Hammer Coral Issues. Please Help!

[Nathan Peel]

I got a nice one head hammer coral from my LFS two days ago. It still had not fully opened up. It looked great in the store. I moved it around a bit and it never opened up. I have it in the lower part of the tank and it is getting low flow. I'm not sure why its having issues. Please help if you can.

Parameters[emoji3596]
Temperature: 75F
Ph: 8.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.25
Salinity: 1.024
Alkalinity: 8.7
Calcium: 460
Magnesium: 1500

I use an API test kit for Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Phosphate
I use a Red Sea test kit for Alk, Cal, and Mag

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Well, I see your salinity is a tad low from most people’s and your temp seems a bit low as well. Are you dosing this tank? Mag and calcium seem high for a low salinity. What salt brand are you using? What made you decide to choose 75°?

Bare in mind that your tanks chemistry is different than where that coral came from. It may need time to acclimate. Hope this helps! Happy reefing!!

 

[Nathan Peel]

It could be that, but every other coral is doing great. I have blastos, acans, zoas, a toadstool, and some other corals. They are all doing great. That's what's confusing me.

 

[Marco S]

It took a week for one of my Torches to open up and most of the other Euphellia I have took anywhere from a couple hours to a few days. Just leave it be and stop moving it around. It will come out when it decides to.

 

[Andy429]

Your phos should be nearer 0.03/4 and is currently on the high side. I would not want to run 0 nitrates either. That’s quite an imbalance. I run 10/15 and have very good growth and colour on my hammers. I would agree to leave it be until it settles though. They can take a bit of range in parameters if allowed to adjust.

 

[Nathan Peel]

Just wanted to update on this. It is open more and it opens more every day. I think leaving it be and letting it get used to the tank is key. (Sorry for the bad pictures!)