My Toxic Branching Hammer looks like it’s dying.

[mr.og.mia]

Have you tried something like Vibrant?

Yup a while back and wiped out my anemone I had at the time.. and did nothing to algae

 

[blaxsun]

Yup a while back and wiped out my anemone I had at the time.. and did nothing to algae

There’s BrightwellMIcroBacter Clean and Fritz Monster 460 you could give a try. Also boost your CUC?

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is both film algae and cyanobacteria. For the film algae, simply use an aquarium scraper or magnetic scraper/cleaner.
Is this tank by chance at or near a window?
Also, are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
As for cyano-
Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire. Just like when you eat too much sugar and your waistline starts to bloom, the same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[mr.og.mia]

This is both film algae and cyanobacteria. For the film algae, simply use an aquarium scraper or magnetic scraper/cleaner.
Is this tank by chance at or near a window?
Also, are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
As for cyano-
Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire. Just like when you eat too much sugar and your waistline starts to bloom, the same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Will definitely do all of that, again thanks to all for such great info on both topics!
I use RO/DI water and mix my own water. (Tropic marin reef pro). The hydrogen peroxide wont affects anemones?

 

[elorablue]

why are you dosing calcium? just wondering.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Will definitely do all of that, again thanks to all for such great info on both topics!
I use RO/DI water and mix my own water. (Tropic marin reef pro). The hydrogen peroxide wont affects anemones?

Peroxide- No effect

 

[outhouse]

Yup a while back and wiped out my anemone

a coincidence probably, I use vibrant and nems are all happy as can be and splitting so fast they end up in my filter sock and sumps no matter what I do. Vibrant takes a while. As far as your hammer its looking better, mine hated 50% light intensity, and now are are growing like weeds again at 10% B and 1 % W

 

[mr.og.mia]

hey guys, a little update. The hammer seems to be slowly getting better. Has gotten more color even though hes only 10% extended from his usual self. (Before he almost looked like a torch lol)

 

[cooltowncorals]

I have had hammers sit real tight like that until I moved them to less direct flow. Once they were in a lower flow corner of tank opened right up

looks like your problem was flow

 

[Uzidaisies]

Could you perhaps post a screenshot of your prime settings?

Hey everyone, no need to get all mad im sure everyone is trying to help from different perspectives.

As far as lighting, I have a AI Prime 16 HD running 8 hrs at about 50% intensity.
Right now thats the only hammer in the tank. The rest are zoas , GSP on the back wall and nems. And 1 candy cane (which appears to also be losing color)

As far as dosing, I just started today to dose calcium from red sea.

And im running chemipure blue.
Thank you for reaching out !! Hopefully we can save this lil guy of mine!

 

[mr.og.mia]

Hey everyone hope all is well,
Wanted to drop an update.
the hammer is still not at its best but it hasn’t died so still have hope!

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Hey everyone hope all is well,
Wanted to drop an update.
the hammer is still not at its best but it hasn’t died so still have hope!

It actually looks really good. Give it some time and don't change anything.

 

[crvz]

Looks good to me, too. I'm not sure how you're testing, but I've grown up thinking measurable ammonia or nitrite can be bad news in a reef tank. Increasing water changes (and any nutrient export) will certainly help. Your tank at 8 months isn't new anymore, but it may not be well established yet.

 

[Jenbob]

Hey everyone, My “toxic” branching hammer coral is showing its skeleton and losing color.
Kept in:
8month old waterbox 20g
See pic attached for latest water parameters.
Ive tried feeding it rods food and reef roid to no avail.
Lights are running 8hrs

Same is happing to mine

 

[mr.og.mia]

what’s up everyone, so another update on the hammer coral, it is 100% back. Its a bit closed in the pics due to bedtime lol most important change I made to the tank was I added more filter media and dosed microbacter 7 for a week at 20ml a day (probably wasted a lot of it by going so high but hey im not complaining). Now I’m still battling red slime algea…

 

[anthonygf]

Thanks for all that knowledge, it seems to be getting its color back, this afternoon I dosed the tank with calcium so maybe that helped.

im having a terrible bloom of brown hair algae… im only feeding the fish (2 clowns) and a small fox face once a week to keep nutrients low but still cant shake that brown nastiness. Any pointers?

Your poor fish are underfed, your clown has a sunken belly. I feed my fish twice a day and have no algae, all corals are growing like weeds. Feed your fish more, your can always export more nutrients if you need to. I think that could be part of your algae problem, maybe. I would think malnourished fish, just like people, can get sick easier.

 

[mr.og.mia]

Your poor fish are underfed, your clown has a sunken belly. I feed my fish twice a day and have no algae, all corals are growing like weeds. Feed your fish more, your can always export more nutrients if you need to. I think that could be part of your algae problem, maybe. I would think malnourished fish, just like people, can get sick easier.

They actually look very healthy. I feed them rods food three times a week. What are your parameters like? Do you have a skimmer?

 

[anthonygf]

They actually look very healthy. I feed them rods food three times a week. What are your parameters like? Do you have a skimmer?

Yes they do look healthy but I also see the belly is a little sunken, not fat like mine lol. I have a skimmer that I run 12 hours a day at night, but the skimmate drains into the filter box I made in my sump. I also dose 30-40m of live phyto and 15m of zooplankton daily, broadcast coral food 3 times a week. I don't spot feed corals.

Params are
Ph-8.2
Alk.-8.2
Mag.-1440
Cal.-480
Nitrate-25
Phosphate-0.150
Potassium, 390-420

75 gallons, Yellow Tang, 2 clowns, 2 three stripe damsels, flamehawk, filefish and a blue/green chromis. A bunch of corals and just added another clam. I do 10 gallon WC every week, have no crabs but around 400+ assorted snails.

The first pic was my 46 bowfront I had for 5 years before upgrading to 75 in Oct 2020, the other about 1 year later. A few pics of my pets. Enjoy. Hope you do well with yours, give it time.

 

[anthonygf]

I also have a 5 gallon HOB refugium with grape calerpa.

 

[mr.og.mia]

Yes they do look healthy but I also see the belly is a little sunken, not fat like mine lol. I have a skimmer that I run 12 hours a day at night, but the skimmate drains into the filter box I made in my sump. I also dose 30-40m of live phyto and 15m of zooplankton daily, broadcast coral food 3 times a week. I don't spot feed corals.

Params are
Ph-8.2
Alk.-8.2
Mag.-1440
Cal.-480
Nitrate-25
Phosphate-0.150
Potassium, 390-420

75 gallons, Yellow Tang, 2 clowns, 2 three stripe damsels, flamehawk, filefish and a blue/green chromis. A bunch of corals and just added another clam. I do 10 gallon WC every week, have no crabs but around 400+ assorted snails.

The first pic was my 46 bowfront I had for 5 years before upgrading to 75 in Oct 2020, the other about 1 year later. A few pics of my pets. Enjoy. Hope you do well with yours, give it time.

Very nice, idk if you read my initial posts, im running a 20g water box lol no skimmer only 2 snails… so if I fed all that trust me I’d have all kinds of issues, well now maybe not as much with all the media added. I’d have to try it out.