Cracked Hammer skeleton?

[giulianom]

So I have a Hammer coral that fell off onto the sand, and it looks like it has a crack or a gap in the skeleton.



When I picked it up, one of the "blades" fell off, with a polyp attached.



The polyp still appears alive...

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Normal?



Also, my cleaner shrimp molted. 😁

 

[jennm]

I wouldn't say normal, but it will probably recover.

Brittle skeletons usually indicate a lack of calcium.

I remember getting in a colony, brought in by someone who was moving. I'd sold them the colony some years earlier. When they first bought their tank, they were meticulous about dosing and monitoring parameters and such.

After a few years, they got a bit lackadaisical about dosing and such. Everything continued to grow, but not as well.

When they brought the colony to me, I noticed that the oldest parts of the skeleton were very thick, and strong, but the newer growth, closest to the polyps, was very thin and brittle - I could break it off in my hands. It was really easy to tell what parts had grown when the tank was properly supplemented, and at what point they started to slack off.

In my experience, a skeleton shouldn't break that easily on a Euphyllia. If it's in a well maintained situation now, it will grow thicker and stronger.

And polyp damage happens - if it's minor, it will heal.

Jenn

 

[giulianom]

Thanks, Jenn.



I had it in a QT tank that got a little cold one night, and thought it might have weakened it a bit.



I don't have calcium/alk tests yet, but I do have a BRS dosing kit when I'm ready.

 

[bulkrate]

If it's cracked all the way through your can fuse the halves together below the polyp (say 1/4" from the end of the flesh) with superglue. Mainly to keep the flow from batting the fragments & tearing the coral's tissue any further.

Once the skeleton doesn't shift the coral SHOULD be able to secrete more and grow out from there. Feed it generously.

 

[giulianom]

Actually on closer look I think this skeleton is just malformed.



Close shots:

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I don't think superglue is necessary, as the gap is about 3mm..



The one sliver that broke off still has a live polyp, so maybe I can glue that to a plug or something.

 

[jennm]

Worth a try but a single polyp might be pretty fragile.

Skeletons are like bones, if they don't get enough calcium and magnesium, they grow very brittle.

Hard to tell much from your photo, but you probably haven't had it long enough to take credit/blame for its growth if it's a frag.

Jenn

 

[giulianom]

JennM;987297 wrote: Worth a try but a single polyp might be pretty fragile.

Skeletons are like bones, if they don't get enough calcium and magnesium, they grow very brittle.

Hard to tell much from your photo, but you probably haven't had it long enough to take credit/blame for its growth if it's a frag.

Jenn

Nope, only had it about a week or two.


On the other hand, a zoa frag I got at the Expo months back has heads that are almost as big as a nickel. So I'm happy about that.