Hammer Coral

jarock

Reefing newb
Ok so i bought the one hammer coral i posted a pic of on friday in my bio on here. looked fine , yesterday half of it was sucked in didn't look right at all today a big chunk in the middle is dark brown and eaten away meaning its rotting/ dieing what would cause this so drastically with a hardy coral ? All my other corals are fine the other corals i have are star polyps finger leathers, acan, tongo mushroom, toadstool. any advice would help alot i paid 100$ for this coral :(
 
Does it look slimy and jelly-like?

If so, it sounds like brown jelly disease. This is a contagious disease that only affects LPS corals. No one really knows why corals get it, but it takes over very quickly. Usually by the time you see it, it's too late.

There is hope if you can break off the part that is infected, and do a coral dip on the remainder of the coral. But it can spread to the other LPS corals in your tank, so you need to do something about it ASAP.
 
Can you remove the part that is infected? If you do an iodine dip but leave the rotted coral in there, it won't do much good.
 
i am trying to find pics of brown jelly diease to see if thats what it is but it sure looke like brown jelly so i am assuming it is :(
 
Like this?

image006.jpg
 
From the pic in your showcase thread,it looks like a wall hammer.If it is,you'll have to make a complete,clean cut through the flesh of the head.That in itself is extremely risky.
If you have any Lugols Iodine,Mix 20 drops and a 1/2 gallon of tank water in a clean bowl.Then place the hammer in the solution for 20 minutes.After 20 minutes,remove the coral and place either back in the tank or in a hospital tank.
Good luck with it.
 
Yah yote it is a wall hammer that sounds really tricky for someone like myself who has never done that before :( i'm thinking i have a buddy in town who has been doing sw fish for 6 years maybe im better off getting him to try since he knows what he is doing, better to get a little then kill it all :(
 
It's not contagious to leathers, but it is to acans. It only affects LPS corals. You can't really do anything to treat the tank. There is no cure for brown jelly disease. The best you can do is just remove it from your system.
 
Well after thinking everything over i think i know why my coral started dieing drastically , kind of feel like a tool and i guess i am but this is why 1. i have never once ever tested alk or calcium since i have had my tank up 2. instant ocean salt which contains low amounts of calcium which means my hammer coral wasnt getting enough i wont know till tommarow forsure when my test kits arrive on the bus but i am pretty sure thats why. my acans are living so far (cross fingers) i got a alk and calcium booster coming as well in case my calcium is low but i am almost positive it probably is .When i test i will post wehat my tests were as well tommarow .oh and an update on the coral so far is doing not bad at my friends looking alot better.
 
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I highly doubt it. Hammer corals don't use a lot of calcium. Unless you have a lot of SPS corals in your tank, the few LPS corals that you have are not going to remove more calcium than the water changes put back in.

If your hammer did indeed have brown jelly disease, that has absolutely nothing to do with calcium.
 
No,no,low calcium and magnesium will not kill a hammer coral.Stunt its growth but not kill it.The cause is something else,perhaps maturity of the system.
 
Something to think about here.
If the LFS employee or yourself pinched the fleshy part of the polyp,that could have injured it enough to cause the brown jelly.
 
ok i did my tests tonight and this is what i got my calcium is 340, my alk is 6.4 i did an alk boost tonight to raise it would that what may have caused it the test kits i use is salifert
 
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