Hammer Coral not fully opening
 

My hammer coral has not been opening all of the way since I upgraded to my 65g tank. First pic is when almost pulled in, 2nd is the biggest it gets now, 3rd is from when it was in my biocube and fully extended. I've had this hammer for about 6-7 months. Also, I am not sure if my levels are a bit high. If they are, how can I lower them? I DO NOT supplement at all. My tank is currently fishless as the fish are in QT. I have a 20g sump with a eshopps skipper. I use the salifert pro test kit.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
MG: 1400
KH: 8.4
CA: 490.

Your levels look okay to me other than the fact you do not list nitrates.

How long has it been in the new tank? How much flow do you have in the new tank, compared to the old tank.

I know I added a bunch of flow with two new powerheards last month, and my hammer started not opening all the way. I ended up moving it a little to sheild it from the worst of the "direct" flow, and it took a week or two to start extending completely.

Could also just be stressed about the move if it was recent. As long as its color isn't fading, I would think it is doing okay. However, I am still only a year or two into this, so I will defer to the longer-term folks regarding its overall health.

My nitrates are at 5ppm. I currently have one Koralia 750 pointing towards other end of tank. My return pump nozzle is pointing in the direction of the Hammer, but it is cranked down half way and the hammer barely moves around.

I have had the Hammer in the tank for about 2 months now. The flow of the biocube was very little as I did not have an extra PH in it.

So, is the only possibility being too much flow?

Hammers, Frogspawn, and Torches don't like a lot of flow. Try lowering the flow and seeing if that helps.

In the first two pictures things look a little dark, but perhaps that's a camera setting?

Do you have a phosphate test result? My hammer coral seems to like low -> moderate flow. A gentle wave is how I would describe it. Instead of turning down the flow, what about bouncing it off the side(s) of the tank. That way you still get the flow, but not directly on the coral.

The pics were taken with my phone and they usually don't come out very bright.

I have both my power head and the return pointing towards the glass and so their flow clash. I didn't want to turn down the flow anymore than I have anyways. I moved the hammer towards the back corner to see if that helps. I will know more later when the lights come on.

My phosphates are at .25ppm

I would start by addressing that Phosphate number. That is way too high for coral. I would start with a reactor and some GFO to pull down that number. Most people recommend a Phosphate number of <0.03ppm when housing corals.

Would a little phosphate really be the cause of this?

I can't say for sure. I've read in some articles that phosphates interfere with the corals uptake of Calcium and Alkalinity leading to growth issues. I suspect that would cause problems with SPS more than LPS, but I'm not an expert in that area.

I'm sure someone else can chime in and address that question. I brought it up because other than the high Phosphates, everything looks normal.

EDIT -> Have you tested your salinity? Do you use a calibrated refractometer or a swing arm hydrometer?

I had issues a few weeks ago w/ a hammer & a frogspawn. Had my water tested & calcium & alk were low, phosphates were also at 0.25. I added Chemipure Elite to pull out the phosphates , did a 2g water change switching from IO to Reef Crystals, & dosed Kent 2 part Nano Reef on a Friday. When I came back in the office on Monday everyone was much happier & I am even seeing growth with all corals.

That was the only time I have dosed the tank, with the switch in the salt mix everything is looking good.

I already use IO Reef Crystals. I do use a swing arm hydrometer. I don't have the extra money right now to get a refractometer as I am currently unemployed. I will have to see about some chemi pure later.

My salinity is at 1.0255

Where does everyone have their hammer placed? On the sand? Lower part of rocks, middle...?

Mines on the bottom of the tank on a rock in the sand bed. Really you can place it anywhere with low-moderate flow and low-moderate lighting. My hammer as stated above is on the bottom, but my frogspawn is toward the top but on the side so it doesn't get blasted with light.

Mine is sitting in the sand bed and gets low to moderate flow.

[IMG]http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psf67989da.jpg[/IMG]

close to the top 1/3, low medium flow. always fully extened as long as ive had it and the tank is 10 weeks 5 days old.

I had a similar problem a few weeks back. My phosphates were slightly high, around 5ppm, and I kept on agitating the hammer by moving it around. After a regular water changes and not moving the coral it came back to life and showed normal extension.

I have only hammer for about 6 months. Everything was fine until one day the light goes off and it took 2 days to repair it. And from that day it hasn't been the same.

Ah!
There is a clue.
Did light colour, or intensity (PAR) change as a result of the repair.
Exactly what is the repair?

Would you say the lighting is exactly as it was before....these corals get upset with light changes, but you say been like this for 2 months, would have recovered if the light was back to what it was.

Flow is possible, if the extensions would be gently waiving, (not shaking) the flow is fine. If you don't know then turn the flow completely away for 24 hours.

My best guess is the lighting and placement. The instance where it was fully opened is probably getting better lighting (higher PAR) than on the new tank.

They might be both at the sand level but it doesn't mean they are the same PAR levels unless you've measured it.

I have a hammer on the sand level and and also some about 2 to 4 inches off the sand level. The PAR readings I get at the sand is 100 PAR more or less and at 4 inches about 150 PAR (This is from a 2 month tank).. When it was in the 60 PAR section, my hammers were somewhat shy but not as closed as yours (and this was from a 1 month tank).

Talk about seeing your old thread risen from the dead....

That hammer not only survived, but grew quite a bit over the years. I love that hammer still. Pic shows it in the very bottom center of tank.

IME, I had a funny reaction with mine. I was keeping my phosphates below .13ppm and mine never fully expanded like have seen others. Well moving forward 5 months later, had to have knee surgery and was down for about a month. So my tank was neglected during that time. During this time my phosphates climbed to about 2.5 ppm, nirates got to about 30ppm and guess what...my hammer was open to the fullness. It was so beautiful and I noticed my Duncan also expanded out more. So I guess every tank is different. IME, my LPS likes the dirty water

Wow, holy necro thread batman. :lol:

It is cool to see a coral 5 years later though.