What gives with hammer corals? Why so difficult?

[JayFish4004]

I really enjoy hammer corals, but for some reason they seem to be the only coral (outside of SPS experimentation) I’ve had troubles with since starting my first reef endeavor 10 months ago.

Parameters have been good enough to keep everything else happy, but for some reason I’m now on my 2nd hammer starting to go downhill (although I did drop a Tunze nano glass cleaning magnet on a corner so it could be that).

Frogspawn and torches thrive while hammers do not. What could some possible reasons be?

Here’s a shot of the tank:

Red Sea Max Nano reef tank - christmas tree rock, Biota mandarin dragonets, lps, sps, gorgonians

youtube.com

 

[Gtinnel]

Maybe I am missing something but in that video your hammers look healthy and happy from what I can see.

 

[JayFish4004]

Maybe I am missing something but in that video your hammers look healthy and happy from what I can see.

Here’s what he looks like now - this happened to my purple hammer too. Would thrive during the day once the lights start to dim starts looking like its PO’d and I can find no explanation. The green hammer has been a champ.

 

[Vegasgundog]

Is there brown slime or jelly that I can't see in the photo? Iodine dip if so and use pipette in dip to blow off any jelly. Other than that I've never had any difficulty with hammer.

 

[JayFish4004]

Is there brown slime or jelly that I can't see in the photo? Iodine dip if so and use pipette in dip to blow off any jelly. Other than that I've never had any difficulty with hammer.

Not currently - if I see a hint of brown jelly they get removed asap. In my nano I don’t have the resources or patience to try to nurse coral back to health, so if they hit a certain level, especially euphyllia, they get removed so as not to risk the health of my healthy corals.

 

[Labridaedicted]

It's letting out waste or some zooxanthellae. Nothing to worry about unless it is showing bleaching or tissue recession. Otherwise totally normal thing that can happen.

 

[Duncan62]

Here’s what he looks like now - this happened to my purple hammer too. Would thrive during the day once the lights start to dim starts looking like its PO’d and I can find no explanation. The green hammer has been a champ.

View attachment 2602639

I've got a bunch of hammers and they all pull in at lights out for a couple hours.

 

[rhdoug]

Ditto on the hammers retracting when the lights go down, and the occasional expelling of brown snot from time to time. Nothing to worry about. Mine started as 2 heads 17 years ago.

 

[JayFish4004]

Ditto on the hammers retracting when the lights go down, and the occasional expelling of brown snot from time to time. Nothing to worry about. Mine started as 2 heads 17 years ago.
View attachment 2605439

It seems on one side his tentacles are way further out than they normally are mainly during mid-day - seems fine otherwise. Is that a sign of anything?

 

[Pistondog]

I think most euphyllia retract their tentacles at night.

 

[steveschuerger]

I’ve had similar issues with hammers. Right now I have two and the place where they’re happiest is directly under my Tunze wave-maker and on the far left . Every other place I’ve tried they’ve eventually given me the virtual finger and croaked. Kinda hard to see them, but at least they’re happy .

 

[Dburr1014]

I really enjoy hammer corals, but for some reason they seem to be the only coral (outside of SPS experimentation) I’ve had troubles with since starting my first reef endeavor 10 months ago.

Parameters have been good enough to keep everything else happy, but for some reason I’m now on my 2nd hammer starting to go downhill (although I did drop a Tunze nano glass cleaning magnet on a corner so it could be that).

Frogspawn and torches thrive while hammers do not. What could some possible reasons be?

Here’s a shot of the tank:

Red Sea Max Nano reef tank - christmas tree rock, Biota mandarin dragonets, lps, sps, gorgonians

youtube.com

Any chance the sand is irritating it?
How is the flow in that corner? Sometimes flow against a wall or corner is diminished a lot.

 

[Duncan62]

Any chance the sand is irritating it?
How is the flow in that corner? Sometimes flow against a wall or corner is diminished a lot.

Good thought. I lost a huge wall hammer I'd had for years because I bought a 5 buck blue damsel for my granddaughter. Digging constantly. killing my hammer. To many rocks to catch the fish. Moved the hammer and that where the next tunnel would. Sand is tough on hammers.

 

[Treefer32]

I can keep frog spawn and hammers just fine. I can't keep a torch to save my life. I did only try one torch, but, been scared to every since given their prices.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I can keep frog spawn and hammers just fine. I can't keep a torch to save my life. I did only try one torch, but, been scared to every since given their prices.

Torch can be easy and can also challenge the most experienced hobbyist.
One of the biggest problems I have seen beginner hobbyists have with torch is failing to account for the calcium demand for these corals. If there is insufficient calcium in your aquarium water, these corals will not be able to make their coral skeleton. You should also never lift a torch coral out of the water if you can avoid it. You could tear the polyps, and torn polyps are prone to infection followed by necrosis

Torch require typical parameters including:
Temperature around 77-79 degrees
Specific gravity of about 1.025
Ph of about 8.1 - 8.3
Calcium level of 400 - 450 ppm.

Like most large polyp stony corals, a torch coral benefits from moderate water flow. The polyps will remain retracted and under-inflated if the water current is too fast because the large flowing polyps are prone to rip and tear in high or ultra-high current environments.
The torch coral is a photosynthetic coral, meaning it has a relationship with symbiotic zooxanthellae (single-cell photosynthetic organisms) that live inside its tissues that converts the light energy into sugar. In exchange for a home inside the coral, the zooxanthellae split their harvest and feed the coral. Therefore, it is possible to keep the Torch coral without any feeding at all. However, all corals are animals, and animals are meant to eat.
The best placement for a torch coral is in a location that gets moderate water flow and moderate-intensity lighting.

 

[JayFish4004]

I’ve had similar issues with hammers. Right now I have two and the place where they’re happiest is directly under my Tunze wave-maker and on the far left . Every other place I’ve tried they’ve eventually given me the virtual finger and croaked. Kinda hard to see them, but at least they’re happy .View attachment 2657437View attachment 2657438

The only problem is I have a green hammer right next to him doing fine. One thing I did do - I dropped a nano magnet on him and he’s never been the same since. I don’t think it hit hard enough to do anything but maybe a decent blow. Are hammers just super fragile in that sense in they kind of never recover from trauma?

 

[JayFish4004]

Any chance the sand is irritating it?
How is the flow in that corner? Sometimes flow against a wall or corner is diminished a lot.

It’s possible sand could be an issue - I dont think its flow though

 

[JayFish4004]

I can keep frog spawn and hammers just fine. I can't keep a torch to save my life. I did only try one torch, but, been scared to every since given their prices.

That is the strangest thing about this hobby - one species thrives in my tank and doesnt in yours and vice versa, even within my own tank one species of hammer will thrive and another will not. Always keeps ya guessing

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Get it out of the sand bed. Mine gets Uber ticked when it gets sand thrown on it by my clowns

 

[Uriken]

By chance do you feed it and keep an eye on your magnesium? I feed mine every couple days and keep my mag levels in check (Bionic Mag) and they grow and grow. I'm a bit lucky as in my area I have a local fish store that sells live BLACK worms (not Blood Worms). I drop a few on top of them and they eat them right up. There was a time the store was out of them for a few weeks and I found them online and purchased a 1/2 lb. and just kept them alive in the fridge. They lasted 2 to 3 months feeding them daily.