Hammer Coral Pooping? Dying? What's going on?

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

So I just got back from the gym and noticed my hammer coral looking like this. I've been having brown algae problems so i've stopped feeding it and have upped my water changes to 10%ish every other day.

 

Everything in the tank was fine until right now. This morning the coral looked great. I was doing research of my own and concluded it is either dying or pooping. It is wide open in the middle and there is that tendril of whatever that is coming out. Saw my fish attempt to eat it - once. It did not go back a second time.

 

The tendril is what freaks me out the most. The tentacles are all deflated and that thick-white/transparent tendril is coming out of the middle. Seems to be oozing out and getting slightly bigger as time goes on.

 

The tank was a little hotter than usually because it was a hot day in CT. temp was 83 as apposed to the usual 79-80. I have a fan on the tank to cool it down now.

 

I have a frogspawn on the other side that is fine, all other inhabitants of tank doing fine.

[SerenityReef]

Was there a pic?

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

yes sorry it was very small so uploaded a larger one

[SerenityReef]

Best guess from that pic is pooping....

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

Thank you very much I will keep a look out on it. Here is a better one the tendril is more visible.

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

so yeah it's looking awful and i can see sections of the skeleton, and its turned from pink to white. Is this species, it's an octo, more sensitive to temp changes? everything is fine with the rest of the tank.

[Coco66]

Dip it in some coral revive

[jservedio]

Dip it in some coral revive

 

No don't do that - revive is pine oil based dip and is meant to remove pests, not "cure" corals. If it isn't infested with a pest, don't do that now. If it had pests and you didn't dip it before putting it in your tank and gluing it down, it's too late for that sort of thing.

 

If the "poop" looked brown or black and stringy, it was most likely expelling it's zooxanthella (it's symbiont algae) and bleaching. Where is it in your tank (upper or lower rockwork) and what kind of lighting do you have? You probably didn't photo acclimate it and it bleached (or the temp increase caused it to bleach).

 

You need to make sure it isn't in too much light and not in too much flow and feed it if it will accept any food at night. Things need to be kept very stable, and MAYBE it'll recover. If it does recover, it is going to take months.

 

Edit: I see you said it went from pink to white. 100% it bleached. It wasn't "pooping" - it was expelling it's zooxs. Get it out of intense light (on the sand or in slight shade) - get it in medium-low flow, and then keep your tank as stable as possible for the foreseeable future. It's going to take 3-4 months most likely if you can get it to bounce back.

[kimberbee]

If the "poop" looked brown or black and stringy, it was most likely expelling it's zooxanthella (it's symbiont algae) and bleaching. Where is it in your tank (upper or lower rockwork) and what kind of lighting do you have? You probably didn't photo acclimate it and it bleached (or the temp increase caused it to bleach).

 

You need to make sure it isn't in too much light and not in too much flow and feed it if it will accept any food at night. Things need to be kept very stable, and MAYBE it'll recover. If it does recover, it is going to take months.

 

Edit: I see you said it went from pink to white. 100% it bleached. It wasn't "pooping" - it was expelling it's zooxs. Get it out of intense light (on the sand or in slight shade) - get it in medium-low flow, and then keep your tank as stable as possible for the foreseeable future. It's going to take 3-4 months most likely if you can get it to bounce back.

 

I think this is happening to my hammer, too.

 

It was in my tank for a couple days looking just fine. After about a week it started getting smaller and smaller - it would close up at night and then just not open as much the next day. This makes it look kind of wilted. There's been a couple of evenings now where I see the brown stringy stuff coming out of it's mouth. It doesn't seem to be losing color, just shrinking.

 

I have a 28 gallon BioCube with 2 12in Panorama Pros. I did add a dimmer a couple days ago and toned the lights down. Everything else is INCREDIBLY happy though.

 

Anything else I can do to help this guy feel better?

[bubblealgae]

Max temp the tank reached?

[kimberbee]

Max temp the tank reached?

 

When I've forgotten to open the rear lid, or left a towel on top covering the fans the temp has gotten up to 81.

 

It is usually between 79 and 80.

[markalot]

Euphyllia corals; hammers, torches, frogspawn, etc., in my experience need some nutrients in the water. If this is a newer tank then what usually happens is the tank owner sees some algae, freaks out, strips the water bare and starves the corals. Could this be what is happening? I know this is what I did with my first tank.

 

You want to keep up on maintenance, regular water changes, etc, but new tanks WILL go through multiple ugly stages with algae outbreaks that you will have to deal with. After 6 to 8 months of this the tank will settle down. It's hard to keep corals that prefer what many call dirtier water in a newer tank. I had issue after issue with Frogspawns until I started feeding heavier. In my 29 gallon, which is a complete mess at the moment with algae and all kinds of pests, the frogspawns are loving life.

 

I would dim the lights a bit more and start feeding the tank more and see what happens.

[kimberbee]

Euphyllia corals; hammers, torches, frogspawn, etc., in my experience need some nutrients in the water. If this is a newer tank then what usually happens is the tank owner sees some algae, freaks out, strips the water bare and starves the corals. Could this be what is happening? I know this is what I did with my first tank.

 

You want to keep up on maintenance, regular water changes, etc, but new tanks WILL go through multiple ugly stages with algae outbreaks that you will have to deal with. After 6 to 8 months of this the tank will settle down. It's hard to keep corals that prefer what many call dirtier water in a newer tank. I had issue after issue with Frogspawns until I started feeding heavier. In my 29 gallon, which is a complete mess at the moment with algae and all kinds of pests, the frogspawns are loving life.

 

I would dim the lights a bit more and start feeding the tank more and see what happens.

 

This was a new to me tank that had already been up and running, so while I've only had it for 4 weeks, it was set up in someone's house for a while. I used all their sand, rock, and water and have only done one water change, though I plan to do one this weekend (so once every two weeks).

 

I get what you are saying though, so I'll make sure I don't go crazy and clean it more than needed.

[markalot]

This was a new to me tank that had already been up and running, so while I've only had it for 4 weeks, it was set up in someone's house for a while. I used all their sand, rock, and water and have only done one water change, though I plan to do one this weekend (so once every two weeks).

 

I get what you are saying though, so I'll make sure I don't go crazy and clean it more than needed.

 

I'm not understanding why you bumped this thread instead of making a new one, I didn't even realize it was old.

 

Anyway, are you also new to reefkeeping? If so,

 

Do you know only to topoff with RO/DI or distilled water and not saltwater?

 

Do you know the other basics of reef keeping etc? Just making sure.

[kimberbee]

 

I'm not understanding why you bumped this thread instead of making a new one, I didn't even realize it was old.

 

Anyway, are you also new to reefkeeping? If so,

 

Do you know only to topoff with RO/DI or distilled water and not saltwater?

 

Do you know the other basics of reef keeping etc? Just making sure.

 

I bumped hoping that people once involved in the thread would chime in with some advice.

 

I am new to reefkeeping but have been getting lots of help from my boyfriend who services aquariums... so yes, I know not to top off with saltwater!

 

I appreciate the help!

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

yeah so turns out my coral had an injury that i'm assuming got infected and it died. Sorry I can't be much more help. However, my coral died in less than 72 hours so if yours is still alive after that time its not Rapid Tissue Necrosis, and it may just be stressed out. Is this a new coral? Did you acclimate to the lights?

[kimberbee]

yeah so turns out my coral had an injury that i'm assuming got infected and it died. Sorry I can't be much more help. However, my coral died in less than 72 hours so if yours is still alive after that time its not Rapid Tissue Necrosis, and it may just be stressed out. Is this a new coral? Did you acclimate to the lights?

Oh wow, sorry to hear your hammer declined so fast!

 

My hammer has been in my tank for about 2 weeks I think, maybe a little longer. I think it's very possible it wasn't used to such powerful lighting. I suppose time will tell and hopefully it starts to perk up.

 

I have a picture of the brown stringy whatever it is, however it's on my camera and I'm having issues getting pics from the camera onto a computer for uploading... But I've seen that stuff at least three evenings in a row now

[markalot]

Turn down or raise the lights higher!

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

Yeah there's a good chance it was just stressed out. Do everything you can to keep the water parameters stable, dim the light a bit, and then gradually increase them over a week or two. It should take time to heal like upwards of a month! But be patient!