Got a hammer coral by mistake. Need help.

[DEL 707]

I received a duncan coral late yesterday, however when the lights came on this morning, it became obvious it wasn't a duncan coral.
It's been ID as a hammer coral.

I have no idea how to care for the little guy, or whether the spot he's glued to is going to meet his needs.
I need some help.

This is the little guy.

And this is hit position in the tank.

Unfortunately he's glued to the only rock that is actually glued into place.
I did a par reading a while ago when I rented a unit. Where he is, he should be getting 200+ par.

As for flow, I took a quick video.



I appreciate any help.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would say try it and see how it goes, and move it if you need to. Don't worry about coral glue or putty, its very easy to break off.

 

[Bosreef]

I kinda need the story.

 

[Shirak]

Tank looks nice! Par may be a little high but maybe not. Depends how it was kept previously. Can move if need. Flow is fine. Nutrition I think is the main concern. Not a lot of fish bio load. Target feeding LPS food or chopped mysis a couple time a week would be helpful. You will need to give the shrimps and fish something too or they will steal from the coral. Keep an eye on the flesh band around the outside top of the coral. Euphyllia should have a noticeable band of healthy flesh. If it gets narrower and recedes towards the top of the skeleton there is a problem.

 

[armyvetheather]

Looks to me pretty happy and that's really half the battle with coral. As long as it's out and not getting beat too much by the flow, you should be good to go.

 

[Dom]

Typically, Hammer corals do well in low light and flow. But I wouldn't worry about the current position. Just monitor.

 

[Trave]

Tank looks nice! Par may be a little high but maybe not. Depends how it was kept previously. Can move if need. Flow is fine. Nutrition I think is the main concern. Not a lot of fish bio load. Target feeding LPS food or chopped mysis a couple time a week would be helpful. You will need to give the shrimps and fish something too or they will steal from the coral. Keep an eye on the flesh band around the outside top of the coral. Euphyllia should have a noticeable band of healthy flesh. If it gets narrower and recedes towards the top of the skeleton there is a problem.

That's correct.

 

[DEL 707]

Thanks for all the replies.

I kinda need the story.

Not much to say, ordered some zoas and a duncan coral.
All turned up yesterday, all shriveled up. Never had a duncan before or a hammer, so no idea what they were meant to look like when they're in that state. So thought it was a duncan and put it into the tank.
Noticed my error this morning when the lights came on.

Target feeding LPS food or chopped mysis a couple time a week would be helpful. You will need to give the shrimps and fish something too or they will steal from the coral.

I have no idea about how to feed this coral.
For the longest time I only had some GSP in the tank. The zoas are very new.
At the moment, I dose Reef-Roids and Red Sea Reef Energy Plus once I week.
I also add 5 species phytoplankton a few times a week.

 

[Shirak]

Thanks for all the replies.



Not much to say, ordered some zoas and a duncan coral.
All turned up yesterday, all shriveled up. Never had a duncan before or a hammer, so no idea what they were meant to look like when they're in that state. So thought it was a duncan and put it into the tank.
Noticed my error this morning when the lights came on.



I have no idea about how to feed this coral.
For the longest time I only had some GSP in the tank. The zoas are very new.
At the moment, I dose Reef-Roids and Red Sea Reef Energy Plus once I week.
I also add 5 species phytoplankton a few times a week.

Sinking fish food pellets will work too if they are not too big... 1mm size or so. Soak them in a little tank water to hydrate and get a long acrylic pipette to squirt a few pellets onto the hammer when it is out.

 

[DEL 707]

I decided to move it further down to get it away from the light.
I made a right pigs ear out of it. The glue was really strong. I got a screwdriver underneath but the hammer pinged off into my hand damaging it.

I feel terrible for hurting the poor bugger. I know he was a bit of a suprise, but I hope he recovers.

 

[mdpitts]

I'm not an expert but I recently received purchased a couple of hammers myself and also have duncans. In my very humble experience my hammers don't seem to care about eating frozen mysis or any other fish food. I use a turkey baster to feed thawed mysis to the corals who seem to want to grab and eat it but my euphyllia never seem to care. Duncans will grab it sometimes. If you are wafting Reef Roids, phytotoplankton and Reef Energy around then I'd think you are nailing it (I do the same). And some people with beautiful corals never directly feed. As far as knocking the little guy around a little - I guess just keep an eye on him. When I see a coral getting a little damage I sometimes dip in Seachem Reef Dip for the iodine benefits but I think your guy has had a rough time lately and would probably be happier if left along. And that brings me right up to this last point - I have found that the less I try to "fix" things in my tank - the better off everything is. I have a hard time with that. I also have a feeling that some corals are survivors and some give up too easy.

 

[Tamberav]

Care is similar to a Duncan tbh other than I would not try and feed it.

It’s better not to fiddle around with corals too much. Extra stress and as you found out, potential accidents to happen.

 

[BryanM]

yeah, I would just steer clear of it for now.

I received a hammer that had its base broken clean off in the mail. Glued. it to a rock, and its thriving today.

 

[SandNRocks]

Some hammers will eat reef roids and similar stuff. I use a pipette to put some onto them like twice a week. Worth a try

 

[DEL 707]

He seems to have recovered a little bit.
I'll try some reef roids later.