I dont think my pink hammer is going to make it....plz help

jugger

jugger

Member
when i was out in san fran i saw this beautiful pink hammer coral and just had to have it.... but when i got it back in CO from the shipping company the box was soggy and alot of water had leaked out... after opening the box i saw that the hammer had ALOT of tissue damage done to side walls and it was just hanging from the opennings.... one day later after placing it into my tank it openened up all over the opennings and looked like it was going to make it... but after 3 days this is what it looks like.... inside the circle you can see that the tenticals are not coming out anymore and it looks like a puddle of goo in that spot now.... the oposite ends look ok but not great... i have seen alittle tissue extention on the side walls on the ends but in the middle bad spot there is no tissue on the walls....
what do you think????
is it possible for part of it to be damaged and die off... and have the other larger portions of it survive and grow back in the middle dead zone???
to give an idea of its size.... its about 8 inches long
if this one dies i will never purchase another hammer coral again... i had one that did great for 1 month and then up and die in one week.... but my frogspawn is doing great...grows like a weed...and arent they very closely related???
 
fishkiller

fishkiller

Active Member
Dude! It will be cool!! As long as your water is good, and you keep the stress down, it will stay alive and grow back where the was damage. Keep everything constant for a while sg, temp, ALL levels.... Just keep it stress free, and it'll make it.... Beautiful hammer btw.... Good luck!!
 
mebigloser

mebigloser

Member
I agree with fishkiller, keep the water quality up and he should recover.
good luck.
My brain was damaged when I got him, he is now fully recovered.
 
fishkiller

fishkiller

Active Member
no, it's ok... My brain is still damaged......... oh...i thought.... er... nevermind...dain bramage.... actually, a little from getting hit by a truck when I was little..... no joke!
 
fishkiller

fishkiller

Active Member
LOL!!!!!!! no... Which is probably why I drive so dern fast... I'm trying to get away from all the other cars!!
 
jugger

jugger

Member
wow sorry to hear about that man... but anyway if thats what you guys and girls think... then ill wait it out and keep everything stabble..... but it just keeps getting worse as the days and hours pass..
i to have had a VERY BADDY damaged open brain with massive tissue damage (40% of it surface) and bleached baddly.... and it survived and grew back the tissue but is still perdy clear from the bleaching on alot of spots
and alos a fungia with lots of tissue damage that is now twice its size (~9 inches acorss) in 5 months and is beautifull
but i havent had much luck with hammers which is scaring me about this one right now
are they a tuffer coral to keep???
 
jugger

jugger

Member
i just did sunday(yesterday)
ph= 8.2
nitrate= 0 (not sure how its so low)
nitrite= 0
ammonia= 0
salinity= 1.024
calcium= 430
alk=2.29 (little low)
PO4= 0
iodine= i test for it but i dont believe the results
temp= 81
 
aarone

aarone

Active Member
make sure and feed it. Keep the calcium and magnesium levels in check. Is it branching hammer? If so the dead will just turn into skeletal area and it will branch off into a new section.
aaron
 
jugger

jugger

Member

Originally posted by aarone
make sure and feed it. Keep the calcium and magnesium levels in check. Is it branching hammer? If so the dead will just turn into skeletal area and it will branch off into a new section.
aaron
iv tried to feed it a couple of times but the brine (live and frozen), mysis, and squid just float away.... my first hammer would eat anything but not this one.... its not the branching type...its the scrollling type.... which has me scared... because im not sure how that works with the scrolling type.... will the dieing part slowly kill the rest of the coral..... or will it just stop dieing and regenerate tissue??
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member

Originally posted by jugger
iv tried to feed it a couple of times but the brine (live and frozen), mysis, and squid just float away.... my first hammer would eat anything but not this one.... its not the branching type...its the scrollling type.... which has me scared... because im not sure how that works with the scrolling type.... will the dieing part slowly kill the rest of the coral..... or will it just stop dieing and regenerate tissue??
OK I have a bubble coral that was in very similar shape. I bought it and it was much worse that what you are showing. What i did was take a soft bristled toothbrush and cleared away the algea and stuffo n the exposed coral. I then gently brushed the tissue closest (did this just once) - like a gentle massage.
It too was not eating so I did a bit of research. A lot of LPS corals thrive in turbid environments. So I stirred up some of hte sand bed around the coral and it seemed to send out some feeder tentacles so I did that daily for a week. It makes a sandy cloudy mess out of your tank (and in my 20 it was hellish). A week after that constant sand stirring I started feeding the coral regularly and it is now thriving.
Dude - that is one of the MOST gorgeous hammer corals I have ever seen!!
HTH and good luck!
 
powdertoastman

powdertoastman

Member
we had a pink and green hammer just like yours, and when we got it it had a very small area that was showing damage (about 1/4" worth) and within a week it had lost almost 75% of its heads. it can happen very fast even if your water is in very good shape and nothing is hitting it like other corals. i was told this and that on here, but it came down to having to find someone who knew a ton of corals to take it in and try and save it. nothing i was told worked, even the other guy that took it for me almost lost it, but it is starting to get a little better after almost 3 weeks, still only has about 25% of its heads left, but it can take a VERY long time for it to regrow over the damaged area i was told, try dipping it (cant remember what you use but someone can tell you) that might help and give a good current area, good luck.
 
jugger

jugger

Member
thanks for the comments about the hammer ...glad you like it... when i saw it i just had to have it...havent seen to many bright pink ones like it.... but now im sad and mad at myself for buying it and killing it (if it dies)... overanalyzer thanks for the advice.... as for the brush thing that scares me.... only because im very new to this hobby and not sure how delicate these animals are... freeks me out just haveing to touch them to move them around...but i have read that in other posts and other ppl haveiing good results.... ill try the sand stiring thing alittle....or just add to what my A-hole clown fish is already doing to the sand bed.... i think ill try the very low stress methode and see what happens.... its just odd that my first green scrolling hammer did the same thing and died....
Powdertoastman was your hammer the branching or scrolling type??
cant wait to get home tonight and see how hes doing
 
jugger

jugger

Member

Originally posted by overanalyzer
the dip you are referring to is a lugol's dip or an iodine dip (Does that sound right poweredtoastman??)
will that work???and what does it consist of besides iodine...how much.?? how long to dip??? ph the same as the tank water??
well the dead area has spread to about an inch long.... last night i sucked off some of the dead tissue....it came off really easy... and 12 hours later it looks like the dead area is about the same... hopefully it has stopped and now it will regrow slowly
ill post a pic of how bad it is now...when i get home
 
fishkiller

fishkiller

Active Member
There are many other "disinfectants" you can use......
Powdertoastman- How long was your tank up and running when you first put that hammer in there?
 
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