Can Hammers get too big?

dpfriedman · Aug 14, 2022

I had to use my LFS to assist in relocating my tank recently. They told me that my Hammers were too big and that I needed to break them apart or it could start damaging or killing the heads underneath.They recommend that I bring them into their store so they can frag them out. I’m not sure if they are trying to get me in the door to pilliage some heads from me or are legit. My thought is that these aren’t fragged in the wild so why bust them

thoughts?

Dburr1014 · Aug 14, 2022

dpfriedman said:
I had to use my LFS to assist in relocating my tank recently. They told me that my Hammers were too big and that I needed to break them apart or it could start damaging or killing the heads underneath.They recommend that I bring them into their store so they can frag them out. I’m not sure if they are trying to get me in the door to pilliage some heads from me or are legit. My thought is that these aren’t fragged in the wild so why bust them

thoughts?

They just keep getting bigger.
But, yes, the heads under do die from lack of light.

1ocean · Aug 14, 2022

looks great...If they were mine I would not cut them...They look healthy and amazing..My feeling is if you cut them (or hack them into many pieces like your LFS sounds like they want to do) may open the door to a disaster. One of my lfs get good size corals and then hacks them into small frags and a lot die...plus they have no clue what they are doing and their system is overrun with all kinds of parasites etc.
On the other hand, cutting a few heads off would not cause a problem if you wanted to, I guess, as in the ocean stuff breaks off.
I am not a fan off hacking a mother colony to all little frags....
Have a great day...They are beautiful hammers

fish farmer · Aug 14, 2022

Nice colonies, I wouldn't touch them, unless you want to sell frags to the lfs.

Jbell370 · Aug 14, 2022

I wouldn’t cut them, all my friends know I won’t cut anything, love to see colony’s and not fancy frag tanks. I have a colony like yours that I purchased from my LFS, true the under side dies off, but as you said that is nature.

I figure 2 years from now I’ll finally get a full tank shot and it will be with colony’s not a bunch of little pieces. Of course by then I’ll have no idea what any are called.

ScubaFish802 · Aug 14, 2022

Nice colony for sure, welcome to R2R as well

Dom · Aug 14, 2022

Personally, I wouldn't touch them, even if it means losing heads inside where light doesn't reach.

MoshJosh · Aug 14, 2022

Yeah, way too big! better cut a few pieces off and send them to me, just to be on the safe side!

haha just kidding of course

Jubei2006 · Aug 14, 2022

They are doing well!!!!! Don't F%$# with it. That is a recipe for disaster. Especially taking it out of the tank for transport. Also sure the LFS isn't doing it purely out the good of their own hearts. If you need to trim, trim. Personally I wouldn't risk it with beautiful colonies like that.

Tuan’s Reef · Aug 14, 2022

Gorgeous colonies! All i see is Dollar signs. lol If it was mine, I would start fragging and proprogating and sell it off to help the costs of the hobby.

LeftyReefer · Aug 14, 2022

I have a torch that has grown about 20 heads. some of the heads underneath were losing color and turning brown. Rather than risking those dying heads turning to BJD or something, I decided to frag a few of the lower heads off and am going to see if I can get them to recover and grow them out.

Your hammer is beautiful as is. I would only frag heads off if they were dying.

areefer01 · Aug 14, 2022

Too big? Relative I guess. If display is healthy and there is space it will use it.
Shade yes.
Frag you can.
Let mother nature work is also an option. Reefs do this all the time.

Note - this is the important part of my post - is that you can't just lift the hammer or frogspawn out of the display to frag. It will be too heavy and break apart before you even get it out of the displays water. Inside the display no big deal. As you try and lift it out the flesh weighs more and cumbersome to handle. Skeleton will be fragile and risk of breaking is high. I'm not sure I'd take that risk to have a LFS frag.

I use a large colander, 5 gallon bucket, to move mine around the display. 12 years old and I have to knock it back from time to time as when it is fully open it is larger than a basketball.