I ordered coral online for the first time was pretty bad smelling and the water had browned up the coral looked like this in the bag. I acclimatised it and didnt put any of the water it came in in the tank. I talked to the store i brought it from and they said to put it in the tank for a few days to see if it recovers. Im worried about causing harm to the other life in the tank. Is there any chance it will come back or should i take it out and give up on it. I dont have a quarantine tank and im new to the hobby
Is my new hammer DOA
- Thread starter Protojx
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MnFish1
10K Club member
I would say its in 'pretty bad shape' at minimum. I kind of agree with giving it a shot though - When I've had coral that looks like this - it almost inevitably dies. One thing I have done - if I notice something like this is 'pick it up' after its been in your clean tank for a day. If it still 'smells' - I would toss it.I ordered coral online for the first time was pretty bad smelling and the water had browned up the coral looked like this in the bag. I acclimatised it and didnt put any of the water it came in in the tank. I talked to the store i brought it from and they said to put it in the tank for a few days to see if it recovers. Im worried about causing harm to the other life in the tank. Is there any chance it will come back or should i take it out and give up on it. I dont have a quarantine tank and im new to the hobby
PS - this might have been one of those times when an antibiotic dip might have helped.
Protojx
New Member
Thanks for the help after leaving it in the tank all day the water started to smell. I was too concerned for the rest of the tank inhabitants so i have removed it. Its unfortunate that the package got stuck in the depot for 2 days i think ill stick to the LFS for now
Frostblitz20
Well-Known Member
Yes i would consider that pretty much dead.. very very slim chances of it recovering even so i dont see how it could go down hill that fast overnight in 1 day shipping unless it wasnt properly insulated by the shipper and got exposed to extreme heat.
vetteguy53081
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Tissue recession due to stress. Place under very low light and water flow .
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.
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.
Pistondog
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As @Frostblitz20 pointed out it probably got over heated, which is easy to do this time of year.
Tbg299
Active Member
Did you call the distributor? Most of them offer an alive guarantee on arrival or 7 day guarantee. This looks necrotic. I would demand your money back.I ordered coral online for the first time was pretty bad smelling and the water had browned up the coral looked like this in the bag. I acclimatised it and didnt put any of the water it came in in the tank. I talked to the store i brought it from and they said to put it in the tank for a few days to see if it recovers. Im worried about causing harm to the other life in the tank. Is there any chance it will come back or should i take it out and give up on it. I dont have a quarantine tank and im new to the hobby
MaxTremors
2500 Club Member
Yeah, I’ve never had a DOA, I’ve ordered quite a few corals online, but I’ve only used corals.com and aquasd. Im getting the impression that OP is not in the US, which may be part of it, but from what I’ve read, most of the larger online coral vendors have like a 99% rate of live and on time arrival. Any time I’ve had corals that looked iffy, I’ve contacted the company and they’ve both been great (all corals pulled through, so never had to do a refund). Unless overnight shipping is especially bad in your area/country, I would let one bad shipment turn you off from buying corals online.
Protojx
New Member
I sent the company photos of the coral and they said put it in the tank and it might recover... due to incresed demand during a lockdown the postal company has halted all guarantes on overnight shipping ill try my luck though
