Is my hammer receeding?

[Sandsquatch]

For the last couple of weeks it hasn't been extending as much as it once did, and recently I noticed the flesh is working its way up from the base, but I'm not sure whether this is it just growing, splitting or receeding.

Any help appreciated.

 

[officialreefbros]

Have you had a change in flow, light or any spikes/drops in parameters? Something could have made it mad

 

[Sandsquatch]

Have you had a change in flow, light or any spikes/drops in parameters? Something could have made it mad

I have made the cardinal sin of changing multiple things at once. I slightly increased the lighting intensity and upped the flow, but have since dialled both back down but feel my flow isn't enough as is.

I was spot feeding a good amount of mysis a couple of times a week and it was growing rapidly and started to look like it was splitting, but now it just refuses food.

I have been battling 0 phosphates for a while, however this never seemed to have a noticable effect on it as it kept growing. I have been dosing reef roids tonbring these up.

I guess I just wasn't sure whether what is seen in the pictures was part of its growth pattern, or if it was actually receeding.

 

[officialreefbros]

I'm guilty of doing that too! I'd hold off on feeding, try to bring your phos up slightly/slowly (reefroids to other coral, broadcast AB or neophos). and just keep a close eye while keeping everything else as stable as possible. It has a huge flesh line so i'm confident in it bouncing back

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What is all that white stuff on the stalk of the hammer? Is it glue, or sponge?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Looks fairly healthy to me. Likely not extending from being mad at the different changes. It can take a few weeks for euphyllia to adapt to things like that. As long as that tissue stays as is I would not worry too much.

 

[Sandsquatch]

The recession is getting worse IMO. I have noticed that my alk has steadily been rising from 7.3 at the end of December to currently sitting at 9.3. Before my previous water change it was 8.3, and had been sitting there for a number of weeks. Cal has also been rising, albeit a bit more slowly. Its currently at 470. Should I just stop doing water changes for the time being and allow the levels to drop naturally? The tank is a lightly stocked 15g.

What is all that white stuff on the stalk of the hammer? Is it glue, or sponge?

This is super glue. When I received the piece in November it was riddled with some sort of brown clove polyps and I didn't want to take any chances of it getting in to the tank. This didn't appear to affect it though as it is on a piece of rock the hammer is attached to.

 

[kevgib67]

Alright, we are missing a lot of info, what are your nitrates? Low phosphates and low nitrates will starve your hammer. Shoot for nitrates of10-15 and phosphates of .01-.1, your calcium looks fine but you haven’t listed your magnesium. Torches, hammers and frogspawn tend to thrive with higher magnesium levels. I try to keep mine at 1400 or a little higher.

 

[Sandsquatch]

Alk 9.3
Cal 470
Mag 1320
PH 8.15
Nitrate 2
Phos 0
SG 1.026

I do realise I have issues with my phosphates and nitrates and that is where my problems are coming from. I have 2 clowns and feed them 3 times a day as many pellets as they will take, I also feed flake and dump in frozen mysis too. I recently also purchased a YWG and pistol to hopefully help with the nitrate problem.

I have been broadcast feeding reefroids in larger and larger amounts (still nothing silly) most days but phosphates always remain at 0. Lately there is some algae showing though, so phosphate is present to some degree.

The tank is just over 4 months old with dry rock, and I'm encountering the opposite problems from the last time I ran this tank some years ago which ran with live rock and had endless algae issues.

I thought dry rock was meant to leach out phosphates and figured I'd have algae issues but this has not been the case. The phosphates are going somewhere, but where I do not know, are they being bound up by the rock?

I'm reluctant to start dosing acual phosphate and nitrate in my small 15g system in case things swing the other way rather rapidly.

My corals are surviving, but maybe not thriving. I was curious with the hammer whether what I was seeing was recession or its growth pattern as I've never owned one before. Until recently, it looked fine and was growing stronger than anything else in the tank so was unsure if it was growing in height, or loosing tissue from the base.

One possible important extra thing to note, the last time I did a water change, the water turned cloudy for over 24hrs, which has never happened before. I'm guessing this is from the ever rising alk and calcium levels possibly causing precipitation.

Yea, I'm just a bit confused. I'll continue broadcasting roids and feeding as much as possible for the time being and hope for the best.

 

[kevgib67]

Yes the phosphates and nitrates are the problem. Rocks probably binding the phosphate. What test kits are you using? Make sure they are not expired. Perhaps take some water to your lfs and have them test it and compare with your results.

 

[Sandsquatch]

Yes the phosphates and nitrates are the problem. Rocks probably binding the phosphate. What test kits are you using? Make sure they are not expired. Perhaps take some water to your lfs and have them test it and compare with your results.

Forgot to mention that. All Salifert apart from the nitrate, which is Nyos. All are in date. I also use Nyos Pure salt.

What is your opinion on stopping water changes for a few weeks to a month, as they seem counter productive at the moment. I'm removing the little nutrients I have, and at the same time increasing all of the elements in my tank, or so it would appear... I have been doing 20% per week up until now.

 

[kevgib67]

That would be a good move but remember your not just not taking nutrients out your not replenishing things your corals need so just keep a close eye on all your parameters and do small water changes if needed.