Something Destroyed my Hammer

Just1MoreTank · 10/08/2021, 07:07 AM

Ok, (hammer hybrid). I woke up yesterday morning to this. Essentially half of the coral is just gone. I can't tell if it was stung and melted, or if something munched on it. It's been moved to a quarantine tank. Anybody have any idea? Up until this point, the coral was flourishing and my oldest tenured coral.

Vinny Kreyling · 10/08/2021, 09:57 AM

If 1 of the others near it was a torch then coral warfare.
Normally other Euphylia get along.

Just1MoreTank · 10/08/2021, 10:45 AM

Both of the torches I have are on the other side of the tank, only corals around this are other hammers and a couple Zoa's near the bottom. That's why I can't figure out if it's melted or not.

Timfish · 10/09/2021, 07:25 AM

If it's completely gone it sounds like a "brown jelly" infection which is generally a secondary infection. It's "possible" the zoas might have been the initial cause. It's also possible it had a problem when you got it, bacterial infections can remain hidden for a long time, and there was a subtle shift in conditions in your system that it just wasn't able to deal with.

Sk8r · 10/09/2021, 04:14 PM

Another possibility is a 'popped head'. THey do this when not happy with lighting, the smell wafting their way in the circulation from a 'hotter' rival, like a leather or torch, or when water quality is an issue, or when food is too scarce. Or when picked on by a fish. Or when shaded from the light by another head. THis is a survival mechanism. The popped head floats until it lodges and if it sticks in a favorable place, it can start to rebuild skeleton where it sits. Euphyllias (hammer, frog, torch) can all do this. I recovered a frog head and placed it in a shallow but inescapable glass bowl on the floor of the tank and it grew a respectable skeleton, becoming a new coral.

10/08/2021, 09:57 AM	#2
Vinny Kreyling Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 7,206	If 1 of the others near it was a torch then coral warfare. Normally other Euphylia get along. __________________ 250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.

10/09/2021, 07:25 AM	#4
Timfish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,985	If it's completely gone it sounds like a "brown jelly" infection which is generally a secondary infection. It's "possible" the zoas might have been the initial cause. It's also possible it had a problem when you got it, bacterial infections can remain hidden for a long time, and there was a subtle shift in conditions in your system that it just wasn't able to deal with. __________________ "Our crystal clear aquaria come nowhere close to the nutrient loads that swirl around natural reefs" Charles Delbeek

10/09/2021, 04:14 PM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Another possibility is a 'popped head'. THey do this when not happy with lighting, the smell wafting their way in the circulation from a 'hotter' rival, like a leather or torch, or when water quality is an issue, or when food is too scarce. Or when picked on by a fish. Or when shaded from the light by another head. THis is a survival mechanism. The popped head floats until it lodges and if it sticks in a favorable place, it can start to rebuild skeleton where it sits. Euphyllias (hammer, frog, torch) can all do this. I recovered a frog head and placed it in a shallow but inescapable glass bowl on the floor of the tank and it grew a respectable skeleton, becoming a new coral. __________________ 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%.

10/08/2021, 10:45 AM	#3
Just1MoreTank Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2021 Posts: 3	Both of the torches I have are on the other side of the tank, only corals around this are other hammers and a couple Zoa's near the bottom. That's why I can't figure out if it's melted or not.