Hammer Dying?

RyanMcLaughlin

In Memoriam
Ok so my hammer I posted about keeps looking worse and worse. He isnt under direct light and no direct flow. I keep seeing less and less tentacles and now he looks like this. It has been 24 hours. I know it hasnt been that long but it seems like he should be coming out by now.
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hammer dying

hammer dying

Hammer is one coral that according to lots of people is easy to keep.However I beg the differ......After many tries I have given up on such coral..after buying whole healthy colonies
from many experience reefers here in town and having no success
it has come to the conclusion that hammer corals are just like xenia....either you have luck with it and thrives in your tank or melts away.....
eventhought my Fragspawn and torch thrive in my tank my hammers don't.......
I wonder!!!
 
I spent $139 on the master water test kit.
I will have fun with it tomorrow night.
It tests for everything... hahahaha
I'll teach that water whos boss!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12279862#post12279862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inachu
I spent $139 on the master water test kit.
I will have fun with it tomorrow night.
It tests for everything... hahahaha
I'll teach that water whos boss!
Jesus....what brand is this, and what does it test for?
 
Would any of you be able to guess why this happened. He went downhill it seemed when I started acclimating. I havent tested all my levels yet but my water seems fine and my open brain coral is doing really well.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12279951#post12279951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Longchamp
Jesus....what brand is this, and what does it test for?

I have been looking into buying a test kit, and from the price you have up there, can i assume its a Hagen master test kit? tests for 10 different things? Like - pH low range test (6.0-7.6) pH high range test (7.4-8.6) Iron Test Nitrite Test Phosphate Test Ammonia Test Nitrate Test Calcium Test General Hardness Test Carbonate Hardness Test




If so, I'd suggest you look at the thread where I asked a question about the same kit:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12280569#post12280569


guess you ordered already (?) but sadly I have been told some of the tests there are not important for SW, since the hagen has designed the kit for both FW and SW. also doing some research on multiple sites that sell em, i decided to go w/ something other than hagen. they are not as accurate and some other issues w/ it.

dont mean to reign on your parade, but thats my 2cents.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12280337#post12280337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RyanMcLaughlin
Would any of you be able to guess why this happened. He went downhill it seemed when I started acclimating. I havent tested all my levels yet but my water seems fine and my open brain coral is doing really well.

well i am not an expert in this, but the photo shows him under the shade a little bit, is that the case? it needs to do photosynthesis and all.

also i am not so sure how it does on a sand bed.

I have had a hammer for about 6 months now and it has been doing fairly well. sometimes it would close one arm or so but in general its ok.

and how about the temperature?

just trying to help out, hope it recovers. but sadly, it kinda seems like he's headed for the coral heaven. GL!
 
get a test kit ck your water I had problem with my elegance coral just because mt ph was 7.9 instead of 8.2 what kind of light do you have how much are running it I have my hammer about 6" from surface med flow under 4b t5s good luck
 
hammer corals aren't complicated if your water params are in check. They only require moderate lighting and flow. I wouldn't expect ti to perish that rapidly... especially to that state.

What are your water parameters?

If it was full 24 hours ago, or at the LFS... I would suspect a fish got him.

What types of fish do you have in the tank?
 
also for everyone asking... look into Salifert test kits... Extremely reliable and not too expense.

I switched to them about a year ago and won't use anything else.
 
I bought salifert kits when i could get them for under $12 each on ebay. it's just not worth it anymore. API test kits are reasonably accurate and cost 1/4 as much nowadays.
 
Yeah when you dump about $1,000 to $2,000 into your tank in equipment and livestock, and extra $5 for precise testing supplies is too much.:rolleye1:

Salifert runs between $13 and $28 depending upon which kit, and where you find them.
 
I agree, that hammer looks like toast. My condolences.
I bought 3 heads of branching hammer a month ago and not having any problems. They are fully open and healthy. Shut all my power heads and water flow down last night and target fed them cyclopeeze. They looked very happy. Maybe these parameters will help Ryan McLaughlin. Salt- 1.025, Ph- 8.3, Alk- 12 (2 points higher than where I want to be, but it's working), Ammonia,Nitrites,nitrates- 0 ppm, Phosphates- undetectable, calcium- 420-450.
 
I will post my exact parameters later today but temp is 82, salt is 1.026. I dont have any fish in the tank just a cleaner and fire shrimp. I put part of it in the shade because I had it about halfway up but it looked like crap so I moved it down because at the store it was under VHO and I have 500 watt MH. Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
hammer

hammer

500 watts MH......???
There might be your problem.having that much light shining on your Hammer it has bleached him or most likely burnt him.
hammers can thrive with Pc ot T5s......alone.
check your pars like Alk..Ca..Amo and PH.....
cheers
 
gulfstream, I've seen them under MH before. The guy I bought mine from were under MH, and they looked great. Hmmm? His tank was deep though and the hammers were about midway down.
 
I keep them under metal halides and they do fine. If you really have a 500 watt metal halide how far do you have it above the tank? What kind of bulb is it? I suspect that this is to much light also.

Look into your PH and akalinity one of them may be off. I know from past problems that quick changes in these will kill Hammers.
I have found them to be very tolerant of most other changes.
 
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