Hammer Coral Splitting

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

Hi everyone! I'm relatively new so don't be too hard but I recently added some corals to my tank and they are all doing excellent, except for one. One of the hammers who doesn't necessarily look unhealthy but also doesn't look happy. The hammer appears to be in the process of splitting, could this be an explanation for why its tentacles are not fully extended? Everything else in the tank looks wonderful including the other hammer and frogspawn, and all parameters are good. Also recently the other hammer secreted some brown mucus out of its center, it looks really good and healthy though so I figured it probably wasn't its zooxanthellae. Could it have been pooping or cleaning itself?
Thanks

ndrwater · Jul 23, 2019

Do you have a picture of the hammer in question?
Welcome to R2R by the way!!
#WelcometoR2R

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

thanks, lemme get a pic for u

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

He never rlly opens up more than that

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

also sorry you cant rlly see that he is splitting in this image but he definetly had 2 mouths when i picked him up at the lfs where he was fragged off of a bigger colony. Btw this is not the same coral as the one that was possilby pooping

ndrwater · Jul 23, 2019

All other things being equal (and stable) try moving to an area with a little less flow. Euphillia like moderate indirect flow

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

its directly under the powerhead the return valve of the filter so i dont think i can move him anywhere where there is less flow. In general is this normal behavior for when a head splits.

ndrwater · Jul 23, 2019

It takes quite a while for a branching hammer to split. A whole separate skeleton needs to grow for a true split.
If it is getting blasted with anything more than moderate flow, I doubt it will ever extend fully.
I have seen the tissue actually tear due to flow issues. Secondary bacterial infections usually take the coral out at that point.
Short term at least, I'd try to find a lower flow area

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

ok. He is kind of already super glued onto a rock so i will try to snap him off. How long does it normally take for infections to take out a coral his size?

ndrwater · Jul 23, 2019

Depends on the damage. Also depends on the stability of the tank. If parameters are bouncing around, things can go sideways quick. Fingers crossed for you

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

Here is a side view of him that dhows where he is widenning

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 23, 2019

i know the pics arent very high quality but in ur opinion do you think he has an infection? He hasnt secreted any slime/sludge except for once when the hermits dropped something on him from above that he tried to get off and his polyps look healthy just not fully extended

Sandyego reeyfur · Jul 26, 2019

Update: as of this morning the polyps have retracted further into the skeleton and it looks like it dropped a polyp or two. The other hammer and frogspawn are still looking beautiful and all water parameters are looking good. I did a water change yesterday. Now that some of the polyps have retracted its new head/heads are clearoy visible. Idk if this is normal but it looks like the hammer is splitting and a new skeleton is emerging from inside of one of the new mouths. So like there are almost 3 heads now im not rlly sure whats goijg on but idk how to explain this one coral doing bad and all the others doing excellent. Is this behaviour normal for a splitting hammer.