Hammer coral bleaching!

[Ckparent]

My hammer coral has begun to bleach for some unknown reason. Before the hammer corals had fully opened up I noticed these white fuzzy things that were on my hammer coral’s base. Do you think they could be the reason for this bleaching or is it something else, and if it is what I should test to keep this coral from fully bleaching

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

bleaching is normally caused by too strong light or not strong enough light, or by unusually warm water.

I would suggest to post a pic of the hammer coral (I dont see bleaching in the pic you posted, I still color in the polyps), and a full tank pic. And also list your water parameters, then the lps coral guru's should be able to help you.

 

[Ckparent]

Ok thanks I’ll make a thread with those my parameters, A picture, and my type of light and see the feedback

 

[Dburr1014]

Ok thanks I’ll make a thread with those my parameters, A picture, and my type of light and see the feedback

Or you could post them here, why make another thread?
How long have you had the hammer? Those look like sponges. The flesh of the hammer is receded, it should extend a little further down the stalk so it hasn't been happy for a while.
Test and post.

 

[Ckparent]

I have it for 2 weeks now, do you think that it could have been my fault the stock is unhappy, or the store that I bought the hammer from.
Here’s is some of the components of the tank
Light: coralife Led(looking to upgrade to prime 16hd)
Water parameters:
Salinity 1.024(been stable around 1.024)
Alkalinity: 10.2 DKH
Nitrates 10 ppm
2 Sicce 1000L/H stream pumps
Picture of bleached coral

 

[Yates273]

Doesn’t look bleached to me. Could just be the lighting. If you want it to “pop” give it more blue lighting.

 

[Ckparent]

Alright I’m talking with the owner of the store right now, and I’ll figure out if there is any other problems

 

[Ckparent]

After talking to the owner he said that my alkalinity should be between 7-8, so I’m going to stop dosing for a little bit, and he also said that my tank looked to clean. Do you think that I should start feeding the hammer coral since i don’t have any fish in the tank at the time?

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

the ALK should be a bit lower, but that wont affect the hammer a significant amount. I wouldnt bother changing it at the moment.

How is your tank cycled if you dont have any waste source to keep the bacteria alive? ( fish )

 

[Ckparent]

No I recently lost both of my clownfish which I had for about a month and a half due to ich because I had not qt one of the clownfish. My tank has been running for around 3 months now. I’m not sure what to do because I do not want to add fish when the ich could still be in the tank. Everyone I talked to has also said that my tank looked to clean, so maybe that is the problem. Also do you think that alk should be lower than 7 dkh

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

No I recently lost both of my clownfish which I had for about a month and a half due to ich because I had not qt one of the clownfish. My tank has been running for around 3 months now. I’m not sure what to do because I do not want to add fish when the ich could still be in the tank. Everyone I talked to has also said that my tank looked to clean, so maybe that is the problem. Also do you think that alk should be lower than 7 dkh

not lower than 7, lower than the 10 that you currently have. I prefer to keep mine around 8-9, but 7-8 will do fine as well.

And as I said, all of these alk ranges shouldn't have that much of an impact on your coral.

 

[Ckparent]

What do you think I should do about how clean my tank is?

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

What do you think I should do about how clean my tank is?

based on the nitrate numbers your tank really isn't too clean, it is just that it looks that way. When people say it looks to clean they mean that it doesnt look established enough. your numbers point to it being established though.

 

[Ckparent]

After talking to the owner he said that my alkalinity should be between 7-8, so I’m going to stop dosing for a little bit, and he also said that my tank looked to clean. Do you think that I should start feeding the hammer coral since i don’t have any fish in the tank at the time?

based on the nitrate numbers your tank really isn't too clean, it is just that it looks that way. When people say it looks to clean they mean that it doesnt look established enough. your numbers point to it being established though.

Yeah people are saying on another forum that my tank looks to clean which means that it is too clean. I think that it may be because I had just cleaned the glass, but most of the time my glass and sand is dirty

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Yeah people are saying on another forum that my tank looks to clean which means that it is too clean. I think that it may be because I had just cleaned the glass, but most of the time my glass and sand is dirty

I think the rock is the main concern here. clean glass and sand are simply a sign of a well taken care of tank, but the rock being white as the day it went in the water is a sign it hasn't been in for very long, which wont allow it to be live rock yet.

 

[Ckparent]

What do you think is the best way to change my rocks color. Do you think I should introduce some live rock, or feed even if I have no fish, any advice helps

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

What do you think is the best way to change my rocks color. Do you think I should introduce some live rock, or feed even if I have no fish, any advice helps

I think introducing some live rock with coraline would be your best option.

 

[Ckparent]

I just visited one of my local saltwater fish stores and he supplied me with a piece of live rock with loads of coraline and a piece of activated filter floss

 

[fish farmer]

I'd also give the hammer a little bit of food. I like using a turkey baster and broadcasting chunky food like mysis or formula one. You hammer look a lot like the same one in my profile picture which are actually a frammer, they have hammer like tops but small side knobs like a frogspawn.

Also the little white things on the base are pineapple sponges which are filter feeders and shouldn't cause problems.

 

[Ckparent]

Here’s a week after I lowered my temperature to 75 degrees and I started broadcast feeding the tank. Definitely not seeing the green be so translucent and the purple is starting to come back. Thanks for all the advice.