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Hammer Coral Not opening the same


italipinos8

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So i have had this hammer for quite a longtime. It used to open fully and look very nice. Now it doesnt expand as much. Switched tanks about 1.5 months ago to something bigger and slightly better lighting. Using the reef breeders value fixture. Have tried getting low flow but not much improvement.

 

Before: This photo was when i first got, it had only 6 heads on it.

IMG_3575.jpg

 

 

 

Here is now, growth is not an issue. This is about 12 heads, and i sold about 6 more a little bit ago.

20140923_153114.jpg

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If you have upgraded the lighting it probably no longer needs to expand like before to capture the same amount of light. If you move it to a shadier spot it will probably start expanding again because it will "reach" for the light.

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It needs time to adjust (acclimate). Just be patient. You can also try to move it to a shadier part of the tank like stated above.

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  • 2 months later...

I hate to bring back up a super old thread. But it is still the exact same 2 months later. I got a frogspawn about a month ago that looked very nice when I bought it but now it looks thd same as the hammer coral. Also can't seem to keep zoas for the life of me. They are alive but never open. Havent seen them in about 2 months open.

 

All my parameters in check. Nitrates 0, phospates 0. Cal, alk, mag.. don't check iodine levels. Constant ph.

 

All corals thrive and grow except these... I just don't get it. Makes me want to get rid of them cause they look ugly (in my opinion). Hammers aren't even splitting anymore.

 

Only thing I can think of that I changed was adding sand to my tank back in september. I actually added something called petco aquarium sand. Said it was good for fresh or marine use. Think it would be worthwhile to get rid of it all and see if they open?

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I use sailfert for everything. For media I am running a duel brs reactor, carbon and phosphates. 15 gallon weekly water changes.

 

Nitrates Undetectable

Phosphates Undetectable

calcium 400

alk 8

Mag ~ 1300

temp- 78-80

Salinity: 1.024

 

RODI is 0 tds. Use instant ocEan salt

 

 

Another reason I am leaning towards silicates is that I still have diatoms. I do not feed much anymore, 2-3 times a week with spectrum pellets.

 

Think I'm going to buy some argonite sand today and do a full swap of the sand. And a nice water change... ideally I would like to take out the sand and leave it barebottom to see if they if things change but I hAve a shrimp/goby pair and a leopard wrasse that need the sand

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Feed more, try to get Nitrates to around 5.

 

Double check your stability and make sure Alk is not swinging wildly after a water change. For example, if you test before a water change and it's 8 and after it's 9 or 10 then your corals won't be killed but they won't be happy. I don't think sand is the issue.

 

How is the flow in the tank?

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I used to feed more often with reef roids, cyclopeeze, mysis.. etc.. Still use those but not to often. Algae growth is more when i feed with those. Pellets seem to keep algae growth down. And i feed it to my corals and fish but hammers or zoas wont specifically take it, and dont normally accept other foods i try.

 

As for flow i have one mp10 running about 100% percent on reef crest mode. Also have another powerhead on the opposite side of the tank, dont know what it is called. Try to keep the flow on my euphylas down to a minimum but have tried certain different spots for them. Tried low flow, low light, medium flow, higher light, pretty much everything moving them around the tank, fragged my main colony into 6 little ones to try to find the perfect spot but they all look the same.

 

Bought some argonite sand today, going to rinse it well and try it out.

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I used to feed more often with reef roids, cyclopeeze, mysis.. etc.. Still use those but not to often. Algae growth is more when i feed with those. Pellets seem to keep algae growth down. And i feed it to my corals and fish but hammers or zoas wont specifically take it, and dont normally accept other foods i try.

 

As for flow i have one mp10 running about 100% percent on reef crest mode. Also have another powerhead on the opposite side of the tank, dont know what it is called. Try to keep the flow on my euphylas down to a minimum but have tried certain different spots for them. Tried low flow, low light, medium flow, higher light, pretty much everything moving them around the tank, fragged my main colony into 6 little ones to try to find the perfect spot but they all look the same.

 

Bought some argonite sand today, going to rinse it well and try it out.

 

Wait... what other corals do you have that are doing well? And what's the algae growth like? Have you ever siphoned the sandbed?

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I believe someone else mentioned this, but try increasing the nitrates in your tank to 5-10ppm. My frogspawn in particular will not extend as fully if the water is 'too clean', and my hammer usually bunches up as well.

 

Flow is also quite important regarding euphyllia, mine are positioned under my wave maker so they get extremely strong flow, but it's turbulent and infrequent, rather than a direct constant stream which would damage them. I'm a strong believer in that when these corals are excessively target fed, they extend like crazy, every coral I've had accepts lobster eggs, target fed with a 3ml pipette.

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I siphon the sandbed Everytime I do a waterchange.

 

Other corals I have the grow and look great are acans, duncan, candycane, favia, blastos and some cup corals.also some easy corals, leathers, gsp, kenya tree. Never had a problem with any of these.

 

Have 1 sps, a montipora, not growing, not dying. Have had it about 2 months and it still looks the same.

 

If I don't blast off my rocks daily with a turkey baster a green, think it's cyano, covers the rocks. Little air bubbled grow off of it. Don't have any hair algae or any other.

 

Have a rufugium with chaeto, Calerpa, and dragons breath. Also running a reef octopus 150 skimmer.

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Have 1 sps, a montipora, not growing, not dying. Have had it about 2 months and it still looks the same.

Have a rufugium with chaeto, Calerpa, and dragons breath. Also running a reef octopus 150 skimmer.

 

Two clues here. Monti not growing, so I still suspect you are having Alk swings. Second is you have a very efficient skimmer, you gravel vac, you have a fuge. Your water is too clean, and you're paranoid about algae in the display so you don't feed as much as you should. It's a balance we all have to go through, and sometimes a little algae needs to be tolerated.

 

I would skim wet with the 150, and make sure it sits high enough in the sump that you don't have any random overflows. Feed more, healthy water has bits of food floating around in it for the corals to grab. Target a small amount of nitrates.

 

I really like Reef Roids or BRS Reef Chili. Both were shown to increase coral growth when fed to test tanks.

 

Good luck. :)

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I had same problem with my zoas and my hammer and it was a alk problem.I ewas also using regular instan ocean salt,as soon as I switched to reef crystals it started getting better.now all zoas are open and growing and my hammer looks better then ever

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Two clues here. Monti not growing, so I still suspect you are having Alk swings. Second is you have a very efficient skimmer, you gravel vac, you have a fuge. Your water is too clean, and you're paranoid about algae in the display so you don't feed as much as you should. It's a balance we all have to go through, and sometimes a little algae needs to be tolerated.

 

I would skim wet with the 150, and make sure it sits high enough in the sump that you don't have any random overflows. Feed more, healthy water has bits of food floating around in it for the corals to grab. Target a small amount of nitrates.

 

I really like Reef Roids or BRS Reef Chili. Both were shown to increase coral growth when fed to test tanks.

 

Good luck. :)

 

Thanks for the help. I will try to wet skim from here on out. My sump is about 35 gallons btw. I will also look into changing salt brands. Going to monitor my alk daily, dont test for it all to often.

 

One reason i have been such a stickler about the clean water is because of the algae growth. It will literally cover the rocks in a few days if not kept under control. Here is a pic of it. Can grow thick, even in areas with high flow.

 

I have started to suction out the sand anyways. Going to move my leopard wrasse and goby/pistol pair to a 10 gallon temporarily till i get this sorted out.

 

14185749235601344129683.jpg

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Have you tested your alkalinity before and after a weekly water change to see what the weekly swing is? I had similar issues back before I realized that mine was dropping up to 4 dkh over a weeks period. I incorporated a Kalk stirrer on my ATO system and all of my LPS have really taken off! Stability in alkalinity is one of the major keys to a happy healthy reef.

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