hammer coral

[ewiski]

i bought a hammer coral about 5 days ago and im having trouble with it.when i first put it in my tank it opened up real nice.now its all closed up and has this brown stuff on it.i tried moving it to diffrent current and nothing has helped.all my other corals are great.does anyone know what i can do?my tank is 58 gallon 200 watts of light.ph 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrate 0, nitrite 0, phos 0, gravity is 1.023, temp ~80 degrees.

 

[jacksonpt]

Sounds similar to what happened to mine. When I first got it, it didn't open up right away, then I noticed brown stuff on one end of the coral. Turns out it was die off... part of my coral was dying. I think they are very sensitive to the oils in our skin, and I think the person at my LFS may have touched it when I purchased the coral. Lasted about 4-5 days, then it opened up and is still doing well. My coral is about 5" in lenght, and I had about 1-1.5" die.
Hope that's not the case for you, but it sounds like what happened to mine. Good luck.

 

[burnnspy]

Does the tank have alkalinity or calcium?
BurnNSpy

 

[ewiski]

well my calcium is 420 im not sue about my alk.anyway its turning even more brown i think its almost all dead.i will ask my pet store to see if i can get a deal for a new one.oh well not it all lost my star polops that closed up for 2 weeks are all out again.

 

[diatom]

ewiski~
You might want to see if you can't figure out what the problem is before you run out to the LFS and see if you can't get a deal on another one.

 

[ewiski]

well considering all my other corals look great maybe there isnt a problem.and besides the guy busted the skeleton apart and found anerobic bacteria that might have killed it.so maybe you shouldnt tell people what to do if u cant offer any solution.

 

[ewiski]

well considering all my other corals look great maybe there isnt a problem.and besides the guy busted the skeleton apart and found anerobic bacteria that might have killed it.so maybe you shouldnt tell people what to do if u cant offer any solution.

 

[jacksonpt]

Originally posted by ewiski:
<STRONG>so maybe you shouldnt tell people what to do if u cant offer any solution.</STRONG>
calm down there guy... I don't think Diatom meant it personally. There are a lot of people on this board who rush out an add/replace stock without considering the condition of their tank. I think Diatom was only making sure that you weren't rushing things.
And for what it's worth... there are a lot of things that can cause problems with corals that you can't test for. Just because your other stock is doing well, and a few selected parameters are OK, doesn't mean that you're free and clear.

 

[up north hermit]

I agree with Jacksonpt, this is not a board for the overly sensitive type. It is a place we offer advice and opinions for those who are geniunely interested in the well-being of the creatures we love. Granted, some are more diplomatic than others, but this is not a personality contest. Be glad BurnNSpy hasn't answered you back yet , lol, jk Burn.
Now, that said, I offer this: 200 watts of light on a 58 is NOT sufficient for corals IMHO. And, BTW, corals can look absolutely gorgeous right up to the very moment they croak.
Secondly, anybody trying to keep a reef tank without a test kit for alkalinity, or doesn't know what it is

[hr]
well........what can I say. Not good. Studies are revealing now that alkalinity is MORE IMPORTANT than calcium for most corals to thrive.
Take this advice in good stride, we are just trying to help you.
My humble .02
Hermit

 

[diatom]

Up North~
I thought I was being diplomatic .

 

[jagster]

Info I've read state that since Hammer Corals are fairly easy to maintain, they are very good indicators of your water quality. Since yours is not fully expanding, you must have water quality problems. Not going to venture a guess. Get some test kits!!

 

[diatom]

ewiski~
Sorry if you took my message the wrong way...just trying to save you and your corals some future trouble. It sounds to me like you might have had brown jelly disease. If you have this trouble in the future you might try an iodine dip. Iodine can be dangerous to use, unless done correctly, but if you think the coral death is unavoidable you might try it.
iodine dip - 20 drops per liter(2% iodine solution) for 20 min in a separate container of tank water. I do another dip in a separate container of clean tank water (2 min) - swishing the coral in the water to get most of the iodine off.
Mo Better?