Hammer coral half open

[Yahdiel91]

Hello reefers

For a few days my hammer coral has been half open, coral has 3 heads but only one of them is slightly closed.. Been watching it and I'm not seeing if anything is bothering it, don't see any sort of pest.. Parameters look good

Ph 8.4
Sal 34.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Alk 8.9
Pho 0.10
Temp 78

I've had it for over 2 years, never moved it and haven't changed anything since except for changing my powerheads recently went from current to Ai 3

Anything helps thank you

 

[blaxsun]

Could be the flow. Sometimes something disturbs the head (sand, debris, crab, etc.) and they won't full open.

 

[Yahdiel91]

Could be the flow. Sometimes something disturbs the head (sand, debris, crab, etc.) and they won't full open.

If its flow should I move it or move around the flow, I have noticed the flow for the Ai is alot wider

 

[blaxsun]

If its flow should I move it or move around the flow, I have noticed the flow for the Ai is alot wider

You can wait a bit, see if it improves - or try adjusting/repositioning the flow.

 

[Yahdiel91]

You can wait a bit, see if it improves - or try adjusting/repositioning the flow.

I just did a Retest, everything came out the same but my salinity read 37.9 after calibrating.. Could this be the issue?

 

[blaxsun]

I just did a Retest, everything came out the same but my salinity read 37.9 after calibrating.. Could this be the issue?

Well, that is a tad on the high side. You typically want somewhere in the 34.5ppt to 35.5ppt range.

 

[Yahdiel91]

Well, that is a tad on the high side. You typically want somewhere in the 34.5ppt to 35.5ppt range.

Yeah I usually keep it around 34.6-35 but my tester was reading Way off

 

[Uncle99]

You’ve had it in the same spot for 2 years.
Maybe someone bumped it by accident.
I’d do nothing at all for several days.
Many times, things seem to come and go.

 

[Yahdiel91]

You’ve had it in the same spot for 2 years.
Maybe someone bumped it by accident.
I’d do nothing at all for several days.
Many times, things seem to come and go.

Yeah same spot, never moved.. Only difference in my tank is just an upgrade on powerheads and my salinity that was reading Way off for a couple days.. also did a double test on alk and I'm getting 8.. must that be higher?

 

[Uncle99]

Yeah same spot, never moved.. Only difference in my tank is just an upgrade on powerheads and my salinity that was reading Way off for a couple days.. also did a double test on alk and I'm getting 8.. must that be higher?

No, it’s fine at 8 if that’s what your system runs at. Corals, some more than others, react to fluctuations in salinity and Alk.

I personally don’t keep Alk on the low end of the range, I run in the middle at 10, but this 10 remains 10 regardless of when I test.

Keep especially those two parameters on-point day in and day out with as little flux as possible.

You mentioned upgraded power heads, could this piece be getting more flow that before?