Who Gives A Fish Forums

Just checked on my tank and noticed something weird on my hammer coral. Normally, when the light goes off, my LPS retracts a bit, but this time I saw some strange stuff.

Check out the pic - there are these green/tan/brown strings wrapped around the stalks of the hammer skeleton. They even have these little "flower-bud" things. No idea what they are. Didn't see them last night, but now that the tentacles are retracted, they're visible.

Water params all look good - did the tests today.

pH 7.8
amm 0
nitrate 20 (still working on it)
phosphate 0.1 or less (API)
magnesium 1250
calcium 400
alk 8
salinity 1.024

Anyone know what these things are? Good or bad?

Reminds me of some stressed-out clove polyps trying to encrust themselves on the hammer, possibly due to not getting enough light.

Yeah the little buds do resemble clove polyps, and those tan strings, I'm thinking maybe some type of tube worms, but would love to see some better pics to confirm.

I'm inclined to think the strings are actually the runners connecting the polyps. This is quite an intriguing situation. I'm going to take a guess that this coral was possibly acquired from another hobbyist, one who has a lot of experience with clove polyps? The fact that they're present on your hammer doesn't necessarily mean they'll cause harm, as long as the euphyllia remains healthy, the clove polyps shouldn't be able to outcompete it.

Reminds me of a spaghetti worm, those tan strings seem to be some sort of worm, maybe a type of tube worm.

Appreciate the reassurance, thanks everyone. I'll grab some better pics once the lights are back on and hopefully we can get a more definitive ID.