unhappy hammer colony!

[Andy]

Iv had a metallic green hammer colony for a few months and all was great until i moved the rockscape round a bit and my damsel adopted behind the hammer as its new home. The damsel flicked its tail making its home getting sand everywhere and has aggrivated the hammer. iv sinced moved the hammer but part of it isnt opening as puffed up as it was. One half seems fine the other half seems smaller and less inflated

wat do i do!!!!!!!!!!!!! All params are fine and nothing has fluctuated or been introduced to tank

 

[SubRosa]

Is part of the colony receiving more flow in its new location? Too much flow will prevent Euphyllias from opening.

 

[Andy]

yes i believe so but really not excessive flow plus i have another hammer right next to the part that is not opening fully in same flow and is absolutely fine?

 

[Tokalosh]

Hi Andy

Have you accidentally touched any of the heads while moving it?
They do not like to be touched and can easily be damaged.

Tok

 

[Andy]

hi Tok it is possible but i am always very carefull when handling corals and try my very best to be gentle. I have posted pics on the general reef aquarium disceu forum and see what you think if you would? it pretty sure it is tissue damage of some sort caused by my damsel. Will it recover or gradually get worse? anyways look on the post 'whats going on with my hammer and see wat u think

cheers for comments guys

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

It should recover if it's physical damage, which is easy to do while cleaning as the are fragil or if the fish did it. Mine always has...

 

[Tokalosh]

Hi Andy

I had a close look at the pics and my diagnosis is that it just needs a little time to adjust to it's new position.
However I'd keep a close eye on it to make sure none of the heads start dying off.

If they do I'd keep a look out for brown jelly algae.

If this is detected then I'd start to worry.

Tok

 

[yvr]

I agree it should recover on its own. If you start to see recession and brown jelly you can try dipping it. You can use airline tubing to siphon off the dying/necrotic tissue and then you may want to give it a dip in an Iodine solution like Pro Coral cure to help prevent the spread.

 

[Andy]

thanks for all the suggestions guys. im going to observe the beast and hope it pulls through, i personally think its damage from the damsel (i hate that fish!) so fingers crossed it will be back to normal......any ideas on recovery period it will take?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

My hammer has had a head sucked completely off by mistake (when I was doing a water change & not watching what I was doing) & regrew the head in a couple weeks. I have done this a couple time & always feel bad when I do, the damsel may have damaged it, they are very tender.

Mine is larger than a basketball

 

[Andy]

That's the one slap bang in the middle of ur rsm. Seeing it close up is even better. What's is the name of this hammer? I'm still worried bet mine ill put a pic up later on and you will see why

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Thanks !

He is just a Hammer Coral, Branching (Euphyllia parancora)
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Hammer Coral, Branching

 

[Andy]

right so this is the hammer today. see how on the right hand side some of the heads have died and gone grey. It looks worse today. Iv looked at it for agen and think i can also see something stuck in between its heads would this aggrivate it? like a trapped new era pellet or something.

this from another angle. with the devil damsel mocking me!

shud i leave it be? iv removed the dead tissue and hope it will make a recovery but the dead heads has wooried me.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I think I would watch it, unless I thought it was bjd (brown jelly disease) and I don't think it is... see what others think

 

[Andy]

ok thanks for your help. wish mine was as big n happy as the one in ur rsm!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

You are very welcome - one day if you don't frag it, it will be

 

[Andy]

right guys so i thought id keep you updated on this hammer. a\nd its bad news looks like its getting worse! They grey dead heads i sucked out using a pipette that came with a salifert test kit as i didnt want it to spread. However it seems to be spreading and more heads from the right hand side have started dying. and now i can see the spikey looking skeletol base on the righty hand side about a cm. I dont know what to do all other corals are fine and this one is just in decline. Is there anything else i can do appart from just leaving it? fresh water dip? sucking off the infected heads and a little more to ensure it doesnt spread?

i dont want to loose this coral its one of my favourites and i want to keep it. Can they go into gradual decline like this after 5 or so months if they need more light or flow? also when i look closely at skeletol part ther seems to be a fine cob web looking thing on it, i cant get focus on camera but ther is...possibly snail trails but just thought id let u kno
cheers

 

[whippetguy]

Sorry to hear that it's getting worse. I'd try and snip off the affected heads and hope for the best.

 

[Tokalosh]

Sorry to hear that it's getting worse. I'd try and snip off the affected heads and hope for the best.

John is right, the only way I could save mine when I was in your predicament was to break the infected heads of.

Tok

 

[Andy]

break? what do you mean the green polys or the actual skeleton? if you mean the skeleton how would i do that its like rock? if you mean the polys would i just try and suck of all the affected areas? ill research it tomoz and give it ago whatever. thanks for comments guys