Best position for optimal growth?

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

So right now I have my “frammer” (could totally be something different; I can ID most any species of Wild betta but no morphs of corals XD ) on the sand bed. He does ok, but I’m not really sure it’s growing. Grant, I’ve had this tank setup for around a month, and just added new lights this week.

My question though, I’ve heard they do best in sand, and I’ve heard they do best on rock work.
So which is it? Should I move him onto a rock? I have the calcified skeleton buried pretty well, and my shrimp buried it even more haha.

Here’s the coral in question:

AdamB · Oct 27, 2019

I’ve seen them on sand bed and will be okay if par and flow is correct . The fleshly part of hammer possibly cloud get irritated rubbing back and forth on sand bed? Fleshly part Seems to laying on your sand bed .
Also I would be worried about adding corals that quickly to a very young 1 month old tank.

Auquanut · Oct 27, 2019

Looks healthy to me. If it helps at all, I have 2 hammers on the sand bed that have grown too big. One is about the size of a volleyball. I kind of agree about the age of the tank though. Hammers are pretty resilient in my experience, but will probably do better as the tank matures.

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

AdamB said:
I’ve seen them on sand bed and will be okay if par and flow is correct . The fleshly part of hammer possibly cloud get irritated rubbing back and forth on sand bed? Fleshly part Seems to laying on your sand bed .
Also I would be worried about adding corals that quickly to a very young 1 month old tank.

I have had the rocks and sand for well over a year, just moved them to this tank recently. I was worried about that too when I set this tank up, but will be watching for anything out of the ordinary. No more purchases planned on corals for several months still.

I didn’t think of the sand irritating him any, I’ll be sure to watch for that.

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
Looks healthy to me. If it helps at all, I have 2 hammers on the sand bed that have grown too big. One is about the size of a volleyball. I kind of agree about the age of the tank though. Hammers are pretty resilient in my experience, but will probably do better as the tank matures.

Haha that’s good to know. I don’t have a way to drag so if it gets too big it’ll have to leave, the tanks only 24x24. Though that would be quite a sight I think!

I was worried about the move over from the other tank, which was an emergency move. As long as it thrives I’ll be happy.

WV Reefer · Oct 27, 2019

LadyMac said:
So right now I have my “frammer” (could totally be something different; I can ID most any species of Wild betta but no morphs of corals XD ) on the sand bed. He does ok, but I’m not really sure it’s growing. Grant, I’ve had this tank setup for around a month, and just added new lights this week.

My question though, I’ve heard they do best in sand, and I’ve heard they do best on rock work.
So which is it? Should I move him onto a rock? I have the calcified skeleton buried pretty well, and my shrimp buried it even more haha.

Here’s the coral in question:

I’ve never seen a hammer buried like that before.

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

WV Reefer said:
I’ve never seen a hammer buried like that before.

I’ll pull him up some. I didn’t want him to be carried away by the current. He shrivels you very small at night and his skeleton is out of the sand some. Probably not enough, though.

NanoDJS · Oct 27, 2019

Awesome , I put them in the sand also , I have started every tank I ever had with a hammer / frogspawn as the first coral they are an excellent barometer coral , and will flag water issues with being all ticked off , LPS get ticked first , good luck with the new digs.

WV Reefer · Oct 27, 2019

LadyMac said:
I’ll pull him up some. I didn’t want him to be carried away by the current. He shrivels you very small at night and his skeleton is out of the sand some. Probably not enough, though.

I would pull it out a lot. They need room to sway in the flow and I would be worried about cuts and scrapes that would welcome infections. Also new heads need room to sprout and grow.

rainmaker · Oct 27, 2019

You may want to get a small rock to glue it to then set it on sand bed
I have a couple on the bed on rock doing well

DSC reef · Oct 27, 2019

Another suggestion, if you like to keep euphyllia on the sand bed try small pvc couplers that you can bury in the sand. They will keep the coral upright and allow the coral to grow.

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

I pulled it up a good bit but think I’ll glue him to a rock. Thanks y’all, I have the perfect one in mind.

DSC reef · Oct 27, 2019

LadyMac said:
I pulled it up a good bit but think I’ll glue him to a rock. Thanks y’all, I have the perfect one in mind.

Euphyllia on rocks look great but keep in mind when gluing to a rock, I would make sure the rock or coral can be easily relocated as they can be sensitive to lighting/flow changes.

LadyMac · Oct 27, 2019

DSC reef said:
Euphyllia on rocks look great but keep in mind when gluing to a rock, I would make sure the rock or coral can be easily relocated as they can be sensitive to lighting/flow changes.

Yeh it’s a Little Rock