Hammer + phyto

[el chupacabra]

I went to Neptunes in Denver and asked them what they fead their hammer coral. I figured they knew about this if anybody. They said they just keep calcium high and feed it phytoplankton a couple times a week.

But from reading around here it seems people agree that phyto is too small for Hammer. Does this seem right to you guys? Are they correct that hammer doesn't need anything but phyto and ca?

 

[lfduty]

That's all i fead my hammer coral and keep my Calcium about 500ppm

 

[bigsittingrock]

As big as that thing is I think they're doing something right.

 

[reefkoi]

From what I gathered phyto can be a food source for larger organisms that the hammer could eat.
I kept hammers that grew large and so did Huhhhh, we never added anything but calcium and the basic trace element package.
But then again she has the biggest hammer in captivity I'm sure, so whatever she's doing I think is best.

 

[el chupacabra]

Well I feel a little more comforted now, phytos will be easyer to do so I'll give that a try instead of target feeding all the time. I wasn't sure if I was giving it everything to make it healthy because it has been dividing heads...which makes it look less nurished. And of course dividing hasn't always meant it's healthy.

 

[reefkoi]

Well I think dividing is a good thing, That's how they grow. Budding may be what your thinking about as maybe unhealthy. They say when the coral buds off little ones its a last ditch effort to propagate in case the mother colony dies.
It could all just be a theory though.

 

[lfduty]

I think the budding thing is just a theory I would think budding and dividing is good and detaching heads is unhealthy

 

[reefkoi]

detaching heads? what is that?

 

[racer69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10211592#post10211592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkoi
detaching heads? what is that?

I think that is budding.

 

[lfduty]

It when the head's come off the stock I had one that did it and no it's not budding