Hammer coral dieing off.

[Crush Coral]

I have a 75 gal reef tank with mostly coral and live rock. Only fish are a mandarin goby and one clown. Only invert is a cleaner shrimp. I have a half dozen corals, none closer than a foot to my hammer coral. Salinity is 1.023, temp is 78 degrees, Am, NI and NA are 0. PH is 8.1. Nothing else seems bothered by anything. My hammer started to die off 2 weeks ago. One head at a time is dieing. First they deflate, then turn to slime and then the polyps disapear. The coral started with two heads about 9 months ago, grew to 5 heads and now is dieing. Anything hammers don't like or especially need to flourish? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[pbukow]

I once saw a branching LPS react (die) to a temperature fluxuation before. I used to work at a LFS and a customer who tore down his tank brought in a lot of free-b's for us, one of which included a frogspawn. (I know not the same coral but the same genus). It seemed very healthy and had good polyp expansion. Basically the air conditioner failed one night and the temp reached the low 90's. the frogspawn died within a week or so, very slow degradation. Everything else in the tank was fine btw.

Was your hammer healthy up until the point it started to die? was it eating, expanding polyps? Also did anything else in the tank flucuate recently? Temp?

Hope my thoughts help.

 

[Crush Coral]

The polyps were always extended in daytime, no temp or other changes, I feed the tank rod's reef food along with other frozen foods. Have seen it poop so I know it was eating. I never fed it directly and did not think I had too but I may be wrong there. Thanks

 

[pbukow]

I personally feel it is very important to supplement foods to all of the corals i keep. Try giving the remaining polpys some chunks of fresh seafood: shrimp, squid, scallops, clam, etc. I used to get mine from the grocery store for less than $2. Just make sure the food is raw and unseasoned and you'll be set. Maybe even soaking the meat in a vitamin supplement would also be a good idea.

 

[dendro982]

Could it be mechanical damage (compression of the tissues, not rupture) during the tank cleaning, or may be snails or hermits dropped it down?
I lost candycane this way.

You can run carbon for a time being - may be something in the water.

I'm also not feeding hammers and frogspawns - they pick by themselves after fish feeding.

I have slightly higher salinity - SG 1.026.

 

[beaupierce]

where is the placement? Is it getting too much flow/ lack of flow???

 

[J. Montgomery]

Wild caught hammers can be imported with an infection (I can't remember exactly what it is, something like a protist).

A friend of mine had a large hammer that kept getting brown jelly infections, he kept dipping in Lugol's to treat it, but the infection would come back within a few days. He found out from a well informed LFS emplyee that the brown jelly was a secondary infection. He treated it with chloramphenicol to kill the primary infection (I don't know the dosage). No more brown jelly, and the hammer is recovering nicely.

 

[pbukow]

Any updates on your coral? Hope its ok

 

[Crush Coral]

All the coral except one extremely small head have died. I talked with some one and they asked if it had fallen, which it had. I was gone when the infection set in and from what my wife told me it did slime over so I guess it got that brown jelly infection. There is still the one head which did not touch the other infected ones which is still alive. I hope to get a new hammer from this small head. Thanks for the input. Shure would like to know where to get chloramphenacol. Have not seen it since it was made illegal in the U.S.

 

[demonsp]

Whats the calcium level?
Whats used for flow?
What do you feed him?
Whats the lights?
Wheres he placed?
Water change scedule and amount?

 

[m2434]

I'd bet light. Mine did that, I moved it up 6" and it came back in force within a few weeks.