What's up (or down, as the case may be) with my hammer?

[20 20]

Had it for a week, and it's been fine. Just did a 5 gallon water change, and since then it's been 'withdrawn', with a thread of something slimey coming from it:

One red arrow is pointing out the thread waving in the water, the other red arrow points to where it comes out of the hammer. Anyone have any ideas?

All the standard water parameters remained the same after the water change:

29 gallon tank
15 gallon sump/fuge (approximately 10 gallons of water in it)
Mag 5 return pump
1 maxijet 1200, high flow in the top of the tank
1 200 gph powerhead aimed along the back of the tank at the bottom
130 watts PC lighting, one 10000k, and one 420/460 actinec (sp?)
temp: 80
PH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
Alk: 130 ppm ( I know this is low, I'm trying baking soda)
Calcium: 450 ppm
Phosphate: 0
SG: 1.026

 

[Fluff]

Could be expelling wastes. Has the thread broken away? Corals, like anemones will look stressed or less than perfect when releasing wastes.

 

[seaham358]

It looks fine, good extension on the polyps. Could be a sweeper type tentical? people say that the hammers have them, I have never seen them on my hammer. But I have a branching hammer.

 

[20 20]

Looks much better now:

That 'thread' had broken off, there's still a small length of it, but the hammer as a whole looks much better.

 

[Fluff]

Since it broke away, I would say it was expelling wastes.
It's a beautiful coral.

 

[20 20]

OK, this is getting wierd. Look at it now:

Is this normal behavior for a hammer?

 

[seve1]

My hammer will do that some nights and some not as much. I would say not to cause for concern if that is the case. Mine also puts out feeder tentacles about 5 inches long when fully extended.

 

[Fluff]

They will do that sometimes. The only thing that looks concerning is the brown spot in the second rib from the left. Kinda likes like brown jelly. Is this just the photo? Try blowing it away gently with a baster. If it is brown jelly you may loose that part of the coral. I've never had a ridge type hammer, only branching ones and they are much easier since you can just cut off the bad branch. If your forced to frag that part off, be sure you get a clean cut (dremel tool works well), pristine water and moderate water flow to that area to help with healing.
Then again, it may just be nothing and just need to watch how it behaves. If it is brown jelly, that will spread pretty quickly.
You might be able to find something here to help you.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/carypropfaqs.htm

 

[melosu58]

What type fish do you have. You dont have any angels do you. I had a pretty hammer that was exibiting strange behavior and come to find out my keyhole was nipping at him. Just an idea. I have some hammers in my gallery. branching and regular

 

[20 20]

Nope, no angels. Just a false perc, and a bicolor 'psuedochromis', or however it's spelled.

 

[20 20]

Now it appears to be 'melting away' where that thread was coming out of:

Is there anything I can or should do, or should I just leave it alone?

 

[steve-s]

If there are signs of brown junk in the area, siphon it off very carefully using a small diameter airline hose. Keep it siphoned off every time you see it so it does not spread to the other heads. Be sure the coral is placed in a med flow area as well so it does not promote accumulation. Nothing strong enough to blow the polyps over but somewhat brisk.

Bring your alkalinity up some, closer to the 150-160 ppm area and allow the Ca to drop some closer to 410-415 ppm. Both will reduce the corals stress some. Check your LFS to see what vitamin additives they sell. Vita chem being the best for this type of situation. Add double the recommeneded dose directly to the tank every second day and be sure you remove any sorbant media/carbon for a short time.

You need to get those nitrates down as much as possible. Once bacteria sets in, it's "fuel for the fire" so to speak. Several large water changes over the next few days using well aged/aerated SW will help immensely. Check the chemitry before and after to be sure you stay on target.

How high up the the coral and do you have eggcrate on the tank or any other light difuser?

Cheers
Steve

 

[20 20]

I've been trying to raise the alk with baking soda, but it won't budge past 130. I've been adding about a teaspoon of baking soda per day, could I be adding more? The coral is about half way up the tank, in medium flow. The polys sway a decent amount, but aren't 'blown over'. No eggrate or light difuse, just a glass top. Water temp is 77 degrees.

 

[melosu58]

You`ll need something other than baking soda to raise your alk. Go to your LFS and see what he has for raising it to what Steve said. I use Kent`s Coral builder. But there are other products just as good. I believe you have Alk and PH mixed up on your post . Good luck

 

[20 20]

Yep, I screwed up in my last post, and meant to say "I've been trying to raise the alk with baking soda". Fixed that. PH is steady at 8.4. Just found a mg test kit, I'll check that level tonight.

Steve when you say 'large water change', approximately how 'large'? 25%? 50%?

 

[steve-s]

If your alk won't go beyond that level with adding that much baking soda, definately look at the Mg, most likely it is low. If the Ca maintains itself pretty much independantly or climbs without much in the way of additives then it's a sure bet. 1 tspn of baking soda should raise the alk to 170 calculating on 25 gal of actual water volume.

As far as the water change, minimum of 25%. A little more won't hurt at all as long as the water is allowed to mix with a powerhead and heated to the same as the main with a matching pH. Change it every other day for a week at least. Dose the Vita chem (liq vitamin) on the non water change days.

What does your newly mixed SW test at chemistry wise? With that many water changes, it should fix the problem just fine as long as it's not off.

Cheers
Steve

 

[20 20]

Magnesium tested at 270 ppm, real low. So low, I started a new thread just for that:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=64749

When I do water changes, I do premix, and let 'perculate' for a day with a powerhead and a heater. So, water changes, here I come. Looks like I'm gonna need to go buy some more salt! I've never tested the freshly mixed salt water, I'll do that with the next water change. That won't be until Friday or Saturday, unfortunately, I'm going out of town tomorrow until late Thursday night.

 

[steve-s]

Magnesium tested at 270 ppm, real low. So low, I started a new thread just for that:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=64749

Retest and if it comes out the same get the LFS to test your water. I seriously doubt it's an accurate reading. There is also the possibilty the kit is faulty/out of date. What brand of kit?

FWIW, you can test the newly mixed for Mg content as a comparison. As I said, as long as the saltmix is okay, the multple water chnages will repair your chemistry issues.

Cheers
Steve

 

[20 20]

It's a Salifert test kit, expiration date is 07-2008.