What's wrong with my Hammer

[Natural Blue]

First off, I'm new to corals so if it's obvious I may not know and I apologize for not know the correct terminology in my post below.

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my branching Hammer coral? I've had it about 3 months now and it's been doing fine and has gone from 4 heads to 6. It's got like a pink fleshy film on the base, which it's always had a little but now it's much worse.

It's also got a white little cotton ball looking thing growing between the heads and green pod looking thing as well. You can kind of see it in the pics.

Tank Parameters:
Amonnia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphates are all 0
Salinity is 1.025
Mag 1320
Cal 440
Alk 10.1
Ph 8.3

 

[cubsFAN]

They look like sponges to me. Harmless.

 

[brannock_16]

+1 to sponges.

 

[Natural Blue]

What about the pink on base?

 

[Theodoro]

Hi,

If the sponges have no problem.

 

[cubsFAN]

The purple is a sponge. Not sure what kind. The white one is probably a pineapple sponge. It's hard to tell from the pic. I don't see the green thing you're talking about.

 

[Natural Blue]

One more question about my hammer. Does it just look this bad because the heads are splitting and branching out? I can't figure out why it's looking so bad and all my parameters are good.

 

[birdman1979]

Your hammer looks like it is getting too much light. Possibly too much flow. I have that purple sponge too. Not an issue.

 

[Natural Blue]

Your hammer looks like it is getting too much light. Possibly too much flow. I have that purple sponge too. Not an issue.

Last week I cut my metal halides (2 250W 14Ks) down to 5 hours instead of 7, and tonight I moved the Hammer down to the sand bed in the corner most part of the tank so we'll see how it does the next week.

 

[chrispc66]

These corals require food, they are consistently absorbing phytoplankton from the water. The polyps appear bleached out, an indicator it is probably starving. Do a little research about feeding hammer coral.

High flow conditions = little extension and possible polyp detachment.
Too much light is unlikely, and indicated by polyp recession.

 

[Natural Blue]

These corals require food, they are consistently absorbing phytoplankton from the water. The polyps appear bleached out, an indicator it is probably starving. Do a little research about feeding hammer coral.

High flow conditions = little extension and possible polyp detachment.
Too much light is unlikely, and indicated by polyp recession.

I'm feeding it Mysis every about 3 times a week, should I be giving it phytoplankton as well?

 

[birdman1979]

Will it consume mysis? I ask because I have a similar species of branching hammer that will not eat anything larger than brine shrimp. It will catch mysis but then let it float away. Brine shrimp it eats and cyclops. What size tank do you have those 250 watt phoenix bulbs over? What type of reflectors? How old are your bulbs. Is the hammer right under them?

 

[Natural Blue]

Will it consume mysis? I ask because I have a similar species of branching hammer that will not eat anything larger than brine shrimp. It will catch mysis but then let it float away. Brine shrimp it eats and cyclops. What size tank do you have those 250 watt phoenix bulbs over? What type of reflectors? How old are your bulbs. Is the hammer right under them?

It did eat mysis, now it lets the majority of them float away. The tank is AGA 125 gallon, and the bulbs are Plusrite 14k. I've been thinking about trying the 20k version to see if they are better. As far the reflectors I have no clue what they are since I bought the setup used. Bulbs are about 4 months old.

The hammer was sitting up about mid tank and off on the right side, not quite directly under the light. I had a Acropora SPS coral that bleached out which is another reason for cutting my halides back to 5 hrs.

 

[birdman1979]

It's tough to diagnose without seeing your tank but it sounds to me like too much light even at 5hrs. I think it may eventually tolorate your lighting but would have to be acclimated slowly. Can you shade it under a rock ledge or windo screening?

 

[Motish]

You should also make sure it is not under direct flow.