smashed stem of hammer ?

[uf_gators]

My wife noticed the new hammer coral we got today. It was on the sand bed and fell out of the hole it was in on the live rock. Well long story short, she tried to put it back in the hole and she said she twisted it a bit to get it snug. but the stalk crushed in her fingers.

I placed a rubberband around it to hold it together. the head looks ok but the stalk is smashed bad. Is this poor hammer done for or will it heal itself ? Or should I pull it from the tank so it don't die and foul up everything ?? the skeleton was like smashed flat, and some of the head came off. This is why I am so worried, about the rest of my tank. ya know ! I feel like tossing it, but thats why I want to ask you exp. guys

the stem is about 1/2 inch around, and was about 3/4 in. long ! This all just happen so quick, and new to the reef world.

 

[chrisv]

it MAY pull through. if you have a 10 g nano, I would consider tossing it but if you have a 40g+ tank that is established it might survive without fouling everything up. I have been amazed many times by the ability of coral to survive once I have assumed the worst.

 

[uf_gators]

thanks chrisv
the pic was taken about 10-11pm last night. And this morning now , it still looks the same !

my tank is a 20 gal. and it is established. almost 4 months running !

 

[chrisv]

My vote goes for leaving it in. you might want to run a little extra activated carbon to take out any excess nitrogenous waste that will be released by the tissue that dies. My suspicion is that if all of your tank parameters are stable it might just pull through. If it gets any more "melty" looking pull it out. some of the coral will inevitably die, but enough may remain to salvage it.

 

[chrisv]

you might be better served by gluing frags (yes even LPS frags) in place rather than wedging them in. I like the solid clay-like marine epoxy for LPS and super glue for everything else.

 

[FinancialReef]

Super glue gel works great. Leave it in and leave it alone.

 

[chrisv]

ANy updates on this? Is your coral still alive?