Brown Jelly disease?

[LongBeachReefer562]

My hammer coral has been upset for the past few weeks and has not been fully opening. Its been in the same spot for years and has grown 4 heads since. No major swings in parameters other than nitrates.

Does anyone know if this is brown jelly disease or have any idea what the issue might be?

 

[LongBeachReefer562]

My hammer coral has been upset for the past few weeks and has not been fully opening. Its been in the same spot for years and has grown 4 heads since. No major swings in parameters other than nitrates.

Does anyone know if this is brown jelly disease or have any idea what the issue might be?

Alk - 8.7
Ca - 470
Mg - 1440
No3 - 2.3
PO4 - .03
Salinity - 1.026

 

[ScottB]

I kinda think that your clown is trying to host in it. Not sure the hammer would appreciate that.

The little experience I have had with BJD was around the mouth area, not the skeleton base.

Unless you already do a lot of regular feeding of your fish, your system might d a little better with a tad more nutrient. Keep you safer from dinoflagellates.

 

[Shufflepig]

Don’t think it’s brown jelly. Don’t see any of the brown mucousy discharge that goes along with brown jelly and it would not take several weeks for brown jelly to kill the coral. Typically happens quickly. I notice that clown fish hovering above the hammer in both pictures. Has he recently started bothering with the hammer?

 

[LongBeachReefer562]

I kinda think that your clown is trying to host in it. Not sure the hammer would appreciate that.

The little experience I have had with BJD was around the mouth area, not the skeleton base.

Unless you already do a lot of regular feeding of your fish, your system might d a little better with a tad more nutrient. Keep you safer from dinoflagellates.

Youre absolutely correct! That hammer is my clowns pride and joy. The clown I had before this one as well as the clown shown in the pic have both hosted this hammer.

Is it possible that the hammer would randomly get fed up with the clown after years of being hosted? I guess the simple solution would be to put the clown on time out time in the sump for a few days and monitor for any improvement.

and yeah I’ve been struggling maintaining a consistent nitrate level...was stuck at 15-20ppm for months and then got an ATS and it stripped it to almost zero. ATS is off now and has been slowly climbing.

 

[LongBeachReefer562]

Don’t think it’s brown jelly. Don’t see any of the brown mucousy discharge that goes along with brown jelly and it would not take several weeks for brown jelly to kill the coral. Typically happens quickly. I notice that clown fish hovering above the hammer in both pictures. Has he recently started bothering with the hammer?

Thanks for your input! That’s a relief!

he’s been hosting it since he was the size of a guppy. Not sure if the hammer is saying it’s had enough abuse

 

[ScottB]

Youre absolutely correct! That hammer is my clowns pride and joy. The clown I had before this one as well as the clown shown in the pic have both hosted this hammer.

Is it possible that the hammer would randomly get fed up with the clown after years of being hosted? I guess the simple solution would be to put the clown on time out time in the sump for a few days and monitor for any improvement.

and yeah I’ve been struggling maintaining a consistent nitrate level...was stuck at 15-20ppm for months and then got an ATS and it stripped it to almost zero. ATS is off now and has been slowly climbing.

I have one that hosts in a Duncan. The duncan just tolerates it. The corals get some benefit with the fish as a constant but gentle ammonia (food) source. Could be that the fish is getting a little to clumsy.

ATS are great tools for managing nutrient. Running the light with an easy to adjust timer is good, so you can dial it up/down according to NO3 testing.

 

[LongBeachReefer562]

I have one that hosts in a Duncan. The duncan just tolerates it. The corals get some benefit with the fish as a constant but gentle ammonia (food) source. Could be that the fish is getting a little to clumsy.

ATS are great tools for managing nutrient. Running the light with an easy to adjust timer is good, so you can dial it up/down according to NO3 testing.

Hahah clowns are such oddballs, can’t help but love them. I managed to net him though. He’s on time out in the sump for a couple days.

And thanks for the tip on the ATS! Is tuning your light schedule an effective way to control how much nitrates are being removed?? This is my first time ever running one.

 

[Jmcg89]

If you are talking about the purplish blob around the base, I had almost the same exact thing on a hammer coral. I was able to remove it since it was still on a plug and dipped it as well as brushing it all off with a tooth brush and it hasnt come back yet. Never knew for certain what it was, some kind of jelly.

 

[ScottB]

Hahah clowns are such oddballs, can’t help but love them. I managed to net him though. He’s on time out in the sump for a couple days.

And thanks for the tip on the ATS! Is tuning your light schedule an effective way to control how much nitrates are being removed?? This is my first time ever running one.

I run my refugium light via an APEX outlet so it takes me seconds to adjust the schedule. I test nutrients once a week and maybe end up adjusting the schedule every couple of months.

 

[LongBeachReefer562]

I run my refugium light via an APEX outlet so it takes me seconds to adjust the schedule. I test nutrients once a week and maybe end up adjusting the schedule every couple of months.

Sweeeeeet!!! I run apex as well. Thanks for the advice, gonna give this a shot.

 

[Seascapes]

Hahah clowns are such oddballs, can’t help but love them. I managed to net him though. He’s on time out in the sump for a couple days.

And thanks for the tip on the ATS! Is tuning your light schedule an effective way to control how much nitrates are being removed?? This is my first time ever running one.

At least you can get yours to host something. Mine are perfectly content to host the return pumps!