New hammer giving trouble

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Hey everyone,

Picked up this hammer at my LFS. It was large and open when I purchased it. The young lady bagging it had it out of the water after being told not to, but I don't think that's the cause of this.

It seems to have retracted and maybe died in one spot. It is under low flow and I have the lighting at 20% on my Radion Blue G5. When I brought it home, I had them on 30% and it seemed to retract, so I lowered them even more.

Water params:

Alk: 9
Calc: 430
Mag: 1340
Salinity is 1.023 or 34

Thanks for any insight. I have a frogspawn that is doing great a bit over.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hey everyone,

Picked up this hammer at my LFS. It was large and open when I purchased it. The young lady bagging it had it out of the water after being told not to, but I don't think that's the cause of this.

It seems to have retracted and maybe died in one spot. It is under low flow and I have the lighting at 20% on my Radion Blue G5. When I brought it home, I had them on 30% and it seemed to retract, so I lowered them even more.

Water params:

Alk: 9
Calc: 430
Mag: 1340
Salinity is 1.023 or 34

Thanks for any insight. I have a frogspawn that is doing great a bit over.

More info - how long has it been at your house?

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

More info - how long has it been at your house?

Today is the 5th day.

 

[Shirak]

hmm looks like it might be a wall hammer? They are very sensitive and prone to disease. Your tank looks pretty new too which might be an issue. Perhaps it got a little damage in that one spot and now it's got an infection where the flesh is vanishing?

Just a FYI it's usually best not to mess with the light settings. Instead place new corals further down and move them up over time when you feel they are ready for more light. Also your salinity is a tad low, 1.025 or 1.026 is usually the recommended level, although I don't think it's the root issue with the hammer.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Hey there Shirak,

It isn't a wall, but a branching hammer. It has two heads. It's actually doing a bit better today. Some of that has came back, but not all. I can see the tentacles way down so maybe there is hope.

My refractometer was off a bit. I just calibrated and I am at 1.025. That's usually where it stays.

Oh and the light settings. This is a 40 Cube with a Radion XR30 G5 Blue, the full version not the XR15. I also have a Kessil A500X that I ran a couple of weeks and it's just too much for this tank. The tank is somewhat new yes, it's a 40 Cube.

I have the light down on 20% and that dropped the PAR to about 150 on the sand bed. I will raise it back gradually as I added a couple of Acro frags today. At 25% to 30%, the Radion is putting out about 280 PAR 18 inches under the light. That's about 9-10 inches off the top of the water abs about another 8 inches under the water is where the Acros are.

Another issue I have is probably too clean of water. I have the NASA command center on this tank . It has a UV, an Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 skimmer that is wonderful, full ceramic balls in the sump, just a ton of things. I also have a new Ozone system that I haven't installed yet. From the looks of the water, I won't need that.

Appreciate the input!

 

[Shirak]

Sounds like you are on top of things. I don't think it's reacting to too much par as the open portion looks good. I am guessing some tissue damage in that retracted spot along the top edge. They bruise very easily along the top where the thin skeleton extends. Keep a close eye it doesn't develop into BJD!

 

[Jbell370]

I typically sit all my new ones on the bottom for a month or so, then start to move them up. The solid colors, green, yellow, peach and pink seem fine as I place them higher, however the mixed color ones just don't work out for me higher up.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Hey all,

So now it has developed a covering that I am not familiar with. I am not a Euphyllia expert, so I thought I would ask the group.

Ever seen anything like this for one and what is it for two?

It is the top left of the hammer, looks like a thick skin growing over. Almost looks like Corralline Algae . It is where the skeleton was to begin with.

 

[Shirak]

Bacteria skin over dead tissue

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Bacteria skin over dead tissue

Oh yea? What is the purpose? Will it regrow or form new tissue?

Come to think of it, I had another similar Coral do this a decade ago and I can't remember what happened.

Appreciate the help!

 

[Shirak]

It's just bacteria growing over the dead tissue underneath. I would be cautious about blowing it off so would probably try sucking it out with a syphon to speed the process and get rid of the bacteria and the dead coral tissue remaining in the skeleton. The rest of the hammer looks ok still so hopefully whatever caused that one section to die off isn't spreading. If it stays localized to that one area the healthy tissue will recover and continue to grow. It probably won't ever grow back over the dead area but instead will grow upward and outward from where it is today and make new branches.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Thanks again,

Yea it seemed like that happened almost overnight. I believe I will leave it be and see how it does from here. Amazing how things can change that rapidly.

 

[jassermd]

Exactly what @Shirak said... that's BJD.
Most likely that head is a gonner and the other one isn't far behind.
You may want to dip in iodine to help. Not much you can do to help it... dipping is a good option, as is placing in lower light/flow.
As for hammers in general, it takes a moderate level of skill to care for hammer corals. Like most other coral species, euphyllia require stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality. Since they are a large polyp stony coral, calcium and alkalinity are two very important water parameters that will affect the growth of your coral. Hammers aren't terribly picky when it comes to the proper placement in your tank. The trick would really be just to avoid the extremes. Avoid extremely bright locations or areas of very high current, and avoid areas that are too dark or with currents that are too low. Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank.
It's likely that the lighting/flow/chemistry acclimation is too much for the hammer and it's slowly dying off. They can be temperamental when it comes to acclimating to a new tank, so it's likely you're experiencing such.