Hammer help!

[dave001]

Help! Okay so I got this freebie hammer coral a couple weeks ago. I got it with one and a bit "heads"...its one stem with head on top, but half way down the stem it looks like it previously started splitting but something didn't go right and it either died back and is recovering, or was stunted somehow. Been doing well as far as I can tell, oppwning up, reacting to reefroids and all that. Long story short, hermit crabs can be total pricks. (Love him really) so he's ripped out the lower head while getting all keen on some algea. The head is in tact, and seems to be alive sitting on the sand bed. This happened some time last night, I discovered the situation this morning but no time to deal with it, so decided to leave it on the sandbed and check when back from work. It's still looking alive and I'm not too sure what to do.
What would you do?
Thanks for any replies!

 

[dave001]

Bump, couple pics, awkward spot to photograph and I've only got my phone
Top and side view of the lil fella in th3 sand

 

[Evil1]

We’re going to need tank parameters and a few pics under white lights to help.

 

[Dom]

Bump, couple pics, awkward spot to photograph and I've only got my phone
Top and side view of the lil fella in th3 sand

Are you speaking of that dark line just above the hammer? That just looks to be a cut from a fragging tool.

 

[dave001]

Of course, sorry.
Tank is a Fluval Flex 57L so small and still in its first year, around 10 months
Lighting is a single AiPrime 16HD
Temp 26.5C
Salinity 1.026
Alk 8dkh
Calcium 400 *finding this hard to measure
Nitrate and phosphate I've not tested, it was 5 and 0.04 respectively and was having algea issues, so added rowaphos and in all honesty haven't kept up testing.

 

[dave001]

Are you speaking of that dark line just above the hammer? That just looks to be a cut from a fragging tool.

Oh sorry, no this is a picture of a "head" out of the skeleton, sitting on the sandbed, I think that line's just something floating on the surface as its a top-down wiew

 

[Evil1]

Unfortunately it looks like your baby hammer bailed out. I doubt the hermit ripped it out. Nothing can do but hope the polyps start to build a new tube.

 

[dave001]

Oh OK, I'll stop blaming the crab lol
Do you know if there's anything I can do to encourage it to build a tube? I fully expected it to be completely dead by the time I got home so I'm not sure how hopeful to be at this point.
Thanks again for your help

 

[Evil1]

Just keep your parameters stable alk and cal mostly. What is your magnesium level?

 

[dave001]

OK well I'll hope for the best.
To be honest, I did pick up a salifert magnesium test kit but haven't used it as I've not been running alk and cal particularly high. I thought magnesium only became a factor if you were trying to push super high numbers for those. Did I get that wrong? I'm still new to this lol

 

[Evil1]

It’s been my experience keeping mag at or slightly above 1350 keeps my hammers and torches happy. But that’s just my experience.

 

[dave001]

OK well no harm testing I guess! I've been using seachem carbonate and calcium, they say they keep magnesium up too so hopefully it's no really low
Thanks again for the help

 

[dave001]

Well it's still alive, been advised by lfs to "kinda wedge it in the rock rather than sand and hope for the best!"
Fingers crossed lol

 

[dave001]

Forgot to update this for anyone interested. Unfortunately it completely disappeared. Simply wasn't there one morning and I've never been able to figure what happened to it. It didn't "decline" in any obvious way, and I was getting pretty hopeful that it might actually start building a new tube. One morning it had vanished without a trace