Hammer coral shutting down at places ... Help needed

[vasanth_fash]

I have a hammer coral...... its been more than a month now ... it was very active and fresh ... but now on it at certain places i can see it not opening and the color is a bit faded out ....

i have checked the parameters of the water and things are fine ...
he water parameters are
salinity - 9 PPM
ph -8.2 PPM
Ammonia - 0 PPM
nitrite - 0 PPM
nitrate - 0 PPM
calcium -360 PPM
Phospate : .01 PPM
magnesium : 1270 PPm

. wonder if anyone can help me out with it ....

i have attached the pics here clicked how it used to be and hows its now ...

anyone please suggest whats happening

[aggie13reef]

I would say Ca is a little low, but not sure if that would cause your problem. Try to get Ca up in the 400's slowly. What is your ALK level?

[Tweaked]

Yes, I can help. It's a wall hammer, the mortality rate is like 90%. They just don't do well typically because of the collection process and the way they handle and ship these. Imagine stacks of them on a canoe in the sun while they break and cut the walls with a rusty coconut knife. A bit exaggerated, yes! But these corals are so prone to infections and are typically not seen until about the 4-6 week mark from collection. Trust me, it's not you.

[Kyle918]

Wall hammers are a bit more difficult to keep long term. They do fall prone to infections as stated above because wall hammers usually don't recover too well after being cut.

From the parameters you listed though, the calcium is low at 360ppm. Ideally you want to stay above 380 with 410-420 ppm being an ideal range.

Also, alkalintity is just as important but was not listed. Also, what is your actual salinity? 9 ppm doesn't seem right. You want to aim for 35 ppt or 1.026 SG.