Help! One of my hammer coral is gaping!

[Jonathan lee]

Is my hammer pooping or what? Its been fine since i got it 2 weeks ago and was fine this morning then i came home to this. Looks like white slime coming out of the centre. The mouth is also open big. Hard to see in the pic but theres a 1 inch string of slime. It also shrivelled up so much. Its normally open up to about 3 inches? I used a turkey baster and sucked it up since it was touching my other hammers. And yes its the only hammer doing this. The rest are normal. Im not sure if something irritated it or what? My alk is low at 6.5dkh cause im currently testing daily to see how much i need to dose to keep it stable at 7.7-7.8dkh. Not sure if the alk drop stressed it. Anyway the white part on the skeleton is all flesh coming down from the coralites. The flesh comes down an inch from the top. I would expect to see the flesh down the skeleton die off before the actual coralites become like this? I cant figure out whats wrong. Tested twice and got same results. I use salifert kits. Im gonna do a water change tomorrow to see if it helps. If not then i guess its a goner

nitrate 7
Phosphate 0.03
Alkalinity 6.5dkh(normally 7.7dkh)
Calcium 430
Temp 26c
Ammonia and nitrite 0
Salinity 35ppt

 

[ScottR]

It could be expelling zooxanthellae which isn’t good. It could have an infection that could also spread to other euphyllia. Euphyllia are prone to brown jelly disease. It’s hard to diagnose from pics. I usually recommend an iodine dip to try to kill off any possible infection and to prevent the spread to others.

 

[Jonathan lee]

It could be expelling zooxanthellae which isn’t good. It could have an infection that could also spread to other euphyllia. Euphyllia are prone to brown jelly disease. It’s hard to diagnose from pics. I usually recommend an iodine dip to try to kill off any possible infection and to prevent the spread to others.

Its almost 9pm here and lights have been off for 2 hours now. Can i dip it now?

 

[ScottR]

Its almost 9pm here and lights have been off for 2 hours now. Can i dip it now?

Yes. A typical dip will only remove pests. You want to do an iodine dip to kill the infection. Do you have access to povidone iodine? I use the 10% type. I take a container with tank water. Add enough iodine so that the water is orangish-brown. Then dip for a few minutes. Rinse with tank water (outside of the tank) and place back in. You may have to try another dip later next week again. It’s not 100% to save it but as a precaution and also to prevent your other hammers from suffering the same fate. I lost a forest of them before from not knowing.

 

[Jonathan lee]

Yes. A typical dip will only remove pests. You want to do an iodine dip to kill the infection. Do you have access to povidone iodine? I use the 10% type. I take a container with tank water. Add enough iodine so that the water is orangish-brown. Then dip for a few minutes. Rinse with tank water (outside of the tank) and place back in. You may have to try another dip later next week again. It’s not 100% to save it but as a precaution and also to prevent your other hammers from suffering the same fate. I lost a forest of them before from not knowing.

Yep i use povidone iodine for my iodine dips. Im doing it right now

 

[ScottR]

Yep i use povidone iodine for my iodine dips. Im doing it right now

Good luck!

 

[Jonathan lee]

Good luck!

I noticed a crack in the skeleton that looked like the tissue inside was dying. So i super glued the hole shut. Maybe thats the reason why it was stressed.

 

[ScottR]

I noticed a crack in the skeleton that looked like the tissue inside was dying. So i super glued the hole shut. Maybe thats the reason why it was stressed.

a lot of times, people frag these improperly or when they’re too small to cut. Once the skeleton is damaged, it’s hard to heal. Supergluing may help. I’ve read where people fragged wall hammers and glued the edges where the flesh is exposed. So that may help. But at this point, they also are susceptible to infection.

 

[Jonathan lee]

a lot of times, people frag these improperly or when they’re too small to cut. Once the skeleton is damaged, it’s hard to heal. Supergluing may help. I’ve read where people fragged wall hammers and glued the edges where the flesh is exposed. So that may help. But at this point, they also are susceptible to infection.

I bought it as a fresh frag. I think i bought it 3 days after it was fragged. Hope the dip stops any infection and it bounces back. I paid alot for that frag lol

 

[ScottR]

I bought it as a fresh frag. I think i bought it 3 days after it was fragged. Hope the dip stops any infection and it bounces back. I paid alot for that frag lol

Good luck! I’ve been there. They can be saved. Never give up.

 

[Jonathan lee]

Good luck! I’ve been there. They can be saved. Never give up.

Its dead. Didn’t make it. Woke up to it with the side nearest to the crack already necrotic... Basically the side without the crack is still alive but the side with the crack is dead for sure. I’ll probs toss it out. Wasted 100 bucks lol.