Hammer losing colour?

[Lynchcon]

Hi Guys,

My hammer is losing its neon green colour. See pic.

I recently switched out a load of old live rock for new live rock. This was a good move as I was getting lots of GHA and not anymore. But the hammer has been going a grey colour more and more since.

Any ideas?

Thanks
C

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Hi Guys,

My hammer is losing its neon green colour. See pic.

I recently switched out a load of old live rock for new live rock. This was a good move as I was getting lots of GHA and not anymore. But the hammer has been going a grey colour more and more since.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Hi, we need a bit more info. How old is the tank, what are your levels as in alk,cal,mag,nitrates,and phosphates, temp?
Also what lighting are you running as too much light can bleach them (I've done this myself).
I have lost colour out of a few of my lps due to zero phosphates.

 

[BayouReefer]

Hi, we need a bit more info. How old is the tank, what are your levels as in alk,cal,mag,nitrates,and phosphates, temp?
Also what lighting are you running as too much light can bleach them (I've done this myself).
I have lost colour out of a few of my lps due to zero phosphates.

As Nicholas asked post parameters. It is likely that one of them has changed causing your Hammer to become unhappy. It could also be that you changed the position of your hammer there by changing the amount of PAR. More info might help find the issue.

 

[ScottR]

Since new LR was added, it could be a bacterial infection. Euphyllia are highly susceptible to this and need good flow to rid themselves of built up bacteria. What works for me is a dip in povidone iodine 10%. I place a container of tank water on the side and pour in iodine until it’s dark orange and almost brown. Then dip for about 2-3 mins. Rinse off with tank water and place back in.

 

[Lynchcon]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Tank is over 7 months old.

Parameters are relatively normal.
Temp 24c
PH 8.2
ALK 9
MAG I never test this. That a problem?
Calc 380 - bit low I know. Working on it.
Nitrates < 10
Ammonia/ Nitites always 0
Phos. This was a problem with old rock but since I put in new rock I haven't tested but I have a lot of phos remover in the back to combat issue with old rock/ GHA and I expect phos is almost non existent now, which could be the problem as one of you pointed out.

Haven't considered the bacterial angle. Is there anything I can look for to confirm this?

Placement; I had it at the level it's at now, then moved down when introducing new rock, last week moved back to original level. Weirdly it was opening/ colour fine at that level originally but now when moved back it wasnt opening which I assumed was flow and I reduced same. Its opening more now but not fully.

Thanks again.
C

 

[JCOLE]

What kind of phosphate removal are you using?

 

[BayouReefer]

Corals love stability and it sounds like your working on the things you need to (low calcium) I think your fine it should come back around after it adjusts.

 

[MikeO5422]

I have had hammers lose color in 3 ways. Turning brownish due to prolonged periods of low light or fading whiteish due to too much light or too low nitrates. Somethings to consider.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I have gold/ yellow tipped hammers that over time have got paler, I have worked this out to be a zero phosphates issue as I have nitrates of between 5-10. So if you are using a gfo of some kind then this could be your issue as it's quite aggressive at removing phosphates quickly. Somehow I dont have phosphates, nor do I run a skimmer or a refugium, no sump. My issue is it's a 90 litre tank with only 3 fish and I only fed lightly so when the corals were growing well they stripped the tank (starving themselves) and i didnt replenish what they consumed so i lost a lot of montipora digi and paled my lps. Lps are quite resilient and should bounce back and colour back up just dont be too hasty at changing things. I would take phosphate removal off line and retest to see where you are and go from there.