Hammer Coral Head Gone Overnight

[Trenton Henderson]

My hammer that just finished splitting a couple weeks ago was super puffy and happy yesterday with tissue wrapping down around the stock. I woke up this morning to one of the heads completely gone.

The only thing different that I did yesterday was add two turbo snails and dose some Phyto last night after lights out. This one still appears to have all its tissue wrapping its stock. I had two peppermint shrimp (of the wrong variety) that I banished to the refugium after they ate frogspawn, but there is nothing really that would go after a head like that in the tank now. The only thing I have that could is hermit crabs and a small emerald crab.

Any thoughts as to what may have happened here? It’s not getting whipped around by flow and the light there during the photoperiod is 150-160 PAR. Perhaps the lights are too intense there?

 

[blaxsun]

It's unlikely to be the crabs or the lighting. Have you checked for BJD?

 

[Trenton Henderson]

It's unlikely to be the crabs or the lighting. Have you checked for BJD?

But if it was BJD, would it not have been a slower process? I haven’t noticed anything irregular in that sense. There may be a faint brown stain on the back rim of the skeleton, but I’m also dealing with diatoms right now. The fact that there is any color on it right now tells me that it was probably exposed on the back of a bit and couldn’t tell.

 

[blaxsun]

But if it was BJD, would it not have been a slower process? I haven’t noticed anything irregular in that sense. There may be a faint brown stain on the back rim of the skeleton, but I’m also dealing with diatoms right now. The fact that there is any color on it right now tells me that it was probably exposed on the back of a bit and couldn’t tell.

I've seen BJD kill a torch literally overnight (or at least infect it such that it's not salvageable).

 

[Daenion]

This happened to a friend of mine when their tiny torch frag got knocked into a bta. Bta’s sting killed it overnight.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

There is nothing within a foot of this coral. I have very few at the moment, as I am working towards a lighting upgrade.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Update: polyp bailed out and is under this rock. It is inflated, but definitely not enough light under there.

What should I do with it? My LFS just said remove it. I wonder if it did this for reproductive purposes….

 

[Daenion]

I would remove it too.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

its not reproductive, its a sign of stress and a last ditch effort at survival. Something might be stinging it, or picking at it...... it will die, I would remove it too.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

its not reproductive, its a sign of stress and a last ditch effort at survival. Something might be stinging it, or picking at it...... it will die, I would remove it too.

Like I said earlier, there is nothing within 1 foot of it, so stinging isn’t likely. Bailout with Euphyllia in the wild is known to occur for reproductive purposes with a very low success rate. All parameters in the tank are stable. More often than not, the polyp will bail due to stress, but it showed no prior signs of it.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Update #2:

I apologize for arguing earlier; now that I can see the underside of the remaining polyp, it too has receded to the top of the stalk, looking like it too will detach. I started feeding some Restor and I have been feeding AB+. The only thing I can think of is that I have been increasing my photoperiod this past month. Perhaps it’s negatively responding to this? What should I do? Move it down in the tank? Then again, it has been fully opened and puffy, which would signify that it is fine with the light level.