Hammer coral not extending?

[Notsolostfish]

I got this hammer coral like 3-4 weeks ago. It was doing great. Till one day it stopped expanding and opening fully. Its barely open now.

Calcium is 450
Phosphate is 0.02 it was 0
Salinity is 1.026
Temp is 77F.

My tank is only 2 months old. My lights are the radion g5 AB+ 65%. Previously rented a par meter to check and its all good within range.

I feed AB+ everynight sometimes reef roids.

 

[Dave1993]

what are nitrates

 

[Notsolostfish]

what are nitrates

They were 0 last night i checked with the phosphate but iv been trying heavy feeding so im gonna check tonight

 

[Dave1993]

that will be why the coral is starving get some bottled nitrate and dose to 10-15ppm

 

[mtraylor]

While getting your nitrates up. Also check your alkalinity

 

[Dburr1014]

Up your phosphate and nitrate.
"lights are a good range", what does that mean?
Do you know the par?
This tank is really new. What else is in the tank?
The flesh is slightly receded, has it been like this or has it been declining since you have had it? To be honest, it looks like it has been receeded for sometime. Probably before you purchased it but it's hard to tell in the very blue video.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Up your phosphate and nitrate.
"lights are a good range", what does that mean?
Do you know the par?
This tank is really new. What else is in the tank?
The flesh is slightly receded, has it been like this or has it been declining since you have had it? To be honest, it looks like it has been receeded for sometime. Probably before you purchased it but it's hard to tell in the very blue video.

I really mentioned in my post that i rented a par meter and by good i mean 80-90 par. So. It was doing amazing since the first day i got it. Fully open. I dont know what happened.

 

[Dburr1014]

I really mentioned in my post that i rented a par meter and by good i mean 80-90 par. So. It was doing amazing since the first day i got it. Fully open. I dont know what happened.

80-90 is not enough.
Should be more like 150 par.
Your coral is hungry for nutrients and light.

 

[Notsolostfish]

80-90 is not enough.
Should be more like 150 par.
Your coral is hungry for nutrients and light.

50-150 is the requirement for a hammer or im crazy? It was open for 4 weeks.... so

 

[Lavey29]

Your tank is to new. Your nutrients are bottomed out and your lighting is to low par. These areas have all been presented correctly to you by the other posters. Make appropriate corrections. Wait a few months before adding more LPS coral to give your tank time to develop biodiversity and microfauna or you will be burning holes in your wallet. Your ugly stages are coming fast and furious the first year also.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Your tank is to new. Your nutrients are bottomed out and your lighting is to low par. These areas have all been presented correctly to you by the other posters. Make appropriate corrections. Wait a few months before adding more LPS coral to give your tank time to develop biodiversity and microfauna or you will be burning holes in your wallet. Your ugly stages are coming fast and furious the first year also.

How come a 90 par for a hammer is low since when?

 

[HomebroodExotics]

You need to let your tank settle for a bit. You have a lot going on in it for 2 months. It is going to be a very bumpy road and it will be hard for you to pinpoint problems the more you change things.

 

[Dburr1014]

How come a 90 par for a hammer is low since when?

This says medium light. Medium to me means 120 to 250. But that's me.

Hammer Coral Care - Keeping and caring for your hammer corals

This article covers general information of the hammer coral and give tips and helpful info about successfully keeping hammer corals in your reef aquarium.

fragbox.ca

This says 80 to 120 which I think is on the lower side.

Hammer coral care: placement & feeding of Euphyllia ancora

Looking for a great coral to jazz up your tank without being too difficult to care for? You might be in the market for a hammer coral. Before you buy...

www.saltwateraquariumblog.com

This seems to be a good article.

Hammer coral: Care, Placement, Lighting, Growth (Beginners Guide) - AquaticStories

This post may contain affiliate links. As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchase. Learn moreYour first reef aquarium ... Read more

www.aquaticstories.com

 

[jkcoral]

How come a 90 par for a hammer is low since when?

All of my hammers, frogspawn, and Octospawn seem to have a “sweet spot” around 125-150 par, but a few want/like/can handle even more. For what it’s worth, I personally don’t know anyone that keeps them in that low of par.

Also, as others mentioned, your nutrients are low. Many hammers come from turbid, nutrient rich water. They’re much happier, in my experience, with some higher nutrients. Same thing goes for several other LPS corals like my trachy and scoly.

Other than those two points (which I think are the likely cause), another thing to keep an eye on is your flow. If you happened to make any changes to your flow, return nozzles, etc., the hammer might be getting pounded with too much flow, or maybe not enough. So keep an eye on that as well.

 

[FIN&BONEZ]

Had the same problem with our euphyllia due to really clean water so we started feeding easylps pellets and have had great results without scumming up the water which our sps dont like.

 

[Spare time]

They were 0 last night i checked with the phosphate but iv been trying heavy feeding so im gonna check tonight

Bump up the reef energy dosage. That would work. Make sure to not overlight the hammer (keep around 80-150 ish par and it will be happy). Alternatively, you can dose it twice a day. I like to dose mid day or whenever I get back home to the tank.