Looking for a Hammer Coral expert....

[FishPharmD]

Hey all...

I got a fantastic looking electric green hammer coral at the LFS today. It has 2 "heads". I was wondering some stuff about it?

What's its scientific name?
Position in the tank? (high, med, low)
Will it eat DT's like the rest or does it need special diet?
High flow or low flow?
Fast grower or slow grower?
What temp does it prefer?

The tank has great specs, everything 0 except nitrate, <5ppm. VHO lighting, 2 x 110 watts, 1 Super Actinic R Blue, 1 Aquasun 10000K.

Thanks!!!

[FishPharmD]

One more thing....
I have some aquarium sealant (silicone), aquarium safe. Can I use that to glue the skeleton to my live rock? Wasn't sure if it would cure underwater or not. I don't have any special coral glue (if it's different stuff anyway....)

[Poseidon]

One more thing....
I have some aquarium sealant (silicone), aquarium safe. Can I use that to glue the skeleton to my live rock? Wasn't sure if it would cure underwater or not. I don't have any special coral glue (if it's different stuff anyway....)

YIKES!!! NO WAY!!!

Don't worry about gluing the skeleton to the rock, just wedge it in there.

As far as the Hammer itself, I would say with your lights put it about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down. I have one that I had under PC lights at the bottom of my 55, and now it is at the bottom of my tank under MH. They grow "steadily". I bought it with 2 heads, now it has 19!!! the thing is HUGE!!!... But I have had it nearly 6 years now too.



Sad thing is I never even fed the coral anything specific for the first couple years and it still did well. Now that I feed Cyclop Eeze and DT's EVERYTHING in my tank is growing so MUCH FASTER... Could be the Kalkwasser to though!!

I'd say that is a great coral to start out with, just take things slow, cause your tank is still new and not quite "stable" yet.

[Reefland]

The scientific name for the common Hammer Coral which has hammerlike polyp shape (Borneman) or a C is Euphyllia ancora. The branching Hammer Coral is a Euphyllia parancora.

Scott Z.

[FishPharmD]

Thanks for posting guys....Mike, that's exactly what mine looks like, except the edges are green and the "heads" are smaller...maybe like 30 polyps/head.

I've heard the word "DT's" used several times now. I'm thinking this is some kind of liquid unicellular organisms, maybe diatoms, for filter feeders to feed off of. What is it exactly, and what does DT's stand for?

I bought a bottle of "Reefscapes Live Phytoplankton" off of a sponsor's site...www.cheapcorals.com....it had good ratings and was a best seller....I bought a 16 oz. bottle of it and the directions say to turn off your skimmer for a few hours and give 3 capfuls daily, increasing dose up to 1 cup per day.....that's half a bottle, right? Can't be correct.....

Everything I've read about feeding corals and other filter feeders was like a couple times a week.....How should I feed this stuff? Anyone have any experience with it?

Another thing....no one answered my "water flow preference" question and temperature....my temp is 81*F

Thanks!

[bakana]

I would say moderate water flow is good. Mine does very well under that. My temp is 77, I personally think 81 is ok, but maybe a little high. The directions on that are not right. I feed mine cyclopese 2x/week and he is very happy with that. I have a 90 gallon and only put about a fingernail worth in there. Hope this helps

[Poseidon]

Mine is an area of "steady" flow, not fast not slow either. And it does really well there...

[FishPharmD]

I bought a bottle of "Reefscapes Live Phytoplankton" off of a sponsor's site...www.cheapcorals.com....it had good ratings and was a best seller....I bought a 16 oz. bottle of it and the directions say to turn off your skimmer for a few hours and give 3 capfuls daily, increasing dose up to 1 cup per day.....that's half a bottle, right? Can't be correct.....

Have you guys had any experience with this particular food? What do you think about it? Just wondering....