I think my hammer is in trouble...

[NanoReefWanabe]

branching hammer and it doesnt look too good...

it hasnt fully inflated for about 3 weeks now...it still inflates, but nowhere near what is was..

it is in moderatly low flow...enough to make the tentacles dance and sway but not be driven in any one direction..it is in the middle of the tank. under 48 watts of PC.

the symtom of what i think is bad: there are what look like blisters on the sides of the heads...they seem to be boney, but i have yet to pull it out of the tank, he has been moved several time lately tring to find a good spot for him away from the torch...there are several small buds on it that all seem to inflate very well but the main heads are kinda stringy looking as oppoesed to full..

my water is as follows. PH 8.1, SG fluctuates from 1.025 - 1.027, temp stays constant at 78*, no ammonia or nitrite, and nitrates are 10 ppm ( think that is what my laborette kit measures in) and my ALKalinity is 10 DKH.

the clowns and chromis are doing very well, all other corals, with the expception of the kenya tree are doing very good, GSp has quadrupled in sized as have the zoas, the torch looks amazing and is fully inflated and streched out nicely, and my xenia is also doing really well..as are the finger leather and toadstool...and all snails crabs and cleaner shrimp are also doing well..

anyone know what the blisters could be on the hammer?

 

[elegance coral]

Sounds like the tissue is coming off the skeleton. When you moved it, is it possible that you touched this part of the skin? Was it irritated like this before you started moving it?
Are you sure your Toadstool is doing good under these lights?

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

most of the blister-like sections seem to be on the inside portion of the hammer where i cant touch it...the toadstool has grown almost three times since i got it...it was a loose piece that was floating around a friends tank and it has now grown onto a piece of LR and is extending its polyps and like i said about three time bigger now..

wheni move the hammer i am very careful only touch the exposed boney part on the bottom..

i will try to get a pic up tomorrow..

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

pictures

pictures

well here are some pics...maybe someone can help now..

 

[elegance coral]

Are they boney as you suspected? Looks like calcium deposits from what I can see. This may be good news. i would get the nitrate and sg under control and i think your coral would be much happier. Try not to let your sg fluctuate like that. This is very bad for LPS's.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

i am in the process of an ATO ...but space is tight under the tank...

it is wierd that the torch is doing great then?

 

[elegance coral]

Not really. It is my opinion that the tortch is the toughest of the three.
The problem with SG and LPS's is that the water gets heavier with higher SG. Most of the polyp is full of sea water. If the polyp expands when the SG is high then the SG drops the polyp will still be full of the heavier water. The surrounding water will be lighter. This pushes down on the polyp untill it can exchange the water in its polyp for the lighter surrounding water. Then the SG climbs again in the surrounding water. Now the water is heavier than the polup. This pulls up on the polyp untill it can exchange its water again. Some LPS's can deal with this better than others but it is not good for any of them.
I hope you got that. My wording isn't the best in the world.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

that makes a lot of sense...thankyou for your time and explanation...
i will try to lower my SG back down to 1.024, where it was when i started the tank...atleast if it goes up a little it is more in a safe relm of SG then it gets too now..then i can hopefully get an ATO setup and not have to wrorry any more