Hammer not looking to great

Im not sure whats going on. This hammer i got about a week ago has 9 heads. I just noticed one looks dead all of a sudden any ideas whats going on? All my parm are normal. Salt 1.026, nitrate 0 nitrite 0 ammonia 0. I have a 4 bulb T5 with 156 watts.

 

In general that hammer looks OK to me

the good news is that with these multi head LPS species, the loss of a single head
does not mean the end of the coral

possible causes are

1) poor handling - contact with the fleshy polyp whilst being transferred or relocated
this could have happened at the collection site, the LFS or when you moved it in your tank - oils in the human skin can cause this reaction in LPS corals as can moving them before they are fully deflated which can cause the fleshy polyp to be trapped and thus broken against its calcium skeleton

2) additions, water changes, top offs - pouring either RODI water or fresh salt water directly onto this type of coral can cause this to occur (IME)

3) proximity to surrounding rock work - if the coral when fully expanded has polyps that make contact with surrounding rockwork, the abrahsive nature of that rockwork can again cause heads to be punctured

Steve

 

Aaaahhh man that sucks! I have a hammer that looks just like that, the loss of one head is bad enough so lets see if we can get you taken care of. First thing that i would look into is tank placement. I keep mine kinda low in the tank in full light, moderate waterflow. They tend to not like fast watermovement. They thrive with additions of calcium and trace elements, there is a product by caribsea that is called purple up, it contains all of those as well as helping your coraline algae out. I feed mine reef bugs, coral cubes, and fuel throughout the week and they do great

 

Thanks u guys! Yeah i just got it and im in love I was totally bummed when i noticed it. It could be handling, we just moved our whole tank around...I used my hubs as a helper lol so it could of been when i wasnt looking!

Right now its mid tank, with low to med flow. I dose with Reef Accelerator or liquid reef weekly with water change. I dont target feed em should i? Ill have to try purple up and reef bugs...

 

Theres alot of mixed feelings about target feeding, i personally do both, mainly if i get some new corals and am trying to encourage them to eat. The reason that i use reef bugs (marc weiss product) is because it is micro and phytoplankton formula that replicates reef and marine snow. The good thing about it is the microbes in it cleans up the excess nutrients in your aquarium. And it feeds just about all corals including clams. The fuel by aquavitro is awesome also, i add a capful a week and within a month of using it i had new growths, tissue expansion, the whole nine yards! The purple up will just save you from having to buy 10 different bottles and have all that mess in your aquarium, just be sure to watch your calcium levels

 

I can't tell where it is in the tank. IME, hammer corals, in a T-5 setup do best at the top, directly under the T-5 lights. Also, target feeding definitely does help them to split. I tend not too as they grow fast anyways though.

 

I use Zooplan and my stuff seems to love it, I always notice the hammers hide at night when i normal feed maybe i should add a day time feeding. I use reef snow prob once a week to mix it up. I will def have to add those reef bugs, I like ot have variety lol Also have aquavitro on my list, where do ya get that?

I should move em back up my hubs moved em lower cause of the new scape. There right in the middle. I want them to multiply I have buddys tanks to fill lol

 

Leave them closer to the bottom with t5s, . The reef bugs and fuel i get at my lfs but i know for sure they can be found online probably a lil cheaper. If you like variety and cost doesnt matter look int feeding oyster eggs, or cyclopeeze which is just copepods. Both are also great products. You can make a mean coral soup with them all just make sure and be sparing with all componets when making the coral mash!