please helpmy golden hammer :(

[Mekanic]

I have a beautiful aussie gold hammer I got last week from the LFS. Was open and beautiful there, little bit of dead in 1 section but looked like old damage as the rest was thriving.

In my tank however, the flesh on the base is receding a lot, the heads still look great though. I dipped it in CoralRX before adding it to A tank (was ****ed after that)

Just tested all parameters.

CA - 450
MG - 1520
Alk - 7.6dkh
ph- 7.8 (lights still aren't on yet)
Ammonia - 0
No2 - 0
No3 - 5
Po4 - .09 (hanna 714 that I'm really not trusting anymore)
Po4 - Undetectable (salifert)

Once the lights come on I'll upload a pic. I REALLY appreciate all the help you guys can give, this is by far the most expensive piece I've ever put in my tank and am terrified of loosing it.

Oh, lighting is 2x150 20k XM Halides, and 2x96w Current dual actinic. Actinic is on for 9 hours a day, halides for 7, hammer is on the sandbed, flow is very gentle where I have him, base rock is blocking the powerhead to an extent there, so all he really gets is the rocking from the tunze wavebox.

Thank you!

~Rich

Oh, also, I'm gonna call my LFS guy today and have him come over and check it out as well.

 

[staindsoul]

Any close neighbors of coral? Or seen any pests at night?

Did you follow the correct amount of dip solution and time?

Your mag seems a little high and alk is a little low, but I wouldn't think that amount would hurt it that much.

 

[Mekanic]

No close neighbors, no pests seen, I followed the dip to the letter.

I think I found why it is receding. I got my new DD Seawater refractometer today, turns out my hydrometer (yes, I know lol) was off by roughly .03, so while I thought my salinity was at 1.026, it's really 1.029.

I am now mixing for a 40g water change.

And I keep forgetting my sig isn't showing for some reason, it's a 90g tank with a 30g sump/fuge.

 

[ClownFishKeeper]

Good catch, definitely could be stressing the coral. If the hammer was recently shipped in from the distributors in California to you LFS the coral might be showing signs of stress from the shipping process. If it has been in the LFS for some time then I would favor salinity being an issue. What is the salinity at your LFS compared to your home system?

 

[Mekanic]

Was in the lfs for a while from what I was told. My salinity was .005 higher. Has been resolved, it's looking a bit happier now but still not 100%, but I'm not worried about it dying in the next day anymore

Sent from my ADR6400L

 

[ClownFishKeeper]

Good to hear. post more pictures of its progress!