Hammers dieback

[cat910064]

I got two hammer back in a month ago. When I first got them they are totally fine with long and fluffy tentacles. No shrinking at all. These days the tentacles are getting smaller and smaller, some of them may even drop.

I didn’t change much about the water or my routine. I got a frogspwan about two weeks after I got these hammers. So far the frogspwan looks pretty good but the hammers acting dying.

water parameters:

kdH: 10-11
Phosphate: < 0.1
PH:8
Calcium::380-400
Nitrate:0

I perform some water change to lower the kDH a little bit. My LFS said the kDH is a bit too high. I’ve been dozing All for reef, and I noticed the kDH raise up a bit. Did anyone noticed the kDH getting too high if dose all for reef daily? I dose 2mL for my 13.5 g tank.

I don’t see a brown jelly thing and have no clues…..

A month ago:

peach hammer

now

 

[T-J]

Maybe getting stung by the zoas?
Also, many corals will look fine at first, but then they will slowly die as it takes several weeks for them to react to undesirable conditions.
You have PO4 that's a little high, especially with zero nitrates. I'd get some nitrates in your water and get your Alk down to around 8.

 

[liddojunior]

Magnesium ? It’s essential for hammers and can be depleted easily if not replenished either by frequent water changes or adding.

 

[Koty]

how old is your tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got two hammer back in a month ago. When I first got them they are totally fine with long and fluffy tentacles. No shrinking at all. These days the tentacles are getting smaller and smaller, some of them may even drop.

I didn’t change much about the water or my routine. I got a frogspwan about two weeks after I got these hammers. So far the frogspwan looks pretty good but the hammers acting dying.

water parameters:

kdH: 10-11
Phosphate: < 0.1
PH:8
Calcium::380-400
Nitrate:0

I perform some water change to lower the kDH a little bit. My LFS said the kDH is a bit too high. I’ve been dozing All for reef, and I noticed the kDH raise up a bit. Did anyone noticed the kDH getting too high if dose all for reef daily? I dose 2mL for my 13.5 g tank.

I don’t see a brown jelly thing and have no clues…..

A month ago:

peach hammerView attachment 2899192View attachment 2899193

now
View attachment 2899195View attachment 2899196

This is clearly a stress issue and caused by many factors. LFS said Dkh issue which I dont see your numbers but first thing with hammer care is avoiding the extremes. . . Extreme light and extreme water flow. Placement can be tricky as although they do well in all areas of tank, lower third seems best. Calcium and alkalinity are two important parameters which affect the growth of this type of coral which will start to die off if CA levels are too low which should be about 400ppm. Alk about 8-11 range and salinity 1.025. Water temp should be 76-78 and my suspect here with your hammer is lighting.
Areas that are too dark or with flow that is too low causes withering and tissue recession which is what you see. High flow damages polyps and bright lighting leads to bleaching.

 

[hsosa]

check your mag. lower ur alk dosing .

 

[PokeFish]

I got two hammer back in a month ago. When I first got them they are totally fine with long and fluffy tentacles. No shrinking at all. These days the tentacles are getting smaller and smaller, some of them may even drop.

I didn’t change much about the water or my routine. I got a frogspwan about two weeks after I got these hammers. So far the frogspwan looks pretty good but the hammers acting dying.

water parameters:

kdH: 10-11
Phosphate: < 0.1
PH:8
Calcium::380-400
Nitrate:0

I perform some water change to lower the kDH a little bit. My LFS said the kDH is a bit too high. I’ve been dozing All for reef, and I noticed the kDH raise up a bit. Did anyone noticed the kDH getting too high if dose all for reef daily? I dose 2mL for my 13.5 g tank.

I don’t see a brown jelly thing and have no clues…..

A month ago:

peach hammerView attachment 2899192View attachment 2899193

now
View attachment 2899195View attachment 2899196

I notice that both of the hammers are basically next to a galaxea coral... if thats the case then they are probably getting stung by them

 

[PokeFish]

or is that a hairy mushroom coral

 

[Tathamet]

Can’t help with your hammers but I wouldn’t dose all for reef daily just because. Especially on your small tank. I have the same tank and the 2ml recommended by tropic Marin raises dkh by about 0.3 dkh which is way more than my tank consumes in a day currently. You’ll need to figure out how much alk your tank consumes on a daily basis and adjust from there for a daily dose. I use water changes to replenish and have only dosed when I need to correct things a bit.