Tell Me About My Branching Orange Hammer Coral

[tablesalt]

This past weekend I saw something at a different LFS I've never seen before, would likely never see again, and jumped on it. I bought my first LPS, a BRANCHING ORANGE HAMMER CORAL. Upon bringing it home, I immediately almost killed it by re-arranging my tank and fragging some corals. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but apparently fragging a leather coral in your tank is a huge no-no. After several days of water changes, the only thing I lost was a sea urchin and a star fish, and all the coral is looking good again excepting the hammer. The hammer is looking better than it did at it's low point, but is definitely getting better so I think the disaster is averted.

This coral is by far the nicest coral I've ever had and I would like to make it my centerpiece. I have moved my rock to give it a prominent place front and center with lowish flow, and every day it is a little more open.

With a coral like this one, what would you think the expected growth rate would be? (Most of) my leathers and Zoas have been growing exponentially since I've had them and I understand these guys aren't going to grow nearly as fast, and are going to be much more demanding. I

I'm at 2 heads now, do you think I'd be at 4 in 6 months or a year?

Other than it's extreme fragility and ability to nuke anything within 6 inches with it's sweepers, is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

[DSC reef]

Once it starts growing they can sprout heads rather quickly. I'd keep running a bag of carbon if you have softies in the tank. Definitely keep distance between other corals. Try to keep things stable as well. Medium light and medium flow should do well with that coral.

 

[Rcpilot]

Calcium and alkalinity just became a whole lot more important. If you're not dosing yet, you might want to start reading about that aspect of the hobby

It's a nice coral. That will be beautiful in a year or two. Nice buy!!

 

[Lloyd Williams]

You can put the hammer near pretty much any euphyilla. Your hammer just got thru shock of transport, new parameters, and chemical warfare. It will recover as long as you keep stable water. Run carbon and keep an eye on it. They’re not hard to keep at all. Only issues I’ve had affected the whole tank, not just euphyilla. They have been pretty hardy for me.