Please Help..Losing my Hammer Coral to BJD and already lost my torch

Hello

I am needing some help/advice. I purchased this past Saturday a Torch and Hammer coral from my LFS. I was so excited about these two new purchases. I acclimated (drip) them for about an hour and a half before putting in my DT.
I am a beginner and advised this much to the sales person at LFS, but he assured me that these are fairly easy to care for and I should be ok with my current lighting.
Well...I had to toss out last night my torch because he was covered in BJD. I did try and syphone(OMG it smelled so bad too) but after speaking with the LFS he suggested tossing it or chase it spreading to the rest of my coral.

Now my hammer has never fully opened. Even at LFS he was closed but do to my inexperience, I did not know any better so still purchased it. The first night both corals eat great and closed up afterwards. The hammer since has never opened back up. I researched and tried to move him to see if the placement could have been the reason but still nothing. This morning when I turned lights on, I noticed a brown stringy thing floating from his skeleton and was like..CRAP he has it too now. So I repeated the process and removed him from DT and placed in a seperate bowl and started to syphone the nasty BJD off him. I cleared away pretty much most of it and then let him soak for about 5 minutes in this bowl and added a little of my iodine supplement solution (Bright Well).

Is my hammer salvagable?? What steps should I take at this point. Any help would be appreciated.
I fear that after reviewing pictures from the first night I purchased, he may have already been infected with it.


Oh and I called LFS and filled them in and asked about a gurantee, but was told that they got those corals in the day before so no guarantee on them.

I just did a 10G water change on Sunday because I rearranged my LR.

water param:
SPG 1.022
Water Temperature 76F-78F
Nitrate between 5-10ppm checked last night
Ph 7.8


Tank background.

46G Bowfront with about 40 lbs LR
Aqueon 55 filteration
powerhead
Coralife 36W and 36W Actinic
LED strip not sure wattage??
1 Coral Beauty
1 Occ Clown
4 Hermits
5 Peppermint Shrimp
1 Bubble Tip Anemone
This was an established tank (2 yrs) when I purchased 5 months ago. Took original water/sand/LR

Day I purchased



Last night

 

after I syohoned the BJD this am




my tank

 

Hate to say it but it looks real bad for that Euph. All you can do is treat with iodine baths and siphon.

If you're not using a product like Lugols or some other iodine based med, then don't use more than 15 drops per liter of tank water in a separate container to be safe.

LPS are sensitive to how they are handled, especially Euphyllia (hammers, torches and frogspawn). Touching the flesh can transfer bacteria, letting the head hit hard against the skeleton can open wounds which allow bacteria in. When I buy a Euphy at the LFS I tell them how I want it taken out of the tank and bagged. Just dropping them head down into the bag is enough to cause problems especially if the flesh isn't fully retracted.

Sorry but if you have 50% skeleton just since this morning you most likely will have nothing but skeleton by morning.

 

I'm not an expert on corals yet, but two things I noticed is your salinity should be 1.025ish and PH atleast 8.2 up to 8.4. Most stores that I have delt with don't give warranty but the store shouldn't sell a coral to anyone, that is clearly struggling!! I'm a beginner and would be upset tooooo!

 

Wow I didn't see the tank specs.

How long has the tank been set up? That rock looks more like 5 month old rock than rock that came from an established tank.

Your SG should be 1.025-1.026
Your pH isn't deadly but it should be at least 8.4.

 

I bought the tank 5 months ago and she had it set up for 2 1/2 yrs before that. She upgraded to a larger tank so this was reason to sell. I thought it a better option to purchase an established tank then starting from scratch. (cost wise)

I've been using instant ocean salt mixed with RO/DI water.
I've been told just recently that is not the best salt and can cause the low PH which is what I have been struggling with. Usually it's around 8.0-8.2 but it's dropped.
I did battle ich for a few months with my blue hippo who i did lose eventually. I treated with ICH attack (Cordon) and removed cartridges for about 2 two weeks after that. Both my clown and Coral beauty are doing great.
I forgot to mention that I also have 2 frag's of candy cane's and never have had a problem with them other than not growing new heads.

I would love any advice to help me manage and be better with my tank. I am loving this hobby.

 

Here are a few of my suggestions:

Salinity seems to be your main problem right now. I'd slowly drip in a hypersaline solution into the tank over the next week to bring it up to 1.026. I don't think stony corals could survive more than a couple of months at the salinity your tank is at now.

pH is low at 7.8, but I've seen plenty of successful tanks that maintain pH's around 8. I suggest using an alkalinity supplement on a regular basis. That should slowly bring up the pH.

I also suggest buying some test kits for alkalinity, phosphate, and calcium.

 

+1 to above posts.

I would just add that in the future if you find yourself with a BJD problem in the beginning stages, a therapeutic dose of 30PPM of Pure pH stabilized Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) should cure the problem.

Def agree with above posters that the handling of Euphs. is VERY critical and that a damaged crown might not be obvious for months down the line.

Best of luck in the future.

 

Thank you all so very much. I truly appreciate all the suggestions.

I came home and he did in fact look worse, so I made the decision to toss it. I don't want to risk my candy canes.

I guess at this point I need to move to a new thread for beginners.
Thanks again for all the help.