Whats wrong with my Hammer????
 

I added a single head Hammer to my Nano 2-3 weeks ago and all has been well. Two to three days ago I noticed that one of the 'arms' looked like it was gone? I didnt really pay much attention to it. Today I notice that where the one 'arm' was missing now it looks split open!!!!! All the 'arms' also look a little deflated......

Is it dying ???? I have never had a Hammer before?

Any ideas? Could it be that it is sitting in the sand and not mounted/anchored onto the LR?

Here is a link:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_0434.jpg

If it was dying it would be all shriveled up and deflated
it seems the mouth is opened because is releasing waste...

I don't think that's a mouth.......

:question:

does a hammer even have a mouth???

Yes that is a mouth in the center, as far as I know all corals have a mouth of one sort or another.

It kind of looks like something had a snack of one of his tentacles? Any potential suspects?

It doesn't look like a mouth if I compare it to my hammer.

Hammers definitely have a 'mouth'. Most of the time the fully inflated soft tissue does a good job of hiding it. They can do some other funky things like blowing bubbles from time to time. I've had this happen on a number of occasions. The bubble phenom seems to be associated with a branching event where the affected head will split into two at some point after.

https://public.blu.livefilestore.com...66a.JPG?psid=1

I've never seen mine with an open mouth like yours for an extended period though. You also mention soft tissue is deflated. Somewhat reminiscent of an anemone that's either expelling waste, or not doing too well. Only been in your system for a relatively short time, so may still be acclimating. Keep an eye on it & if the mouth remains that way & tissue remains deflated, check your water parameters to see if something's off.

Let me start by saying thanks for the replies!

I will now agree that a hammer has a mouth & that my hammers mouth is wide open - I have no idea what its doing... maybe regurgitating out the old food. In which case this is a good thing. I'll give it a day or two.

I do have one more question. I have my hammer sitting in the sand. As seen in the first posts pic. I usually see hammer corals mounted in LR and not in the sand. Is it ok to have it out in the sand or is that an error and I should find a spot on the LR for it?

THX

interesting title for the thread :biggrin:

Can't speak for others, but I've always had my hammer corals off the sand & positioned on a piece of live rock, generally at least half way up the height of the tank, sometimes a bit higher. A lot will depend on your lighting intensity & flow as well as overall tank depth. It looks healthy from a colouration perspective, i.e. it's not bleached, so that's a good thing. But open mouth like that for an extended period could be a sign that something is not to its liking. Could be many factors, light, flow, water parameter, temperature. Might be an idea to do some water tests & ensure things are at least in the ball park of what's considered normal in a SW system. When was the last time you did a water change & do you mix new water with pure or treated tap water? How about top up, do you use pure water (RODI)?

LMAO i totally just realized that now lol

a hammer can be in the sand just fine as can a frogspawn. your hammer is deflated showing its mouth could be a number of things from too much light to too much flow.

would move said hammer frag to a better location....since its on the sand and they dont demand high light im leaning toward flow it should be in indirect flow:) cheers and gl

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_0441.jpg

There is a new link. The hammer is more deflated and the mouth is more open.

It currently sits in the open on the sand. In a 12G Nano with the White & Blue toob lights above. There is a 340gph pump with a directional flow spinner that slowly rotates the current. The Hammer gets a fairly good exposure to light and to current. What should be my priority? Less flow or less light or both? Ill move it in the morning....

THX

Well thanks for the help.

Good advise with either lighting or flow. I recently increased the flow in the tank - believing this was the primary cause of the problem (thanks to the GF!!) I returned to the old flow. Over the last 12 Hrs the hammers arms have all filled back up and the mouth is closing. Its scalp or what here has been called a mouth opened on the side that was subjected to the increased flow.

I did realize during this procedure that there are 2 heads to this - while it was negatively reacting to the increased flow the one side (head) became very limp over a 2 day period while the other side stayed quite healthy looking. It must be a double or close to splitting up.

I have to say thanks for the info - I appreciate the support and so does my Hammer.

PS - Its hard to ask for help...... especially when you have a problem with your Hammer!!

100% thats a mouth.

Sand bed or rock. Both are fine. Euphyllia prefer lower flow areas of the tank.

My Orange torch is currently on the sand bed and is has split 5 times since I bought it. I would say its doing fine.


Do you feed? Maybe its hungry.

+1

no prob man no one likes a deflated hammer lol :P

In a 12g tank are you topping up evap frequently? I had a 48g with a similar problem and I found that by topping up all the time to ensure less salinity swings it really helped quickly. I should say though that this was with a frogspawn

i have frogspawn in a 29 biocube on the sand! is doing great.. i have torch, hammer and octo mid to high in my tank and some more octco on the sand all doing fine!!! every vonce and a while my torch will shrivel up and poop... then get all puffy again!!!

I'll do a top up when its needed - add in just enough that the back sumps (JBJ-12-DX) don't get low.

I have not been specifically feeding it... I usually add Brine Shrimp daily to the tank and have not had a problem for the last 3 weeks since it was added. Is there something I should do to specifically feed it or will a passive approach continue to work?

Well I figured all was getting better. Here is a pic from yesterday..... the mouth looked like it was closing!!!!

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_0452.jpg

I got home from work today and it looks like this..... AHHHH

1/2 of it looks like it is falling off the stony base. It might be downsizing. The mouth is open so far you can see the base....

:cry:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m79/hfp75/IMG_0453.jpg

This thing needs to make up its mind...... Live or Die.

Just moved to back to its original location........ lets hope for the best.

It was fine for 2-3 weeks (original location) & 4i'ish days ago I moved it and changed the flow. The flow & its location are all back to normal, where it happily sat for 2-3 weeks. Dunno if it will survive.......

Once its mouth has opened down to the stony base does that signify that its beyond hope?

its fine just mad still when its dying it will melt away and fall off its skelaton and yours looks like it still has a fighting chance:)

i feed all my lps target fed every 2 days mysis and cyclopeeze with a turkey baster they love it:)