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