Opening in hammer coral stem

[Matt Porter]

I've had this hammer coral for about 2-3 weeks now and just noticed the stem has an opening that looks like it could be a wound. It most likely started in the last few days because I did a water change late last week. Is this an infection in the coral? It still opens up nicely every day, so it doesn't look to be stressed out. Thank you for the help as I am newer to the hobby.

 

[reeferguy3303]

Can you get a pic of what you’re referring to

 

[Matt Porter]

Can you get a pic of what you’re referring to

I edited the post to make the image bigger and changed the lighting, so hopefully easier to see. It's at the bottom of the coral stem near the base and by the rock.

 

[Dburr1014]

Looks like an old head that has been gone a long time.

 

[Matt Porter]

Looks like an old head that has been gone a long time.

It wasn't there when I initially got it, or it at least wasn't as big and noticeable. Can that grow over time if that's the case?

 

[Bribo12]

Agree with dburr, looks like an old dead head or an area where it got chopped off the main colony. Nothing to worry about

 

[Dburr1014]

It won't grow as in a head coming back to life. Maybe you didn't notice it because it was bright white color?
As your Coral grows it forms new heads and kind of goes up and out in a round shape.

 

[moz71]

I had this happen to a torch base. You can see the honycomb inside . Never really found the cause as I posted. Seems another person got same issue and suspected the urchin chewed threw but not sure. What I did was glue the whole area kinda like sealed it. It eventually was saved. Just my experience

 

[reeferguy3303]

+3 on the old head

 

[jeffchapok]

It wasn't there when I initially got it, or it at least wasn't as big and noticeable. Can that grow over time if that's the case?

It's not likely that that will ever grow over. All of the new growth will appear at the top by the heads. The stalks are just dead calcium.