Problem with my two Hammer corals

[MIA_Reef]

I bought two hammer corals about a week apart back in early March and they were both looking great for about 3 maybe 4 weeks, then they started to close up and tissue started to recede. Now today they still do not fully open and on my hammer that has 3 heads, the Hammer shaped tips seem to have disappeared and some tentacles seem to be stuck together at the tips. Also have noticed tiny black maybe red bugs on the skeleton as well as what I am assuming are mesenterial filaments coming out today after I fed a little bit of reef roids. When I noticed the hammers looking bad in March I had my Alk tested at a LFS because I didn't have a test for it and was told the Alk was a little low around 6 or 7 so they recommended I try using some Seachem Reef Carbonate. I'm sure I raised my Alk to high too fast so that didn't help the problem with the hammer's. My alk has been pretty stable around 8.3-8.8 for the last 3 week though and not much has changed. For lighting I was using a Hipargero Aqua knight LED light but I just upgraded to an Ai Prime 16HD 3 days ago. I also have a Hydor Koralia Nano 240 gph powerhead in the tank but lately I have not been using it too much since I have pretty good water flow with just the return pump.




Water parameters as of 2 days ago are

Temp - 79 degrees
Salinity - 1.025-1.026 Refractometer
Phosphate 0.25 - API test
Nitrite 0 - API test
High Range pH 7.8 - API test
Nitrate somewhere between 10-20 API test
ALK 8.8 - Hanna checker
Calcium 440-450 API test
Do not have a Mag test yet
I buy my RO water and natural Sea water from my local LFS and do weekly water changes of 2-5 gallons on a 20 gallon waterbox.


This is how the hammers looked in early March

The rest of the pictures are mostly from today but some are from a week ago. The last 2 pictures are of my bright green single head hammer and the rest are from the 3 head hammer.

 

[MIA_Reef]

Also have two short clips taken today of the 3 head hammer if it helps any.

 

[Tint]

Hi MIA_Reef!

I am seeing a similar problem with my tank HERE and wanted to know if anyone got back to you on your problem or if you found a fix to this.

 

[MIA_Reef]

Hi MIA_Reef!

I am seeing a similar problem with my tank HERE and wanted to know if anyone got back to you on your problem or if you found a fix to this.

I never did figure out what the problem was. I ended up giving the corals to a LFS. A few months after that I bought a frogspawn and was starting to notice similar problems like it was not opening up as much after having it in my tank for a few weeks. I decided to start mixing my own saltwater to see if it would help and it seems to be doing a lot better now. I also started using Brightwell aquatics Purit. So far my Euphyllia corals have been doing great after using Tropic Marin Pro reef salt mix. Ill post some pictures of what the frogspawn looked a few days after I got it, when it started looking bad and how it looks today along with a torch I got recently.

 

[fishguy242]

hi, i think on the older hammer pics i see flatworms on the skeleton,hopefully gone now

 

[Tint]

I never did figure out what the problem was. I ended up giving the corals to a LFS. A few months after that I bought a frogspawn and was starting to notice similar problems like it was not opening up as much after having it in my tank for a few weeks. I decided to start mixing my own saltwater to see if it would help and it seems to be doing a lot better now. I also started using Brightwell aquatics Purit. So far my Euphyllia corals have been doing great after using Tropic Marin Pro reef salt mix. Ill post some pictures of what the frogspawn looked a few days after I got it, when it started looking bad and how it looks today along with a torch I got recently.

I will keep an eye on mine for the next few weeks and see if I get the same kind of improvement with my new salt mix. Your tank is looking great!

 

[JJ Ligs]

Are you dipping your corals? I am seeing what looks like flat worms and some spiders on there. I would pull and dip anytime you see something like this unfortunately if it is you already have them in your tank and it can be a real pain to get them out now. If you did not dip I also would advise to never add anything to your tank without a good dip before.

 

[JohnRougeux]

What is dipping?

 

[fishguy242]

dipping is preventive, to keep unwanted pests from entering tank ,example:coral rx dip

 

[JJ Ligs]

Oh I thought I am so sorry I thought they were joking. Like Fish said It is a process where you either soak the coral in Saltwater mixed with Beyer...renew...coral rx...Iodine Or a combination Of them where the coral goes from one to the next and is then rinsed before they enter your tank.
I do
Beyer for 10 mins (gets rid of most critters)
Rinse
Renew for 5 mins (gets the leftovers)
Rinse
Iodine for 10mins (kills any bacteria and helps heal)
Rinse in QT

 

[Tundra Cuttle]

Sounds like they had pests but also contaminants from foreign water. Mixing your own salt and using purit fixing the issue seems to be the key then. Thanks for following up.