frog spawn vs. hammer

[DNickell]

About six months ago I acquired a frog spawn and a hammer coral. I positioned them at about the same vertical level in the 120 gallon tank and about two feet apart. No other corals are very near them.

They get approximately the same current level, though the hammer has maybe a bit more turbulance. I also use B-Ionic to keep my calcium level within the recommended range.

During the time I have had these corals I made the transition from six 96 Watt PCs to two 250 MH. Both corals are receiving about the same amount of light.

Other corals in the tank are: rapidly spreading hairy mushrooms, candy cane, pagoda/cup, generic mushrooms, and a colt coral--all of which are thriving.

Salinity is in 1.024-25 range, temp. at 80-82 degrees, and all other readings where they ought to be.

With the change of lights, about a month ago, I did get a light flush of hair algae and some brown diatom bloom--both of which are now in steady decline.

Now for the question: The frog spawn is growing, expands fully, and is vibrantly colored. The hammer is failing to thrive: it doesn't open fully and seems to be dimenishing in size.

What is the difference? What can I do to make the hammer happier? I would have thought the requirements for these two corals would have been very similar...

 

[DNickell]

No insights?

 

[ahoyhoy239]

if everythings in check, try giving it some time

 

[Aust95]

In my experience hammer corals are hardy. I was able to keep one under 260 watts of power compact lighting in a 55 gal for years. Consider if your coral is under too intense lighting and did not acclimate well to the change, thus loosing some of its photosynthetic bacteria resulting in decreased means to manufacture energy. Also too intense flow might keep it from expanding fully. Perhaps the combo has made it decline. Move the coral to a place of lower turbulence & lighting.

 

[Reefer07]

Try moving it.

 

[catfisher]

My wall hammer is much more sensitive than my frog spawn. Try moving it to a very low flow area and less light. Feed it everyday till you see improvement. That should help.

 

[DNickell]

Thanks for the advice. The irony is that I finally acquired the aquarium epoxy to fasten corals in place so the turbos don't knock them over. I guess I'll find out how hard it is to break that stuff loose!

I have some low flow areas with a more oblique exposure to the new lights. I'll give it a try.

 

[Aust95]

I hope it works for you. I never fed my Hammer coral and it continued to grow. You should wait on feeding it until you saw clear improvement and expansion of it's tissues.