Hammer dying?

[Damion123]

I got these two hammers in the middle of May. And they have been in the same spot since then. For the past few days the one on the left has been shriveled up and today I noticed some of the skeleton showing. Is there anything I can do? Or is it done?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I got these two hammers in the middle of May. And they have been in the same spot since then. For the past few days the one on the left has been shriveled up and today I noticed some of the skeleton showing. Is there anything I can do? Or is it done?

Need more details - water parameters & water trends? Any peppermint shrimp in tank?

Think it still can bounce back but need to identify cause ... and before impacting next door hammer also in photo

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Looks like the mouth is gone and the skeleton is showing where the mouth was. In my experience it’s a goner when that happens. A real bummer I’m sorry. Looks like it was a very nice color coral

 

[Damion123]

Yes I have a pepper mint shrimp. ‍But have not seen him in a while. If I see him I will definitely get him out
Salinity
Alk 8.7
pH 8.1
Phos 0.1
Cal 474
Mg1408
Nitrite 0
nitrate 25

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Yes I have a pepper mint shrimp. ‍But have not seen him in a while. If I see him I will definitely get him out
Salinity
Alk 8.7
pH 8.1
Phos 0.1
Cal 474
Mg1408
Nitrite 0
nitrate 25

Your parameters listed above are nearly spot on but wondering salinity and temperature parameters. I wouldn't chase the alk and calcium levels as they likely come down on their own thru corals use. It makes me think peppermint.

IF peppermint is what you are also thinking, bait trap to get it out and move to sump. I had my hammer garden decimated by my three peppermints. I waited a long time to ensure my hammers were unable to come back from peppermint eatings, before finally tossing leftovers in trash. Recently replaced eaten hammers.

To catch peppermints we used an icecap fish trap, but google fish traps as there are many DIY solutions including bottle you likely already have in your recycling/trash and just need to clean & cut-up.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Your parameters listed above are nearly spot on but wondering salinity and temperature parameters. I wouldn't chase the alk and calcium levels as they likely come down on their own thru corals use. It makes me think peppermint.

IF peppermint is what you are also thinking, bait trap to get it out and move to sump. I had my hammer garden decimated by my three peppermints. I waited a long time to ensure my hammers were unable to come back from peppermint eatings, before finally tossing leftovers in trash. Recently replaced eaten hammers.

To catch peppermints we used an icecap fish trap, but google fish traps as there are many DIY solutions including bottle you likely already have in your recycling/trash and just need to clean & cut-up.

FYI I also did a mailorder water test to rule out everything else before peppermints as my BF didn't want to believe peppermint shrimp would eat hammers..... In my case, it was our peppermint shrimp eating our hammers

see my build thread if you want info on mail order water test I used. This was a link that helped me narrow down my search options:

Mail-In and ICP Aquarium Water Testing: Which Service is Right for You?

We sent identical water samples to ATI Lab, Aqua Medic AWT (Aquarium Water Testing), Triton Lab, and ICP-Analysis (CoralVue) and compare the test results.

www.marinedepot.com

 

[Damion123]

FYI I also did a mailorder water test to rule out everything else before peppermints as my BF didn't want to believe peppermint shrimp would eat hammers..... In my case, it was our peppermint shrimp eating our hammers

see my build thread if you want info on mail order water test I used. This was a link that helped me narrow down my search options:

Mail-In and ICP Aquarium Water Testing: Which Service is Right for You?

We sent identical water samples to ATI Lab, Aqua Medic AWT (Aquarium Water Testing), Triton Lab, and ICP-Analysis (CoralVue) and compare the test results.

www.marinedepot.com

Thanks for the input. When I get back home from my trip I will make the trap and send out a icp test