Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

LPS, SPS and all coral chat
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foxley
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2024 5:05 am

Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by foxley »

New to Corals. I recently picked up a couple of Australian Hammer Corals. One went into my wife's tank, the other into mine. Her tank's been having some cyano issues, so we decided to move hers into mine for now.

Looking at the photos, you'll notice the one on the left doesn't really have that classic hammer shape. I'm also noticing some color loss during the day, but under the evening lights, they're this vibrant green with purplish tips.

I'm running Reef Breeders Photon 32 lights. Any advice would be great - I'm still figuring things out.
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foxley
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Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2024 5:05 am

Re: Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by foxley »

Ugh, huge photos - my apologies. Imgur's being a pain, and we're on a break right now.
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craftonix
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Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2024 1:23 pm

Re: Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by craftonix »

Honestly, I think they both resemble hammers. What's their placement in the tank - are they situated near the top or lower down? In my experience, they tend to thrive in lower light conditions and reduced flow.
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axonify
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:03 pm

Re: Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by axonify »

My ATI 4 bulb unit has been working out great for my hammer. I've got it positioned just a bit below halfway up, seems to be the sweet spot. Six bulbs can be pretty intense for LPS, so I try to keep it in mind.
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fleeton
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Re: Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by fleeton »

Axonify, what's your ATI bulb setup - 2 Coral Plus and 2 Blue Plus? Your corals do seem to really stand out under those ATI bulbs.
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axonify
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Re: Identifying hammer coral and possible bleaching

Post by axonify »

I've got 2 Blue+, 1 Purple+, and 1 Coral+ in my ATI setup. I've also added 72w of RB LEDs I built myself, mounted directly to the fixture.
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