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rort
01/09/2009, 03:04 PM
I am getting hooked up with a nice hammer coral as my 2nd coral to be added to my tank (1st colony of Zoas).

Is there anything I should be dosing to help this new coral grow and thrive?

JEFFR259
01/09/2009, 04:37 PM
Well, the coral doesn't truly need any food or elements dosed to survive....You can feed them, although there are many many people who don't and the Hammer's do just fine.

What you do need to keep up with is your water parameters. Unlike your Zoas, you need to keep calcium in check so the Hammer can grow. Here's a general review of what your water parameters need to be

PH 8.0-8.3
Temp - about 77-78 (little over or under is fine)
Ammonia/Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - preferrably 0
ALKALINITY- 8-12 dKH
Calcium - 400-450
Salinity 1.026

There are lots of other things you could test, such as magnesium, phosphate. However the MOST critical are your alkalinity and calcium. You need to be able to test for these, so if you don't have a test kit, go get one right away.

Good Luck!

JEFFR259
01/09/2009, 04:38 PM
Oh yea, there is of course one thing the Hammer will need to "feed" off of....light :)

Looks like you have a T5 arrangement, which will suffice.

Place the Hammer around mid-tank level and in a low-flow area, an area with just enough water flow to sway it's polyps

rort
01/09/2009, 04:59 PM
My water Params are pretty spot on. It took me awhile to get them there but they have been there for the past 5 months. Since I have had my tank, I have used my own RO/DI filter and used Tropical Marine Pro for every water change.

PH - 8.3
Temp - 77-79
Ammonia/Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Salinity 1.025
Phosphate - .05 (TLF phosban reactor should arrive today to get this down to 0)

I have never check for calcium or alkalinity. My testers are pretty much out so i was thinking about going with the API reefmaster set for testing? Is that sufficient?

One of my main concerns in getting into coral was to not have to spend a lot of $ on a calcium reactor and things like that. What can I expect if I have to start dosing to fix calcium and Alk?

Thanks JEFFR