Extended Hammer Coral

jonthany

New member
Hey Guys,
I am new to the hobby and I just got my first coral this past weekend. I decided to go with a hammer. I found a really nice looking frag. I brought it home and it still hasn't fully opened up yet although it does a little at a time. There are 3 heads on it but all three wont open at a time. Normally only two will and one will be shriveled. Is this because there isn't enough room where I have placed it or is it just acclimating? I from reading they like low flow and mid light so I have it down on the bottom. Please see pics and let me know if that is an OK spot. My other question is that for the last 2 days it is extending two tentacles much further then they rest. I am guess that, that is its way of trying to see if anything else is around but I just wanted to be sure. One last thing, in order for me to get it into the spot where it would stay in the rock without gluing it I had to put it on its side. The stalk is facing up so I thought it would be ok but I am not sure if that will effect it.
Thanks for your help!!!!
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The reason I asked is it looks so new, almost too new for corals.
So I'm assuming it's completely cycled?

Hammers are suppose to be fairly hardy and I like them.
Got a few myself.
 
From what I can tell it has fully cycled. There is 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate. The rock is all calcium carbonate and very little ammonia came out of it in the first place. I have 1 bicolor pseudochromis in there as well as a goby and pistol shrimp pair who are all doing well. Pseudo was added in there last Friday, the hammer Saturday and the pair on Sunday.
 
As far as your original question about the hammer, mine will do that as well. Usually to reach out and sting something.
Just like yours. One or two tentacles.

I would glue it down on a rock so it will always stay upright.
Put a big glob of superglue gel on the bottom and just push it down on the rock and hold it still for 5-10 seconds and it should be good.
 
I went out and got some putty from the LFS last night im planning on doing it this weekend. Its actually looking better and opening up a bit more so I dont want to mess with it too much but maybe ill do it on sunday.

As far as your original question about the hammer, mine will do that as well. Usually to reach out and sting something.
Just like yours. One or two tentacles.

I would glue it down on a rock so it will always stay upright.
Put a big glob of superglue gel on the bottom and just push it down on the rock and hold it still for 5-10 seconds and it should be good.
 
Another question. My hammer fell off its rock today and into the sand bed. I'm not sure how long it was there but it was really retracted when I finally got to it. I put it back on the rock and epoxied it so it wont fall anymore. When I came home from work it seemed ok. but once the lights went out its looks really weird. The tentacles are stiff and spread out but are not flowing in the current. Does anyone know what this would be or why it is happening? It is hard to tell in the picture but they are not moving. Any help is welcomed..
IMG_0245_zps036741b3.jpg
 
it looks less new now:lmao:
my hammer looks kind of like that right now. my guess is it's just irritated and will take some time to open up again.
 
it looks less new now:lmao:
my hammer looks kind of like that right now. my guess is it's just irritated and will take some time to open up again.

Yea it looks like crap now. I liked the new clean look. I brought some water into my LFS the other day for them to test. Being that Im still new at this I wasn't sure if my interpretation of the color charts was accurate. Turns out I wasn't. I had a slight bit of Nitrite so they suggested a water change and some bacteria. I did a 10 gallon water change on the 60 gallon system and I added in 32 oz of Fritz Zyme 9 Nitrafying bacteria. (Note* they warned me it was going to smell a little. Well it smelled a lot, it stunk up the entire house.)
Anyway, since I added that in the tank has really taken off. Also I was able to get an actual digital thermometer today. I have the heaters set on a temp but I was never really sure what it was it. Well I got it in the main display today and they temp was at 80.6 so I'm assuming that the hammer was a bit hot too. I guess we will have to wait and see. Its back to the LFS this weekend for some snails hermit crabs and crabs..... :)
 
Unless your prepared to feed you snails and hermits I would wait until your tank is really covered in algae. I learned this lesson with a tank crash. Had little to no algae and no clue to add nori sheets. They, starved and died. Crashed the tank. As far as your hammer goes give it time. Honestly something that is rarely talked about is the second cycle. Once you have fish and start feeding it needs to catch up to the new amounts of waste. You normally see cyano at this point. Once you get it under control and your system is adjusted it moves to green hair algae. Your hermits may or may not eat it. I wish you the best and kept the questions coming.
 
Unless your prepared to feed you snails and hermits I would wait until your tank is really covered in algae. I learned this lesson with a tank crash. Had little to no algae and no clue to add nori sheets. They, starved and died. Crashed the tank. As far as your hammer goes give it time. Honestly something that is rarely talked about is the second cycle. Once you have fish and start feeding it needs to catch up to the new amounts of waste. You normally see cyano at this point. Once you get it under control and your system is adjusted it moves to green hair algae. Your hermits may or may not eat it. I wish you the best and kept the questions coming.

Thanks, I guess Ill wait another week and see how things progress.
 
Unless your prepared to feed you snails and hermits I would wait until your tank is really covered in algae. I learned this lesson with a tank crash. Had little to no algae and no clue to add nori sheets. They, starved and died. Crashed the tank. As far as your hammer goes give it time. Honestly something that is rarely talked about is the second cycle. Once you have fish and start feeding it needs to catch up to the new amounts of waste. You normally see cyano at this point. Once you get it under control and your system is adjusted it moves to green hair algae. Your hermits may or may not eat it. I wish you the best and kept the questions coming.

So when do I know when its time to send in the snails and hermits? To me its getting pretty bad, the water is starting to get a bit cloudy and my levels are creeping up.


 
Which of your levels are creeping up? Ammonia and Nitrite at detectable levels are considered unsafe for any length of time. Nitrate is much less toxic but still needs to be removed from the system whether it's through water changes or chemical means.

When I cycled my current tank I did a fishless cycle using pure ammonia. Kept testing until only nitrate was present the following day after adding the daily ammonia.
 
I had no ammonia and a hint of nitrite on the 8th. I went to the store and had them test it and they suggested I do a water change. So I did a 10 gallon water change on a 60 gallon system. They also suggested that I add 32 oz bottle of fritz nitrifying bacteria. The directions were to turn the protein skimmer off for a few days after so I did that. I tested the levels on the 9th and it was .25 ammonia and .25 Nitrite I was assuming that it was normal because of the additive. Then I tested them again today expecting them to go down but they haven't. The ammonia from what I can see is .5 and the nitrite is .25 still. I just plugged the skimmer back in tonight as well.
 
I'm worried you may be experiencing a mini-cycle or perhaps something potentially close to a full cycle. The bacteria you added should help but I'm not sure how your livestock will do depending on the duration of this cycle.

In a pinch I used seachem prime on a freshly started quarantine while waiting for the biological filtration to catch up. There are other things you could use but I'm not too familiar with them, purigen being another I believe. I'm unsure of any side effects using it long term, however, I used it for over a week.
 
Ill call the store tomorrow where I got the majority of my stuff and the bacteria and see what they say. I dont have anything set up for a quarantine.
 
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