Hammer coral disappearing help!

[hillegom]

I have had this branching hammer coral close to a year. Have not added anything to the aquarium since. Yesterday I noticed a head was missing. Like the whole head on one branch. Today, same thing. What is going on?
Something must be eating this LPS.
Does anyone know if maybe a hitchhiker crab or worm would eat LPS?
I have not seen any, just wondering. I never see the fish anywhere near to nibbling on it.
Another one of these mysteries. I am going to set up a trap tonight.

[reefwars]

not sure on your exact cause but i know for me branching hammers are 50/50 i find they cant be touched or it could die off or could take days to come back i have some that are doing awesome with huge growth while i have lost some off the same coral i had half a dozen heads and 4 are healthy and have doubled in size while the other two perished. i find they like the sand i tried in the rocks they werent doing good i put them in the sand and they are growing great could be just me though:)

[chris88]

nothing would eat the whole thing that fast, it sounds like brown jelly disease. Its pretty rapid and it will spread to connecting tissue. most torchs, frogs, and hammers are prone to it.

[Trabby]

We had a "peppermint shrimp" who was actually a camel shrimp. He ate and maintained aptaisia.. Ate with the fish daily. Then we noticed one day that our hammer coral was looking weird... Something was eating it.I moved it too late..We eventually caught him red hand handed eating the mouth of our plate coral..he left the tank shortly after. What type of shimp if any do you have in your tank?

[daniella3d]

You said you did not add anything for a year, then it is very unlikely that there has been something hiding in your liverock for all this time without harming something and without you noticing. Probably it got sick or dammaged and melted. I too suspect brown jelly disease. Do you have any pic?

I have had this branching hammer coral close to a year. Have not added anything to the aquarium since. Yesterday I noticed a head was missing. Like the whole head on one branch. Today, same thing. What is going on?
Something must be eating this LPS.
Does anyone know if maybe a hitchhiker crab or worm would eat LPS?
I have not seen any, just wondering. I never see the fish anywhere near to nibbling on it.
Another one of these mysteries. I am going to set up a trap tonight.

[hillegom]

No, no pics. no shrimps.
Awfully fast for brown jelly, one night. Don't see any brown nor jelly.
I just came home and noticed the other heads are not as fully open as usual.
Going to do a water change tonight, 10%.
The replacement water has been ready for 3 weeks, better get to it. Procrastination!!!

[hillegom]

Well, nothing else got eaten nor died.
Will have to wait and see.
Thanks for all the responses

[bvlester]

If you let your water changes go to long the water quality drops fast and this could lead to the deaths of corals SPS go first then LPS and lastly softies except a couple like poles and Athenian and zoes. This is what I have seen in some peoples tank in the past, you can not get lazy in this hobby. You can put a water change off for a few days or a week but not much longer. I some times push it and my zoes close up this tells me I have to do a water change now. I like the little zoes as they let me know a few things.

Bill

[hillegom]

bvlester, I will have to keep a closer eye to my timetable. I fully agree with keeping up with things to do, just a lot happening right now = no excuse!

after the WC
ph-8.2
Ca-300ppm
Alk-5.5dkh
Mg-1200
SG-1.0255
nitrate- less than 5
Will try to bring values up in the next few days, slowly

[reefwars]

calcium is way low should be in the mid 400's

[Bloodasp]

By disappearing do you mean the flesh is gone and skeleton pretty much exposed or like the whole head just disappeared?

[bvlester]

bvlester, I will have to keep a closer eye to my timetable. I fully agree with keeping up with things to do, just a lot happening right now = no excuse!

after the WC
ph-8.2
Ca-300ppm
Alk-5.5dkh
Mg-1200
SG-1.0255
nitrate- less than 5
Will try to bring values up in the next few days, slowly

Hi again been a bit since I had time to get on the board for more than a couple Min's.

since you just did a water change these readings do not help seems they were taken after you did the water change. but I would have to bet that there was ammonia that would have been readable before the water change and this could have been your problem (Because after a water change you still have readable nitrates.) Ca is low but would not be the cause of your problem. Your dkh could be a bit higher are you using a refractometer for your SG? Are you using a PH meter or test Kit. I just ask this because the refractometer and the PH meter are way more accurate. I do a test before I do a water change that way I know the true values before and after the water change. I also keep a log of all values I test for then I know when and how much some thing is out and if it is causing trouble. I can use it to diagnose a problem I use Excel to keep track and log test results.


Bill

[hillegom]

I use a refractometer for SG , a test kit for ph

The whole head (Times 2) is gone, two nights apart. Just the skeleton is left and 5 other heads. Of these 5 others, 3 are half size presently, but I just added some magnesium. I have added half of what I need so far.This has taken 1.5 days.