Upset Hammer

[russell.dexter]

I can't really take a great picture because of the odd placement of this hammer but he seems to never really have settled in.anf I'm looking for any advice or comments.

I've had it in tank about six weeks but it seems to only extend during its weekly feedings (reef roids)

Salinity is at a consistent 1.026
Temp varies 76-78F

Latest tests :

9.2dkh alkalinity
1450 mag
350 calcium

Any thoughts or advice?

 

[SilverRanger]

Hammers that don’t open are usually getting too much flow. Are the edges of where the fleshy polyp and the base meets receding or white? This could indicate excessive flow

 

[russell.dexter]

Hammers that don’t open are usually getting too much flow. Are the edges of where the fleshy polyp and the base meets receding or white? This could indicate excessive flow

Thank you for this. I tried to get a better picture when the lights went out tonight and think I can see the white edges you refer to.

I will find it a calmer spot lower down on the rock work tomorrow and see if that helps

Thanks!

 

[Shirak]

Looks like it has decent flesh around the skeleton. Do you have other stony corals? 350ppm Ca is low. What are your nutrient levels like? Do you target feed it?

 

[Shirak]

Ah I reread weekly feeding with reef roids. I find my lps like small pellets and chopped mysis better. I also feed them several times a week. There are no fish being feed daily though where my hammers are.
Nitrate and phosphate levels? I would try target feeding some larger food a few times a week and increase Ca

 

[russell.dexter]

Ah I reread weekly feeding with reef roids. I find my lps like small pellets and chopped mysis better. I also feed them several times a week. There are no fish being feed daily though where my hammers are.
Nitrate and phosphate levels? I would try target feeding some larger food a few times a week and increase Ca

Thanks again for this..... I thought the calcium was a bit low- I am doing NSW with large (50% - 75%) water changes every week so I'm thinking I will grab a gallon from the ocean and test the calcium level before I add to the tank again this weekend.

I am running chemipure blue which seems to be keeping the tank nutrient levels low- nitrate is always between 2-5mg/l. I haven't tested phosphates in quite a while but it has always been at 0 with the chemipure.

Only other LPS is a rose coral from live rock from the Caribbean- but it seems quite healthy and has been expanding well / growing. What I may do is feed some pellets if you think that's advisable- I have some New-Life spectrum pellets hanging around.

I will post the results of a phosphate test later. (Using salifert tests for all my readings btw.)

Any thoughts?

Thanks again!!!!

 

[Shirak]

Definitely check your NSW it may fluctuate in salinity and Ca depending on the time of year and recent weather. You may need to supplement here and there. I would prefer 400ppm Ca at least or a little higher.
I have tried making a paste with reefroids and feeding LPS but didn’t like the results. I think they prefer something not so powdered. With 0 near 0 PO4 it could be the weekly reefroids isn’t enough, especially if you are not feeding a moderate stocked fish level on a daily basis. I would try feeding a few pellets several times a week and see how it looks after a couple weeks.

 

[Nick Steele]

Yeah try lower flow and see if it works they don’t tend to like a lot of flow unless you slowly increase it on them.

Not saying it’s your cause but I had my hammer and frogspawn close up when I started to get Dino’s. It was really my first sign of them and they stayed 90% closed until I got rid of Dino’s 4 months later.

 

[russell.dexter]

Just got home to do some more water testing - salinity is a tad low - 1.025 versus my normal 1.026. In all honesty I did not test my NSW this past weekend which I realize is a big no no.

I'm not sure it's the salinity however because the issues have predated this last water change (and I did test the salinity of the last batch before this weekend.

I tested for phosphate and as I suspected- it was at 0 - the chemipure blue and water changes keep my nitrates and phosphates consistently low.

I retested for calcium tonight as well- twice- and both times got a reading of 430 with the salifert. I really think I mis read my last test results (which results I posted at the beginning of the thread)

I'm going to try and move the hammer further down tomorrow - although I have gone ahead and fed it some fish pellets tonight.

Really appreciate all the advice thus far. If you have any other ideas let me know!

 

[TeamAquaSD]

I'd move it into lower light and to an area with lower flow. Hammers usually close up like this when they're getting beat up by flow.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are a few tips and causes:
It takes a moderate level of skill to care for Hammer corals in a saltwater tank. Like most other coral species, Euphyllia requires Stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality, and is sensitive to almost any level of copper in the water. 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. This coral will start to die off if the calcium levels are too low. A calcium level of about 400 ppm is just right.
This coral species isn’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. Fast currents risk damaging the soft, fleshy polyps (and getting an infection). Bright lights will cause bleaching. Insufficient lighting will cause the poor coral to wither away and starve to death.
Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank. Just about any reef LED lighting should be sufficient for most tanks. Reduce white light intensity and get it off the sand bed which sand can irritate it.
The polyps should sway in the current, but not sustain so much pressure they are constantly bent over their skeleton. Too much flow will tear the polyps (worst case) and cause the polyps do not extend in the first place (best case). So, don’t give them too much flow.
The hammer coral is considered to be an aggressive coral species that will attack its neighbors with sweeper tentacles. These are stinging nematocysts (similar to the sting of an anemone) on the end of a specialized polyp that can extend several inches away from the body of the coral. The sweeper tentacles pack a punch and will chemically burn any neighboring corals.
Hammer corals are more subdued eaters who would benefit from the occasional feeding of a meaty marine food like mysis and brine shrimp.

 

[russell.dexter]

Yeah try lower flow and see if it works they don’t tend to like a lot of flow unless you slowly increase it on them.

Not saying it’s your cause but I had my hammer and frogspawn close up when I started to get Dino’s. It was really my first sign of them and they stayed 90% closed until I got rid of Dino’s 4 months later.

@Nick Steele so this happened over the last two days.....

I am not sure if this is dino or cyno- everything in the tank is really upset. (Notice the corky sea finger in the back with only a few polyps open.

Salinity is still 1.026 (after i bumped it up from 1.025
Nitrate is now just above 0 (maybe 2)
Phosphate still at 0
Alk is 11.0 since the last water change to bump up the salainity
Using salifert tests for the above

Can you help me ID this?

Thanks!




Thanks!

 

[Nick Steele]

From what I see doesn’t look like Dino’s but it is a little blurry. Dino’s will usually be brown and stringy and some types produce air bubbles. I identified my Dino’s with a microscope so I knew how to battle them. It was a kids one from Amazon for $15 and it works fine for what I wanted it for.