Hammer came out of skeleton?

[gabrieltackitt]

This little hammer has been in my tank for several months without any problems, he’s been super happy and extended and has even split and Friday when I came home all of the flesh had fallen out of the skeleton. I pulled both pieces out but is there any hope? What should I do?

 

[Tired]

That's called polyp bailout. It usually happens in cases of extreme stress. I don't think there have been any recorded cases of the polyps reattaching to anything and continuing to live, not in aquaria.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

The polyp is still happy sticky and responds slightly to touch if that makes any difference

 

[mrk1720]

Polyp bailout.
You probably should have let it land where it ended up. If it was a safe spot. Sometimes they can recover. Not very likely tho. Especially in a small enclosed system where it will be subjected to the same stresses that caused the event.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I’ve seen people on here keep them alive inside a small breeder box hung inside the tank Or a low flow area. It is possible for it to keep living. I’m unsure on if it will regrow a new skeleton or not though

 

[CelestEel]

I did not know corals could survive polyp bailout. I have never seen a coral recover from it.

 

[Tired]

I think the best they can do is just not die for awhile.

OP, figure out why this happened before the rest go that way.

 

[Fishyj]

I once had a hammer do this. Unfortunately it did die but I kept the old skeleton and after about a month I did start to see growth on the skeleton. It is now growing and seems very healthy.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I think the best they can do is just not die for awhile.

OP, figure out why this happened before the rest go that way.

As far as I can tell nothing had stressed it so idk what would be the cause, tested the water and everything was in a good range except for nitrate which was undetectable.

 

[Tired]

Nitrate being zero is bad for your corals, they need that. Wouldn't likely cause polyp bailout, but you should increase it.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

Nitrate being zero is bad for your corals, they need that. Wouldn't likely cause polyp bailout, but you should increase it.

Yes I am upping my feeding and going to be grabbing some NeoNitro tomorrow I think and dosing to keep it up more.

 

[KrisReef]

Interesting.
I'm all about trying to attempt rescues but this incident I've never seen fixed. Still, why not try a little superglue and attaching the polyp to a rock? You would probably have to do this out side of the tank. If you have a small piece of live rock I'd try putting a blob of glue on the rock, set the polyp on top and let them air dry for 2-3 minutes and then put them back in that tub (or something similar) that you took the picture in and let the glue completely dry and put them back in the water.

That aside, curious about you Magnesium levels, CA, Alk.

As someone already mentioned, keep the bailout skeleton incase that decides to survive. That I have heard about. Good luck with the little hammer.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

The polyp has mostly fallen apart so I think that is just a loss, I’ve kept the skeleton just in case and hopefully it will pop a little new head out the side or something.
Alk: 8.7
Ca: 440
Mag: 1500
Alk is from a few days ago, but ca and mag are from like a month or so ago.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Never seen that before, interesting what will come of the little guy

 

[KrisReef]

Sorry.
I have no proof but 1500 Mag makes me wonder. I've ran it that high for algae issues in the past and thought my lps are a bit happier closer to 1400 maximum?

Maybe other folks on here with more LPS experience than I will chime in?

Just trying to help, enjoying the opportunity to discuss corals- and again, sorry.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Rarely do they recover from bailout. In the meantime, assess your water flow, nutrients, alk and ph levels as well as salinity

 

[Zagecko]

As far as I can tell nothing had stressed it so idk what would be the cause, tested the water and everything was in a good range except for nitrate which was undetectable.

I don't know if you are aware but corals live off nitrates, you should also consider coral nutrients.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I don't know if you are aware but corals live off nitrates, you should also consider coral nutrients.

I make sure there are plenty of coral nutrients in my system, this is the first time my nitrates have ever gotten that low, normally they are around 2.5-5.

 

[Zagecko]

I make sure there are plenty of coral nutrients in my system, this is the first time my nitrates have ever gotten that low, normally they are around 2.5-5.

Do you have fish? If you do you should feed them so your nitrates go up to 5

 

[Zagecko]

I make sure there are plenty of coral nutrients in my system, this is the first time my nitrates have ever gotten that low, normally they are around 2.5-5.

Wait, I am a genius, what if you use coral frag glue and glue it to the skeleton, or just a rock.