike branching where you have multiple polyp heads so if you lose one or two you can typically save the colony, walls are one giant colony and once part of it dies off, chances are you will lose the entire colony. A similar thing happened to my rainbow wall hammer that was about 3/4 the size of yours. It got lightly injured and part of the flesh tore away from the skeleton. Then over the next several months it progressively lost more and more. I managed to save a small frag about 2" long and it lasted for another 6 months until it bailed.
You can try pulling the colony out, and cut out the exposed bone area leaving a small bit next to the main portion of the remaining colony. Dip The rest in Revive and then use super glue to seal the edge where the flesh is pulling back. This will help with infection since the flesh is pulled up away from the bone structure and can cause the coral to continue to waste away. Increase water flow to your tank and ensure the parameters are very stable.
Another thing to do is target feed your corals. This will help the hammer rebuild its weakened immune system and the reduce the sweepers from all your corals. Use something like Reef-Roids or Coral Frenzy and make a thick slurry out of it with some tank water. The using a dosing syringe, feed the slurry paste to the corals near the mouths. Repeat this every 2-3 days and you should start to see results. The corals will start pulling their sweepers in and keep them in. As a result you will Long term regular feedings will result in increased color and all your corals will look plump and happy.
The biggest issue with wall hammers is unlike branching where you have multiple polyp heads so if you lose one or two you can typically save the colony, walls are one giant colony and once part of it dies off, chances are you will lose the entire colony. A similar thing happened to my rainbow wall hammer that was about 3/4 the size of yours. It got lightly injured and part of the flesh tore away from the skeleton. Then over the next several months it progressively lost more and more. I managed to save a small frag about 2" long and it lasted for another 6 months until it bailed.
You can try pulling the colony out, and cut out the exposed bone area leaving a small bit next to the main portion of the remaining colony. Dip The rest in Revive and then use super glue to seal the edge where the flesh is pulling back. This will help with infection since the flesh is pulled up away from the bone structure and can cause the coral to continue to waste away. Increase water flow to your tank and ensure the parameters are very stable.
Another thing to do is target feed your corals. This will help the hammer rebuild its weakened immune system and the reduce the sweepers from all your corals. Use something like Reef-Roids or Coral Frenzy and make a thick slurry out of it with some tank water. The using a dosing syringe, feed the slurry paste to the corals near the mouths. Repeat this every 2-3 days and you should start to see results. The corals will start pulling their sweepers in and keep them in. As a result you will Long term regular feedings will result in increased color and all your corals will look plump and happy.
I'd say possible sting or that it's just a wall hammer and they can be hard to keep long term and just all of a sudden start dying off.
Some people have success long-term with them and some struggle....like me twice
I can keep branching no problem but wall 3 /4 months later they start to die on me
I've frog spawns torch hammers all branching so to speak but no wall hammer and never will again
Sorry for the late replies, just wanted to thank you guys for your input. the hammer colony is still slowly stripping away. We have tried to remove what could be brown jelly as recommended. If it continues to peel away we will frag it off. Thank you again.
Sorry to hear about the Hammer continuing to degrade. It's painful to watch such a beautiful coral go through that, and nothing you do seems to work. Having gone through a brown jelly outbreak myself I researched all sorts of treatment methods to stop the progression as well as prevent it. Some methods I have read include dipping the coral in R/O water as the protozoa that causes brown jelly cannot survive very long in fresh water so this will kill what's on the coral itself. Other methods include iodine dips but only after the coral has sat exposed to air for a little while to dry it out some (something like 20-30 min) so when it is introduced into the iodine dip it pulls the treatment water in and kills the protozoa. Increase water flow in the tank is another recommendation that was given from a well respected local LFS that 90% of his business is corals. Another LFS owner suggested dosing Strontium and Magnesium, on top of nightly inspections of the tank about an hour after lights out with a red light looking for anything physically attacking the corals ie: bristle worms. The last things I read that some reported success with was high powered UV sterilization and/or Ozone injection on the return side to kill off the active protozoa in the water column itself as the tank turns over.
Good luck with it, it's a tough battle with this stuff and sadly one that can attack and kill all the LPS corals in your tank.
Good luck with it, it's a tough battle with this stuff and sadly one that can attack and kill all the LPS corals in your tank.
No problem, hope you're able to stop the progression and save that colony.
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