Reviving a damaged coral

fixedpoint · 09/13/2015, 02:40 PM

I have a branching hammer coral that has four heads. Two of the four heads are very dead. A third has extensive damage to the polyps. The fourth is in great condition.

What is the best way to revive it? Should I cut a frag of just the good condition head?

Sk8r · 09/13/2015, 02:56 PM

Leave it entirely alone, but set your water parameters to match mine, have it in good lighting (I've found 10000 k is good with this species)---and I wish you luck. If you can find any of the wandering heads, the heads alone can regrow new skeleton given perfect conditions: put them in a shallow glass dish with plenty of light.

Once the living heads have fully recovered, then you can simply frag off the barren heads. In a large colony, the expanding colony gets 'leggy' and produces a lot of barren stem, which means it would eventually overgrow the damaged bits so far you wouldn't find them readily, but aesthetics will certainly support removing them once the piece is stable.

fixedpoint · 09/13/2015, 03:09 PM

Will do. Thanks!

Tcox · 09/13/2015, 03:19 PM

Sk8er has great advice. There's no magic potion. The coral will heal itself with healthy parameters.

stingeragent · 09/13/2015, 03:48 PM

Fixed point, not sure what type of hammer I have, but one of the 2 heads died on me not too long after I first got it. The other side was and still is perfectly fine. About 5-6 months later, 2 new heads popped out the side of the dead head. I would just leave it and try to keep your water on point. In a few more months you may get new growth from the dead side. Attaching a pic of it from yesterday.

09/13/2015, 02:40 PM	#1
fixedpoint Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 134	Reviving a damaged coral I have a branching hammer coral that has four heads. Two of the four heads are very dead. A third has extensive damage to the polyps. The fourth is in great condition. What is the best way to revive it? Should I cut a frag of just the good condition head?

09/13/2015, 02:56 PM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Leave it entirely alone, but set your water parameters to match mine, have it in good lighting (I've found 10000 k is good with this species)---and I wish you luck. If you can find any of the wandering heads, the heads alone can regrow new skeleton given perfect conditions: put them in a shallow glass dish with plenty of light. Once the living heads have fully recovered, then you can simply frag off the barren heads. In a large colony, the expanding colony gets 'leggy' and produces a lot of barren stem, which means it would eventually overgrow the damaged bits so far you wouldn't find them readily, but aesthetics will certainly support removing them once the piece is stable. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

09/13/2015, 03:09 PM	#3
fixedpoint Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 134	Will do. Thanks!

09/13/2015, 03:19 PM	#4
Tcox Registered Member Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 149	Sk8er has great advice. There's no magic potion. The coral will heal itself with healthy parameters.

09/13/2015, 03:48 PM	#5
stingeragent Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 1,032	Fixed point, not sure what type of hammer I have, but one of the 2 heads died on me not too long after I first got it. The other side was and still is perfectly fine. About 5-6 months later, 2 new heads popped out the side of the dead head. I would just leave it and try to keep your water on point. In a few more months you may get new growth from the dead side. Attaching a pic of it from yesterday.