Typical hammer activity

[RoughneckReefingWife]

I'm completely new to SW tanks. My husband had a beautiful one years before we met and decided to do it again. We have a 6ft 125 gallon combo tank.
Unfortunately I am left to care for the tank the 2 weeks a month he is gone. This site has been a lifesaver.
I have a question about a hammer coral we bought recently. I researched and put it in a low flow area of the tank away from others. It just looks to me like it's not doing anything. It never expands. Water conditions are perfect according to my reef and saltwater master kits. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My torch is thriving, the elegance coral looks amazing. My rose bubble tip anemones look like crap some days and healthy on others. The hammer is one of his favorites (second to the white polyp toadstool I already killed...) I really want to keep the hammer alive. I target fed brine shrimp today foe the first time. I hadn't done it prior because on this forum the vote still seems to be out on whether they need it or not. Please let me know if he looks ok?

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

Here are my other corals

 

[Lloyd Williams]

I'm completely new to SW tanks. My husband had a beautiful one years before we met and decided to do it again. We have a 6ft 125 gallon combo tank.
Unfortunately I am left to care for the tank the 2 weeks a month he is gone. This site has been a lifesaver.
I have a question about a hammer coral we bought recently. I researched and put it in a low flow area of the tank away from others. It just looks to me like it's not doing anything. It never expands. Water conditions are perfect according to my reef and saltwater master kits. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My torch is thriving, the elegance coral looks amazing. My rose bubble tip anemones look like crap some days and healthy on others. The hammer is one of his favorites (second to the white polyp toadstool I already killed...) I really want to keep the hammer alive. I target fed brine shrimp today foe the first time. I hadn't done it prior because on this forum the vote still seems to be out on whether they need it or not. Please let me know if he looks ok?

I have about 4-5 various heads of hammer: pink, Aussie, orange, and they all did this. When first put them in I had to wait about a week before they opened.

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

Mine has been in about 2 weeks that's why I'm concerned

 

[Lloyd Williams]

Did you ever see it open?

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

No, it has been exactly.like this since I put it in

 

[Peter K]

Are there any other corals in the near vicinity of the hammer?

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

No I made sure to place it away from all others

 

[Peter K]

No I made sure to place it away from all others

Ok good takes one culprit off the list (I've had a frogspawn melt in a few days because of an overly aggressive coral). Was the hammer open at the store you bought it at? Elegance and torch look very good though and torches can be a pain sometimes.

Also, any chance a fish could be bothering it? Sometimes “with caution” fish can pick at one specific species and leave everything else alone.

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

It was fully.open at store. Closed completely on transfer and has only opened to this since.

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

And the fish don't mess with it much. Have 5 fish
Pair of clowns
Mimic Tang
Coral beauty angelfish
Pacific Blue Tang (can you guess her name?) Lol

 

[dylana407]

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Can you list your parms? Do you run carbon? I noticed that my hammer doesn't like it when I turn off the carbon filter. My hammer went from 1 head to 4 in 6 months. It never take any food when I feed it. Have you tried moving it to a spot with less light? My hammer is more sensitive to water condition than my frogspawn.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

Not sure exactly what may be going on, however it looks like it could be loosing/lost zooxanthellae thus the light color. Was it always that light in coloration? I noticed that the torch coral and bubble tip anemone also look light in coloration. That makes me think of several possibilities: low nutrients, too little/too much light. What are your nitrate, phosphate and alkalinity? Also, what lighting do you have and where is the coral placed in the tank?

 

[DSC reef]

I agree with the above, looks a bit bleached. Wall hammers are a little more difficult of the anchora species. A little more info on the tanks parameters and lighting would help greatly. Are you running GFO by chance?

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

125 gallon 6 foot tank
No ammonia, phosphates or nitrates
Nitrates below 10ppm
Ph 8.0 -working on getting this up
Calcium 460ppm
Alkalinity 214ppm
Salinity 26
Eshopps ADV 200 Sump with Eshopps X220 skimmer

I do not run carbon. Everything is bleached. Showed the LFS the pic this morning and he said alkalinity too high and too much light.
Hammer is in the corner of the tank with low flow. He also said all the other hammers from that particular group had died, including his own, so I was doing something right. Lol
LCD said to stop all additives except phytoplex and coralvite.
This tank has been set up a few months and from what i habe read, the algae should turn from brown to green, it is still all brown. LFS said that is also due to alkalinity.
Will do a partial WC and reduce light. Any other thoughts?
I ordered a fish for hubbys bday and don't want to put it in until everything is ok. It's currently at LFS.

 

[DSC reef]

Whats the alkalinity in dkh? Dont make any sudden changes at this point. Your params are fine, ph is fine too. Consistency will be more important than the number. 8.0 ph is fine.

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

Just retested alkalinity it's 14 dkh

 

[Peter K]

Alk really should be in the ranges of 7-11 for most tanks. What kind of salt are you using? I would test your salt and if it in that range of 7-11 try to do a series of water changes over a few days to bring that down. If you bring it down too fast the corals might be overly shocked especially if it has been running this high for a long period of time. Also don't chase PH, long as you are in 7.8-8.3 range don't stress especially for what you have in the tank right now, ph buffers absolutely wreak havoc on your alk and can do so in a very very short period time.

 

[DSC reef]

Whoa! That's definitely a problem. That needs to be lowered slowly. What salt are you using, how are you measuring salinity and what test kits are you using? I wouldn't do a water change until the alk comes down naturally. Just top off with RODI. I'd also test a fresh batch of salt water to see where the alk sits.

 

[RoughneckReefingWife]

Initial fill was with RO and Fritz Reef Pro Mix. Mixed according to directions on box. Have since done 2 40 gallon water changes with LFS premixed saltwater at 1.026