Hammer Growth?

[Dburr1014]

That much par? Mines in about 60 and loving life lol.. I haven’t tried moving it cause it’s super happy..

Wow, only 60? My hammers are all around 200/250
Blurry pic and Dirty Glass. Sorry

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

The red/pink growth on the hammer looks like a benthic foraminiferan species to me:

To me the little red things are foraminifera. Are they hard with little spikey ends? These were very common on Fiji live rock, they can also be white. Harmless and generally stay small.

benthic foraminiferans:

WheatToast said:
If they are completely solid, they are probably benthic foraminifera. These are filter-feeding protozoans and are harmless.

Would they be bothering the coral so much to be receding / not looking as full?

As mentioned in the quote I pulled above, these are harmless, so, no, they would not be bothering the coral.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello,

I see these two pink colored things on the base of my hammer. What are they? Also does it look like this hammer is receding or is that normal? It has been acting ***** lately with what looks like skinny polyps instead of thicker like usual. Parameters are solid

Ive had many hammer shoots and this looks like none of them. The image looks like a nudibranch but hard to tell. Does it move? If not consider scraping it off. Tissue recession is evident and some reasons they recede are immature tank for starters. Hammers require stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality, and is sensitive to almost any level of copper in the water. Calcium and alkalinity are two very important parameters that will affect the growth of this type of coral which will start to die off if CA levels are too low which should be about 400ppm.
Next is to avoid the extremes which are extremely bright light and water current, and areas that are too dark or flow that is too low which causes withering and recession. High flow will damage polyps and bright lighting will lead to bleaching.
Moderate lighting is all that required for photosynthesis and mid tank is best area for them. Do not place on sand bed as sand will irritate them.
The polyps should sway a little but not to the point they are bent over their skeleton. High flow will tear the polyps and cause the polyps to not extend and recede to excess flow.

 

[fishgirljockey]

I do not I only have revive.this is what this hammer looked like a week or so ago. I did add a pink hammer by it which seems to be very mean 4-6 long stingers out all the time at like 4+ inches. So I moved it away. But it just seems very unhappy

I do not I only have revive.this is what this hammer looked like a week or so ago. I did add a pink hammer by it which seems to be very mean 4-6 long stingers out all the time at like 4+ inches. So I moved it away. But it just seems very unhappy

I would get Melafix and try that as well because it kills off things that Revive can't. It really is the best dip and you can use it on any coral especially soft coral. I would also move the hammer where it can be alone with not too much light and medium flow. Maybe there is another coral close to it that it doesn't like. Put it on the sand if you have to and just wait it out. Try not to bother it too much because this can cause it to recede as well. I was bothering a lot of my corals too much and finally just left them. My Duncans didn't come out for 2 months! 2 monthhsssss. But, I waited and just let them be and one day they just came out. Ill send you a video of the one I have and how I have it in another reply.

 

[fishgirljockey]

I do not I only have revive.this is what this hammer looked like a week or so ago. I did add a pink hammer by it which seems to be very mean 4-6 long stingers out all the time at like 4+ inches. So I moved it away. But it just seems very unhappy

So you have an idea of where my is located and how the flow is. Get on the sand bed in a secluded area for a while. Mediumish flow. Not too much light either.

 

[bvanfish]

@fishgirljockey thank you for all the info and help! I will try to get the melafix for it and see if I can pull it back. Going to the LFS tonight to get all params tested. I do WC on sundays so this is about half week and I like to see how the water is doing.

 

[fishgirljockey]

Let me know how it goes!

@fishgirljockey thank you for all the info and help! I will try to get the melafix for it and see if I can pull it back. Going to the LFS tonight to get all params tested. I do WC on sundays so this is about half week and I like to see how the water is doing.