Help with Hammers

[MammothWombat]

Hello,

I have an LPS dominant tank. The Hammers are not fully open, and I can't figure out why. My parameters are:

Nitrates: 13 (Hanna HR Nitrate)
Phosphate: 0.01 (Hanna ULR Phosphate)
Magnesium: 1520 (Red Sea)
dKH: 8.5 (Red Sea)
Calcium: 400 (Red Sea)

Do these parameters look good? Does anyone know what might be the issue?

Thanks,

 

[nereefpat]

Those parameters look pretty darn good to me. People will say that the P is too low, but I keep hammers with undetectable phosphate values. Another one might be salinity; make sure you are using a refractometer and calibrating it with a 35 ppt standard. Mg is higher than normal, but many people keep Mg at higher levels.

Other possibilities would be issues with lighting, flow, or an animal picking at it. Could you talk about those?

How long have you had the hammers? Other corals doing fine?

 

[MammothWombat]

I have a Cube 20 with a Radion G5 Pro set to 60% mounted 9in above water level. My hammers are about 10in below water level.

None of my fish is picking or hosting them. I have had the hammers for 3-4 months now, and my other corals are doing ok. That said, one of my torches isn't extending as it used to, although being at the same place as it was next to the other torches.

As for flow, I think the hammer is getting low-medium flow.

 

[JayA]

Were they doing okay ever? If so, what have you changed? If not, maybe too much light.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nitrates getting high and Mag quite high (you want about 1300)
Like most other coral species, Euphyllia requires Stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality, and is sensitive to almost any level of copper in the water. Since they are a large polyp stony coral, calcium and alkalinity are two very important water parameters that will affect the growth of your coral. This coral will start to die off if the calcium levels are too low. A calcium level of about 400 ppm is just right.
This coral species isn’t terribly picky when it comes to the proper placement in your tank. The trick would really be just to avoid the extremes. Avoid extremely bright locations or areas of very high current, and avoid areas that are too dark or with currents that are too low. Fast currents risk damaging the soft, fleshy polyps (and getting an infection). Bright lights will cause bleaching. Insufficient lighting will cause the poor coral to wither away and starve to death.
Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank. Just about any reef LED lighting should be sufficient for most tanks. Reduce white light intensity and get it off the sand bed which sand can irritate it.
The polyps should sway in the current, but not sustain so much pressure they are constantly bent over their skeleton. Too much flow will tear the polyps (worst case) and cause the polyps do not extend in the first place (best case). So, don’t give them too much flow.
The hammer coral is considered to be an aggressive coral species that will attack its neighbors with sweeper tentacles. These are stinging nematocysts (similar to the sting of an anemone) on the end of a specialized polyp that can extend several inches away from the body of the coral. The sweeper tentacles pack a punch and will chemically burn any neighboring corals.
Hammer corals are more subdued eaters who would benefit from the occasional feeding of a meaty marine food like mysis and brine shrimp.

 

[PeterC99]

Nitrates getting high and Mag quite high (you want about 1300)
Like most other coral species, Euphyllia requires Stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality, and is sensitive to almost any level of copper in the water. Since they are a large polyp stony coral, calcium and alkalinity are two very important water parameters that will affect the growth of your coral. This coral will start to die off if the calcium levels are too low. A calcium level of about 400 ppm is just right.
This coral species isn’t terribly picky when it comes to the proper placement in your tank. The trick would really be just to avoid the extremes. Avoid extremely bright locations or areas of very high current, and avoid areas that are too dark or with currents that are too low. Fast currents risk damaging the soft, fleshy polyps (and getting an infection). Bright lights will cause bleaching. Insufficient lighting will cause the poor coral to wither away and starve to death.
Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank. Just about any reef LED lighting should be sufficient for most tanks. Reduce white light intensity and get it off the sand bed which sand can irritate it.
The polyps should sway in the current, but not sustain so much pressure they are constantly bent over their skeleton. Too much flow will tear the polyps (worst case) and cause the polyps do not extend in the first place (best case). So, don’t give them too much flow.
The hammer coral is considered to be an aggressive coral species that will attack its neighbors with sweeper tentacles. These are stinging nematocysts (similar to the sting of an anemone) on the end of a specialized polyp that can extend several inches away from the body of the coral. The sweeper tentacles pack a punch and will chemically burn any neighboring corals.
Hammer corals are more subdued eaters who would benefit from the occasional feeding of a meaty marine food like mysis and brine shrimp.

Excellent summary of hammer care!

R2R should have a library where the experts summarize this type of info and make available to its members!!! HOW DO WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN???

 

[nereefpat]

Excellent summary of hammer care!

R2R should have a library where the experts summarize this type of info and make available to its members!!! HOW DO WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN???

That info was copied and pasted from this website https://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/hammer-coral-care-placement-feeding-of-euphyllia-ancora/

 

[MaxTremors]

I have a Cube 20 with a Radion G5 Pro set to 60% mounted 9in above water level. My hammers are about 10in below water level.

None of my fish is picking or hosting them. I have had the hammers for 3-4 months now, and my other corals are doing ok. That said, one of my torches isn't extending as it used to, although being at the same place as it was next to the other torches.

As for flow, I think the hammer is getting low-medium flow.

They might be getting too much light, hammers generally like 80-120par (though they can sometimes take more or less), I would try either lowering the intensity of the light or moving them lower in the tank (though I would try to move it as little as possible, ie don’t keep moving it, move it to the bottom and give it a few months and see how it does).

 

[MaxTremors]

Nitrates getting high and Mag quite high (you want about 1300)
Like most other coral species, Euphyllia requires Stable tank conditions, and is intolerant to major swings in water quality, and is sensitive to almost any level of copper in the water. Since they are a large polyp stony coral, calcium and alkalinity are two very important water parameters that will affect the growth of your coral. This coral will start to die off if the calcium levels are too low. A calcium level of about 400 ppm is just right.
This coral species isn’t terribly picky when it comes to the proper placement in your tank. The trick would really be just to avoid the extremes. Avoid extremely bright locations or areas of very high current, and avoid areas that are too dark or with currents that are too low. Fast currents risk damaging the soft, fleshy polyps (and getting an infection). Bright lights will cause bleaching. Insufficient lighting will cause the poor coral to wither away and starve to death.
Hammer corals only require a moderate amount of light for photosynthesis and can grow well in the intermediate regions of your tank. Just about any reef LED lighting should be sufficient for most tanks. Reduce white light intensity and get it off the sand bed which sand can irritate it.
The polyps should sway in the current, but not sustain so much pressure they are constantly bent over their skeleton. Too much flow will tear the polyps (worst case) and cause the polyps do not extend in the first place (best case). So, don’t give them too much flow.
The hammer coral is considered to be an aggressive coral species that will attack its neighbors with sweeper tentacles. These are stinging nematocysts (similar to the sting of an anemone) on the end of a specialized polyp that can extend several inches away from the body of the coral. The sweeper tentacles pack a punch and will chemically burn any neighboring corals.
Hammer corals are more subdued eaters who would benefit from the occasional feeding of a meaty marine food like mysis and brine shrimp.

Nitrates at 13 aren’t high (they’re really about ideal for a mixed reef), and Euphyllia/Fimbriaphyllia tend to do better and open up more with elevated magnesium.

 

[PeterC99]

That info was copied and pasted from this website https://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/hammer-coral-care-placement-feeding-of-euphyllia-ancora/

Great - Cite the source and provide links!

 

[nereefpat]

Great - Cite the source and provide links!

That would be good form

 

[PeterC99]

That would be good form

Would really like to take your R2R Excellence Award and put that knowledge in an R2R Library with the rest of Excellent Award recipients so everyone doesn’t have to keep asking the same questions over and over and over again!

 

[nereefpat]

Would really like to take your R2R Excellence Award and put that knowledge in an R2R Library with the rest of Excellent Award recipients so everyone doesn’t have to keep asking the same questions over and over and over again!

I don't think any of my stuff belongs in a library. I just like to talk about fish. The search feature works pretty well, if people use it.

 

[Pistol Peet]

That info was copied and pasted from this website https://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/hammer-coral-care-placement-feeding-of-euphyllia-ancora/

Yes it was word for word.

 

[ReefRusty]

I noticed a massive difference when i started to dose aminos into the tank. Major polyp extension and looking very healthy. Salinity 35pt out 1 025-26 used to run mine higher at 1.027 as thats what the ocean is where I collect from.

All other value look good. Lps love mkre phosphates but 0.01 is good if you want sps too.

 

[PeterC99]

I don't think any of my stuff belongs in a library. I just like to talk about fish. The search feature works pretty well, if people use it.

Very modest of you! Believe your R2R Excellence Award makes you most library worthy!

Now how do we convince you otherwise?

 

[PeterC99]

Yes it was word for word.

Yes - but the response was with perfect info. As long as it’s properly cited, someone is bring the answer to the questioner!!!

 

[outhouse]

Nitrates to high for me, mine love clean water, and I sell them having grown a few thousand heads in the past.

With leds you cant have them too intense. My best growth was with 175W se with 2 atinic VHOs in a 30" deep tank. Now with intensity turned down im getting growth again with leds.

 

[MammothWombat]

They might be getting too much light, hammers generally like 80-120par (though they can sometimes take more or less), I would try either lowering the intensity of the light or moving them lower in the tank (though I would try to move it as little as possible, ie don’t keep moving it, move it to the bottom and give it a few months and see how it does).

I will put them lower in the tank, and leave them there.

 

[MammothWombat]

Nitrates to high for me, mine love clean water, and I sell them having grown a few thousand heads in the past.

With leds you cant have them too intense. My best growth was with 175W se with 2 atinic VHOs in a 30" deep tank. Now with intensity turned down im getting growth again with leds.

Hmm, there are a lot of opinions about nitrates with successful results. What value do you keep your nitrates at? I can try and keep them in the middle of the scale.