What's wrong with my hammer?

[xmike24]

Literally looks like brown/red? hair algae, but you can tell the left head is extremely stressed.

Symptoms
1. Mouth is wide open, I can see inside
2. Film/hair brownish color extending from mouth
3. Fish have actually taken a liking to eating the hair
4. After brown tentacle was done/gone the head closed right up and hasn't opened since.

Is it sick? Tentacles? pests?

Normal stress I see on the hammer have been clear tentacles with a couple of bubbles usually when sand or something gets on it when it cleans it off.

 

[EllieSuz]

It's poop! Sometimes a guy needs a little rest after a good poop. Don't worry about it.

 

[xmike24]

Not going to lie, I actually thought about that when I considered how much it's ate lately. Lol damn I feel like an idiot for asking now.

 

[Randy15]

+1. Lol

 

[xmike24]

Lol thanks for laughing at my expense Randy.
Also, seriously... that means my fish were eating my hammers poop. Awesome!

 

[Randy15]

I wasn't laughing at u I posted at the same time and was responding to the previous comment. I was confused the first time I saw it happen in my tank as well.

 

[BuffaloReef]

I thought my coral was expelling zooxanthellae the first one I saw this. I'm laughing with you! My first tank included a cleaner shrimp. One day I saw my clownfish drop a terd and my shrimp gleefully jump up to devour it. I avoided eating shrimp for awhile after that.

 

[xmike24]

Lol, I'm perfectly alright with people laughing at it, really doesn't bother me. I think it's absolutely hilarious... Plus giving the fact that I sat in front of the tank staring at it for 5 - 10minutes looking at him do his business. Not to mention photographing it.

 

[Bluephish13]

In the past i did not seem to have the best luck with most LPS. I get my sps to grow and my lps shrivel up, my lps grow and my sps would stn.

Most the times i have seen that in my tank it means bad news. I took it as expelling zoox. Happens to me when i am messing with alk levels. My lps are fine even at low kh in the 6's as long as its stable, but as soon as i change that level and go to raise it they expel zoox. Then shrivel up for months eventually polyps will bail out if stability is not resumed.

Watch it closely and make sure your kh levels are not bouncing, not even a little.

IME If its poop then it should open back up within minutes- hours-1 day. If not start looking for other causes right away.


IME They wont always bleach(turn white/clear) when stressed sometimes they have a really intense color, but the polyps will still shrivel and bail.

Not to be a debbie downer, just want you to know it can mean a few things so watch closely and make sure your levels are strait. I have brought my green torch back from the brink of death a few times. Once the polyp half bailed off the skeleton, i resumed perfect stability and it reattached/grew new skeleton. So if caught quickly they can be saved. Thats the reason i tell you to make sure.

The flesh growing down the skeleton shaft, is my best judge if something is going awry on my torch, if it starts receding up towards the polyp, i know i'm in trouble. Its been yrs but with the help of kalk and some brs dosers i think i finally got the hang of the whole balanced/stable system thing.