2 months and Hammer still won't inflate

[gam3ovr]

So here's the short story:

Moved tanks ~two months ago and had to put all corals in my QT for two days. During the stay in the QT my Hammer coral had a rock fall on it. No visible damage but it definitely didn't like it. Ever since, it's been semi retracted and will NOT inflate.

Note that my Frogspawn, Zoas, Ricordeas, Gorgonians, etc are all VERY VERY happy. I've tried different areas of the tank to no avail.

The Hammer looks great as far as color and will eat Mysis Shrimp if spot fed. He simply will not inflate.

Water parameters are:

Temp 78
1.023 salinity
0 Nitrites
0 Ammonia
8.4 PH
>.02ppm Nitrates

Any thoughts?

[Webmanny]

A few questions:

Is he close enough to the light? (Mine likes mid to top in my tank)
Where is your ALK?
Did you change flow in that area? They don't like too much flow.

[gam3ovr]

A few questions:

Is he close enough to the light? (Mine likes mid to top in my tank)
Where is your ALK?
Did you change flow in that area? They don't like too much flow.

He's about 10-12 inches below a dual T5 so he's definitely in a good light spot. I've tried bottom, near the top, middle (which is where he is now).

Minimal flow as he's furthest away from my powerhead as possible. Still some flow but definitely minimal.

ALK is a good point. I don't currently check that on a regular basis. I'll check that today.

Can you help me understand why ALK would upset the Hammer but not anything else the tank?

I should add this is in a JBJ 30 and I do bi-weekly 5 gallon water changes. My LFS tells me that I shouldn't have to worry about Calcium/Mag levels because of the regular water changes.

[Webmanny]

ALK will affect all corals, but hammers tend to show stress before other corals like Frogspawn, but if it is low, the rest will get impacted not to long after. Not saying this is the case, but it is a theory.

As far as Calcium and Mag levels, your LFS is right, as long as you are lightly stocked. I didn't started dosing anything until about 3 months ago. I have plenty of corals, some of which are SPS corals and plenty of LPS corals. Therefore, water changes alone were not keeping up with the demand of my corals.

I'm sure you will get to that point at some point too, but for now, water changes should be enough.

[gam3ovr]

Got it. I didn't realize that Hammers would show stress before the Frogspawn. Hopefully I"ll get it figured it out as I love that piece of coral!

[airtime23]

Salinity should be closer to 1.026, no? And temp 79-80?

[Tweaked]

Salinity should be closer to 1.026, no? And temp 79-80?

Exactly

[mcfa2403]

If your salinity is 1.023 and you aren't dosing your calc, alk and mag will all be low pretty much can guarantee it. 1.023 is around 31 ppt and most salt mixes guaranteed analysis is made at 35 ppt which, assuming all things are equal, is going to lead to a drop of 12% across the board on chemicals. While this wont kill corals in most cases, it will hinder growth and over time could effect the health of the coral. Note that because a coral looks happy doesn't mean it is in optimal health. It is the way a smoker might look healthy until they run a mile, same with corals in sub-optimal environments they look healthy until exposed to another stressor (in this case it may be to low of flow).

Personally I would stop testing ammonia and nitrite (in a tank that is running with livestock you will physically see if these are in your tank as death will come quickly) and start testing calcium, magnesium and alkalinity (I wouldn't bother too much with pH as chasing pH can get you in a lot of trouble). Euphyllia do best with a stable environment and in a tank your size that can be difficult to achieve. Remember that salt mixes can vary from batch to batch and by dosing you can better achieve consistency.

Long story short consistent, appropriate levels of your chemicals will help keep your coral healthy and will allow them to grow more rapidly (calc and alk are used in formation of the endoskeleton and mag allows both chemicals to stay available in the water column). A good quality salt like tropic marin pro, red sea pro, or seachem salinity will have better consistency batch to batch and when mixed to 35 ppt (~1.0265) will generally produce chemical levels within the optimum range and are less likely to need dosing. Euphyllia are incredibly tolerant of water conditions compared to most stoney corals but seem more dependent on stability of water. Hope this helps.

[gam3ovr]

If your salinity is 1.023 and you aren't dosing your calc, alk and mag will all be low pretty much can guarantee it. 1.023 is around 31 ppt and most salt mixes guaranteed analysis is made at 35 ppt which, assuming all things are equal, is going to lead to a drop of 12% across the board on chemicals. While this wont kill corals in most cases, it will hinder growth and over time could effect the health of the coral. Note that because a coral looks happy doesn't mean it is in optimal health. It is the way a smoker might look healthy until they run a mile, same with corals in sub-optimal environments they look healthy until exposed to another stressor (in this case it may be to low of flow).

Personally I would stop testing ammonia and nitrite (in a tank that is running with livestock you will physically see if these are in your tank as death will come quickly) and start testing calcium, magnesium and alkalinity (I wouldn't bother too much with pH as chasing pH can get you in a lot of trouble). Euphyllia do best with a stable environment and in a tank your size that can be difficult to achieve. Remember that salt mixes can vary from batch to batch and by dosing you can better achieve consistency.

Long story short consistent, appropriate levels of your chemicals will help keep your coral healthy and will allow them to grow more rapidly (calc and alk are used in formation of the endoskeleton and mag allows both chemicals to stay available in the water column). A good quality salt like tropic marin pro, red sea pro, or seachem salinity will have better consistency batch to batch and when mixed to 35 ppt (~1.0265) will generally produce chemical levels within the optimum range and are less likely to need dosing. Euphyllia are incredibly tolerant of water conditions compared to most stoney corals but seem more dependent on stability of water. Hope this helps.

Great stuff! Thanks so much for the detailed reply.

I do use Red Sea Pro that I buy from that same LFS (already mixed). So the 1.023 is essentially where they mix it at.

I'm going to buy the right test kit and follow those parameters vs. chasing pH.

This is a tough hobby, especially when your LFS (at times) gives conflicting information. I'm learning it's really no different than cars. When I bought my GTR I was getting different advice on "the best way" to get to 800 HP. At the end I went with a proven setup that the GTR community endorsed and a proven tuner to put the finishing touches on the build. Hopefully things turn out with my tank as great as it did with my car!


Thanks again for the tips!