Hammer skeleton?

The.Seabeast · Mar 6, 2023

Hey guys, I wanted get your opinions on what this could be on my Pink Hammer Coral. I've had this coral for about 3 months and it has been happy until the last few days. Three of the four heads still extend, but none of them seem extremely happy. I noticed today some white disc looking growths on the head that does not extend. Is this the skeleton, or some kind of parasite? Any ideas? My lights were starting to ramp down, so the polyp extension on the other 3 heads is less than what they normally are. All of my other corals are happy and healthy. Let me know what other information you may need to diagnose.

No recent changes to chemistry or salt.

Alk - 8.2
Magnesium - 1300
Calcium - 482
Phosphate - .08
Nitrate - 6.5
PH - 8.3
Salinity - 1.025

Jstew75 · Mar 6, 2023

Try Dipping for Euphyllia eating flat worms.

mrpontiac80 · Mar 6, 2023

Definitely skeleton.

The.Seabeast · Mar 6, 2023

Would too low of flow cause the tissue reduction? It was in a fairly low flow area for a while. Also, is it possible for it to come back, or is it too damaged?

mrpontiac80 · Mar 6, 2023

The.Seabeast said:
Would too low of flow cause the tissue reduction? It was in a fairly low flow area for a while. Also, is it possible for it to come back, or is it too damaged?

I don’t have the best luck with hammers but it can definitely come back.. I dipped mine in revive and it helped a lot.

The.Seabeast · Mar 7, 2023

I will try dipping and then I will monitor and hopefully it will make a comeback. Thanks!

SandNRocks · Mar 19, 2023

Low flow wouldnt do that in my opinion. If anything it would help encourage flesh growth. I have a hammer thats badly damaged from fragging and its in so low of flow its basically not moving at all. Its been doing really well and im able to get it to eat reef roids, which i feel has helped alot with regrowing tissue. It was in about the same shape as yours but I know the cause of mine was a fragging accident. My opinion would be that yours is a pest/water quality issue, and unfortunately til thats good it may still have issues, but otherwise it definitely can make a comeback.