Hammer Coral

[ezra]

I was thinking of getting a small hammer coral as my first piece of coral in the tank. My levels are perfect and the tank has been set up for appr. 7 months. Is this a good coral to start off with? If not what are your thoughts?

[Sniperhank]

It is a pretty hardy LPS coral if it is the branching variety. The wall types are less forgiving. With that said, it would be more of if your lighting can support its photosynthetic needs.

[ezra]

Where would you place your first hammer coral?

[Sniperhank]

Always in the sandbed, but that depends on your lighting. We'd need more information to help.

[Phranque]

It's personally not one I'd recommend as a very first piece of coral. Not saying you shouldn't, or couldn't... it is fairly hardy, but once established. Of the LPS, it's one of the more sensitive to any parameter swings. Among the corals in my system, my Hammer is typically my "canary in the coal mine"... it's usually the first one to tell me that something is a little off.
If you like LPS, and want to go that route instead of starting with softies, one of my recommendations would be acan lords. IMO they are much more forgiving of the learning process, you can pick up frags with a few polyps for pretty cheap, and once they get established & growing, they can multiply fairly quickly (at least in coral terms) giving a sense of accomplishment & confidence to move on & up.

If you are comfortable with your parameters, I agree with Sniper... somewhere down low to begin with. They like "turbid" water flow, but definitely not a direct strong current. You will likely wind up moving it around a few times to find "the spot", but they will let you know when you find it.

[ezra]

Thx you two, appreciate the feedback.