fishamajig
Member
I got one of these today (my first coral) and was wondering if anyone has any experience with these?
branching hammer coral
- Thread starter fishamajig
- Start date
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tizzo
Guest
Yeah, I had one... Real pretty when I got it...
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tizzo
Guest
Then it went downhill and started turning white...(not for lack of lighting, it was just not happy)
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tizzo
Guest
Now all I have left os one branch that has since regained it's color and has a new little branch forming. This one branch is the only survivor of all of them...
fishamajig
Member
It was white at the store when I picked it up. then i got home and it started to turn a rose color (pinkish) i had no idea why it was doing this. maybe it is acclimating to my tank.
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tizzo
Guest
White is not good. Don't ever buy white corals. They are either bleaching due to lack of light or they are stressed and wanna give up on the game of life, (LOL).
The "pinker" it gets the better your chances for survival are. Actually you ultimately want it brown with green tips.
The "pinker" it gets the better your chances for survival are. Actually you ultimately want it brown with green tips.
fishamajig
Member
ok well at least we are going in the right direction. thanks for the info. at the lfs they were under metal hallide fixtures and they were right near the top. do you think they were getting too much light?
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tizzo
Guest
I hope not cause mine are under halides. The thing about hammers is that they are fairly easy corals. Acclimating them is another thing. Once they do acclimate, your home free, but whether or not they will is up to them. They don't take change to well.
Mine took 2 months to display that he was dead. I was shooting a turkey baster near him and his tenticles blew right off. That was my first sign. After enough blew off, I could see some rotted tissue in the middle of each branch. That totally explained my new algae out break!! But I removed the branches one by one until I was left with only one. I thought even that one wouldn't make it, but it gradually recovered and is currently showing some flourescent green hues under the actinics. He has a long way to go, but as it stands I think that he's OK. Lemme find the absolute first problem that I posted with him.
They said it was normal but in retrospect, I think it was an indication of deteriorating health...
Mine took 2 months to display that he was dead. I was shooting a turkey baster near him and his tenticles blew right off. That was my first sign. After enough blew off, I could see some rotted tissue in the middle of each branch. That totally explained my new algae out break!! But I removed the branches one by one until I was left with only one. I thought even that one wouldn't make it, but it gradually recovered and is currently showing some flourescent green hues under the actinics. He has a long way to go, but as it stands I think that he's OK. Lemme find the absolute first problem that I posted with him.
They said it was normal but in retrospect, I think it was an indication of deteriorating health...
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tizzo
Guest
Here it is...
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ghlight=hammer
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ghlight=hammer
fishamajig
Member
well i am going to have to keep an eye out. as i turned off the lights tonight i saw them all go back into the stem so they are not dead but ill have to give em a few days to see what is up. thanks for all the help.
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eaglefan
Guest
Thanks for the info Tizzo. This will help me when I'm ready to buy one. I hope both of you have great success with your hammers in the future.
cmack
Member
I think I read somewher that coral which feed from the light will 'discharge' some of the zooxanthellae(sp) living in them if the light is too strong. This results in the color fading to more of a white/pale color. The theory was that since the light was SO strong, they don't need as many zooxanthellae to get the required food. If you move them a bit lower, the zooxanthellae will start to multiply to provide more food, resulting in more brown/green color.
dragonboy
Active Member
I haven't had any problem with any of mines. I have all three kinds except the frog died on one of the branches and my torch had a little bit of a problem but it came back and doing okay. My hammer got twice as large when I first got it they suppose to be pretty easy to take care of but they can't handle too much stress or too much flow in their way so keep the flow light.
fishamajig
Member
yea i saw it grab a few pieces of brine shrimp and pull em intoday but i have only 2 of the 4 branches really out today the others are pulled in a bit. ill have to check on em tomorrow.
