Escape2thewater.. i have a question about your hammer.

mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Hey,
I have seen pics of your hammer and it is the healthiest hammer ever!! I just bought one yesterday, and he seems healthy so far. He is 3''. My questions are.. How big was your hammer when you got him, how big is he now, how long have you had him, and what do you feed him?
Thanks Alot!
Adam__
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
Hey Adam, whats up. I still have my hammer but its not doing too well due to a massive hair algae outbreak in my tank that i've been fighting for about 2 months now. Its finally getting under control but i've lost all my acro's & my hammer has some major recession, I think maybe a brown jelly infection. I just gave it a freshwater dip to see if that will help. As to answer your questions though, it was about maybe 6/7 inches long when I got it & still is now. It just expands more & grows taller very slowly, not horizontally. Ive had it for about 10 months now & its been very healthy up until the past month or so due to stress from my hair algae infestation. I usually feed it either frozen silversides or krill about once a week. Otherwise I honestly havent done anything to it. Hopefully mine will pull through this. Good luck with yours though!
KYle
:happyfish
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Thanks alot Kyle!
I hope your hammer makes it. :)
I also have a bit of hair algea on my rocks.. what are you doing to get rid of it?
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
By the way..
it was about maybe 6/7 inches long when I got it & still is now. It just expands more & grows taller very slowly, not horizontally.
I bought a hammer 2 days ago, and it is only about 3.5 inches long. Will it get longer horizontally over time?
Thanks. :)
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
My outbreak was started by letting my bulbs go too long & they dropped out of spectrum.
I first replaced my 4-VHo's over a few weeks time. It helped but the algae just came back. Then I upgraded/replaced my 175w MH 10k's to new 250w radium 20k's. Again it slowed things down a bit but it was already too late. I then cut back the photo period, cut back the feedings & started running phosban full time. Also added more macros in my fuge & replaced the bulbs over it too. All that combined with physical removal of the algae via syphon vacauum & weekly 10% water changes & also started dosing with microbe lift special blend, That actually started making a diffrence. I also added about 70 more snails then I had before. So add all that up and now the algae is slowly going away & staying gone. I learned my lesson though! never again will I let my bulbs go! Too bad it cost so many corals to die, from all my acros to most of my mushrooms execept the hairy mushrooms & some of my ricordeas. What a tough lesson.....
KYle
:happyfish
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Wow...that is a real PITA. :yes:
i hope everything will be back to normal and running well for you! :)
BTW,
I bought a hammer 2 days ago, and it is only about 3.5 inches long. Will it get longer horizontally over time?
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
Thanks for the hope... Mine never really did get any longer horizontally, not that ive noticed anyway. Maybe it did but if so it sure wasnt much & I didnt notice. It just mainly expanded way bigger & grew taller more then anything else. Good luck though & by all means stop your hair algae before it gets a good hold of your tank! Stop it while you still can!!
KYle
:happyfish
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Thanks. :)
Escape2thewater,
How big of a peice of krill should i cut to feed the 3.5 inch hammer? Because i once spot fed my branching hammer which i have had for 7 months, and i fed it too big of a peice, So it spit it out after swallowing it, and its polyps shriveled and took a few days to recover.
Thanks
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
escape2thewater,
I tried to feed my hammer a small peice of krill, and he would hold onto it for about 3 minutes, then he lets go of it..:notsure:
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
hey, yea my hammer will do that sometimes too. Just try to feed it some pieces of silversides. Mine will pretty much always take that....as long as my stupid hermit crabs dont steal it first!
Kyle
:happyfish
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Thanks.
There is one more problem though..
My hammer would be HUGE, and fully extended one day, then small the next day.. it goes on like patterns. :notsure:
He is in medium- high flow, and he is under MH`s.
I think it is because my PH, alk, and calcium are not always exact all the time. Sometimes they lower, then rise.
That made me lead into thinking of getting a calcium reactor with a PH controller. What do you think?
Thanks
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
I have always kept mine in fairly low to med current. Too much flow will stress them or possibly damage thier delicate polyps. My Ca & Alk are always changing up & down a little each day too. I just dose & adjust levels as needed to keep it as balanced as possible. A calcium reactor would be sweet, thats for sure! Ive been wanting to get one but since ive had the recent problems with my tank I had to put the money into my lighting upgrades, etc instead. Do you have any other LPS/SPS in your tank?
KYle
:happyfish
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Ya,
i have..
LPS:
* Branching hammer
* Hammer
* Frogspawn
* open brain
* brain coral ( maze)
* moonstone coral
SPS:
* orange monti cap.
Softies:
* pom pom xenia
* wavy hand xenia
 
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