Why cant i keep Hammer or Frogspawn??

[EnderG60]

Ive had my tank setup for about 5 months now (custom made 11.5 gal with 96w power quad)

 

I have some random lil SPS frags, some candy coral, ricordia's, GSP, zoo's a small leather and a green BTA in there all of which are doing very well.

 

But for some reason every time i put hammer or frogspawn(tried 3 times now) they close up as soon as i start aclimating them and never come back out and die within 4 days.

 

All my numbers are good except I cant get my PH over 8.1(usually hangs around 8.0)

 

Any idea's??

[sacs4010]

How is your water flow? Hammers need strong consistant water flow going through it. At least that is what I was told why mine died on my old 15 gallon set up.

 

Bradley C Sacs

[EnderG60]

Ive got some pretty good flow, and over the 3 times i tried i put them in no current, med current and high current, all did the same thing

[belamy]

I had the same problem before. bought a hammer and torch on different occasion and they both died within 3-4 days. My 3rd coral, a frowspawn is doing better.

 

how did they look when you got home (before you acclimated) sometimes they get shocked or damaged from moving around. how long did you acclimate? I acclimated mine for 3 hrs adding 1 turkey baster full of tank water every 15 minutes. I usually add the corals when the lights are off.

 

where in the tank are you placing them? True they like a low to medium flow so the currents won't cause the tissue to be damaged by the skeletons. The first two corals where placed low on the rocks, close to the sand bed. My 3rd coral, the frogspawn i placed high on the rocks and it's thriving pretty good for 2 wks now. light-wise i'm using a 96 watt powerquad.

 

hth

[EnderG60]

I tried both low and high(not much differance tank is only 12" high) and I aclimated them by drip for 1.5 hours.

 

and like i said you can see them get REALLY pissed durirng aclimation. Watched it happen on try #2 and #3 but on #3 the peice was much larger then before but still same basic thing...just took an extra day:(

 

its like something in my water is poison to them

[belamy]

assuming that your water parameters are good, did you start dripping as soon as you put them in? I let them get used to the water temp for 20-30 minutes before adding tank water. how fast is the dripping? adding too much water too soon can shock them also.

 

I don't know how big is your tank, but perhaps you might have reached your max bioload that your tank can sustain. It might help to get a skimmer. it will help with taking out some of the waste in your water that the live rock and sand can't process.

[sschuler]

Hammers do not like strong flow. Especially not direct. They live in turbid shaded areas. I will tell you from experience that you need to get it in indirect flow and low light area. Then you have to fine tune it. Leave it in one spot for a week. If it doesn't extend, move it a half inch, or turn it around 90 degrees. Eventually you will get it perfect. One thing to remember, do not move it more often than that. They need time to acclimate to the new spot.

[bgoode]

What is the temperature like in the bag when you acclimate them? You say they get pissed during acclimation, so it sounds like the problem might be there.

[EnderG60]

I float everything for 15-20 min first, then put them in a bucket wtih the bag water and drip about 5-7 drips a sec for 1-1.5 hours.

 

After about 5-10 min in the bucket they start to receed(sp?) not just shrink but really pull back, and stay that way no matter where i put them untill 3-4 days later when they have pretty much turned to mush.

 

I have both hammer and frogspawn in my 55g which i keep at basicly the same peramiters except for the lower Ph and higher light over the nano

[BAIN]

I have a hammer and frogspawn in my 20 gal. on oppisite sides of the tank about mid tank with pretty high flow and they both love it. They are under 2 65w PC's and are getting huge.

[sschuler]

Goes to show that there are few definates with reef tanks ;-) Hey BAIN, I am from Irving. In Omaha now. Are there any good LFS there? Omaha has a crappy coral selection.

[BAIN]

I have been to a few in the Dallas area and in my oppinion they are not that good, but I'm from Mississippi and went to school in Hattiesburg, MS witch is only 30 min from the Gulf coast and 1.5 hrs. to New Orleans(great fish and coral stores).

[luvtolean]

My frogspawn loves low flow, but enough to move and loves extremely strong light surprisingly. I had a 2 headed frogspawn that recently became a 4 (both sides split) so apparently it's happy!

 

Do every test you have on the water from your LFS and compare to your own. Have all of your frogspawns and hammers been bought at the same store? Also, ask your LFS what salt they use. Taking stock from high quality salt and putting it into tanks with the cheaper stuff reportedly can cause problems.

 

Before I had a sump and had to add buffer directly to the tank, my frogspawn would immediately close up and not re-open until the next day. It also seemed to get very stressed with water changes.