Hammer Coral bleaching fast

[ducati1212]

Been in my tank 2 years and its usually big and bush and happy. In 1 day or rather 1 night it was fine last night at feeding and like this picture this am when the lights came on

 

[Nate Chalk]

parameters?

 

[Ricox]

Anything change recently?

 

[lucyretz]

assuming youre talking about the skeleton when you mention bleaching? i say this because the polyps dont look bleached. with die off like this theres either a big parameter fluctuation or something eating it, possibly brown jelly. if not parameters this coral would need to be fragged and dipped to potentially save it

 

[ducati1212]

Im mixing water up for a water change now. No parameter changes
Salinity good
Alk 9.4
Calcium 431

Did not check anything else today and with no water mixed up im not sure what I could do anyway. I would think it was eaten it would have been slower that happened overnight.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Been in my tank 2 years and its usually big and bush and happy. In 1 day or rather 1 night it was fine last night at feeding and like this picture this am when the lights came on

This isnt bleaching but rather polyp bailout. This happens when there is too much water flow and even light.
Avoid extremely bright locations or areas of very high current and avoid areas that are too dark or with currents that are too low. Fast currents risk damaging the soft, fleshy polyps (and getting an infection). Bright lights will cause bleaching. Insufficient lighting will cause the poor coral to wither away and starve to death.
Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank. Just about any reef LED lighting should be sufficient for most tanks. Reduce white light intensity and get it off the sand bed which sand can irritate it.
The polyps should sway in the current, but not sustain so much pressure they are constantly bent over their skeleton. Too much flow will tear the polyps (worst case) and cause the polyps do not extend in the first place (best case). So, don’t give them too much flow.

 

[lucyretz]

Im mixing water up for a water change now. No parameter changes
Salinity good
Alk 9.4
Calcium 431

Did not check anything else today and with no water mixed up im not sure what I could do anyway. I would think it was eaten it would have been slower that happened overnight.

how old is the tank? its hard to see on my work computer, is there any brown slime around the skeleton at all?

 

[Nate Chalk]

Nutrients? Phos , nitrate?