What is causing my hammers to look like this?

[Cincyreefer513]

It's been almost a week now and not much has changed. It's just hanging in there. Not getting better or worse. It still has the pinched tentacles. I did notice a couple more tentacles laying on the sand a couple days ago.

Meanwhile, the original hammer is really looking better. I've been dosing and keeping calcium around 395-400 and magnesium around 1390-1450. Alk has consistently stayed 7.5-7.7 the past week.
I just started up the skimmer yesterday for the first time to see if I can start to drop the phosphate. I'm not sure how long that will take, but it's water change day tonight and I will likely test phosphate afterwards.

I do not have a close up photo of the problem hammer, but here is a zoomed out photo of the 2 and a close up of the original hammer. These were taken yesterday.

 

[bsagea]

Very nice collection of hammers!

Thank you!

 

[Shirak]

I would get a NYOS or Hanna high range nitrate tester. Toss the API You mentioned par is reasonable at low 100's so not pale from too much light which leads me to nutrients. Even with the elevated phosphate they could be lacking in nitrogen. You might try target feeding them a couple times a week. My LPS always do better with feeding on a regular basis.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

I would get a NYOS or Hanna high range nitrate tester. Toss the API You mentioned par is reasonable at low 100's so not pale from too much light which leads me to nutrients. Even with the elevated phosphate they could be lacking in nitrogen. You might try target feeding them a couple times a week. My LPS always do better with feeding on a regular basis.

A Hanna nitrate checker would be a reasonable upgrade in the future for sure.

I target feed my corals often with shrimp (4-5 days a week) and Reef Roids (it was 1/8 teaspoon twice a week, now only once a week due to high phosphate). My original hammer hates RR so it gets shrimp every once in a while. I feed my hammers less than the other corals. The new one I've given shrimp to a couple times now.

You are suggesting a possible nitrogen deficiency. What's the best way to look into that and how would I up it if it is low? Just feeding?

 

[Shirak]

I would continue with target feeding several times a week. I am not a fan of reef roids. Chopped mysis or small lps pellets are good for hammers. They can be slow to eat so I shut the pumps for 20 minutes. Give them time and keep things stable and slowly bring phosphate down. Could have been some parameters swinging too. Adding uncured dry rock can do that.
Do you have any critters that could potentially pick at LPS?

 

[Shirak]

It's been almost a week now and not much has changed. It's just hanging in there. Not getting better or worse. It still has the pinched tentacles. I did notice a couple more tentacles laying on the sand a couple days ago.

Meanwhile, the original hammer is really looking better. I've been dosing and keeping calcium around 395-400 and magnesium around 1390-1450. Alk has consistently stayed 7.5-7.7 the past week.
I just started up the skimmer yesterday for the first time to see if I can start to drop the phosphate. I'm not sure how long that will take, but it's water change day tonight and I will likely test phosphate afterwards.

I do not have a close up photo of the problem hammer, but here is a zoomed out photo of the 2 and a close up of the original hammer. These were taken yesterday.

The one in the closeup looks like a framer with the slightly branching tentacles. The one on the right you might consider orienting upright. Not sure they appreciate mounting at an angle

 

[Cincyreefer513]

I would continue with target feeding several times a week. I am not a fan of reef roids. Chopped mysis or small lps pellets are good for hammers. They can be slow to eat so I shut the pumps for 20 minutes. Give them time and keep things stable and slowly bring phosphate down. Could have been some parameters swinging too. Adding uncured dry rock can do that.
Do you have any critters that could potentially pick at LPS?

I will continue with the mysis and brine shrimp then...
There is definitely quite a bit of uncured dry rock in there. Newbie mistake. I'm wondering if the dryrock is leaching phosphates? Since I just started skimming, any idea on how long a skimmer should bring phosphate down? A few days? A month? I'll be checking phosphate levels tonight.
Not that I'm aware of. I have a royal gramma, pair of clowns (they don't go low in the tank), a few hermits, and various snails.

The one in the closeup looks like a framer with the slightly branching tentacles. The one on the right you might consider orienting upright. Not sure they appreciate mounting at an angle

A frammer? Interesting. It was given to me by a reputable coral vendor and was told it's a hammer. Either way I like it.
I agree with the angle not being optimal. There was a hole in the rock which allowed the frag plug to go in. If it's happy there, my plan is to clip the bottom part off the plug and glue it more upright.

 

[Shirak]

I will continue with the mysis and brine shrimp then...
There is definitely quite a bit of uncured dry rock in there. Newbie mistake. I'm wondering if the dryrock is leaching phosphates? Since I just started skimming, any idea on how long a skimmer should bring phosphate down? A few days? A month? I'll be checking phosphate levels tonight.
Not that I'm aware of. I have a royal gramma, pair of clowns (they don't go low in the tank), a few hermits, and various snails.



A frammer? Interesting. It was given to me by a reputable coral vendor and was told it's a hammer. Either way I like it.
I agree with the angle not being optimal. There was a hole in the rock which allowed the frag plug to go in. If it's happy there, my plan is to clip the bottom part off the plug and glue it more upright.

It's possible the dry rock is leaching some phosphate yes. Not sure the skimmer will help much with the phosphates. Primarily will pull organic matter which is more nitrate rich. If it doesn't come down on it's own with water changes and reducing/stopping the reef roid feeding, you will have to look into some phosphate remover. Personally I like the phosphate removing resins instead of the iron or aluminum oxides. I think they are cleaner, more effective and won't potentially leach metals. Or you could go with Chemipure Blue which is carbon and resin.

You mentioned your Hanna phosphate tester being new. Couple things I do with that particular tester as well as general Hanna testers. Make sure you clean the finger prints off completely. Orient the vial in the same direction between step one and two. Store the vial full of RODI when not in use.

For the phosphate tester, tip the vial back and forth for 2 min, but don't shake vigorously and create lots of micro bubbles. Insert back into tester oriented in the same direction, and hold button until 3min timer starts. ... set another 3 min noisy timer so you don't go back after 3 minutes and 30 seconds and find the darn thing has turned off on you..

 

[Cincyreefer513]

It's possible the dry rock is leaching some phosphate yes. Not sure the skimmer will help much with the phosphates. Primarily will pull organic matter which is more nitrate rich. If it doesn't come down on it's own with water changes and reducing/stopping the reef roid feeding, you will have to look into some phosphate remover. Personally I like the phosphate removing resins instead of the iron or aluminum oxides. I think they are cleaner, more effective and won't potentially leach metals. Or you could go with Chemipure Blue which is carbon and resin.

You mentioned your Hanna phosphate tester being new. Couple things I do with that particular tester as well as general Hanna testers. Make sure you clean the finger prints off completely. Orient the vial in the same direction between step one and two. Store the vial full of RODI when not in use.

For the phosphate tester, tip the vial back and forth for 2 min, but don't shake vigorously and create lots of micro bubbles. Insert back into tester oriented in the same direction, and hold button until 3min timer starts. ... set another 3 min noisy timer so you don't go back after 3 minutes and 30 seconds and find the darn thing has turned off on you..

Thanks for the tips!

I wonder if shaking the bottle fairly hard is causing problems? That's what I've been doing and I've noticed micro bubbles in the vial. I'll try what you suggested.
I have been storing with RODI water already and fingerprints are removed via microfiber cloth. So maybe it's the bubbles...

I'll give it a week or so with the skimmer and see if it makes any difference at all. If nothing or not much changes, I'll look into some of the other options.