deadly hammer head coral?

[naomi]

hi guys

i bought a hammer head coral the other day and my lfs said i would be ok in a nano tank,but i've been doing some research on it 2night and have read that it can extend its sweeper tenticals to 6 inches at night stinging and killing corals!! Is this true and if it is shall i cut my losses and sell it on or wait and see what happens?
thanks nay

 

[shaggydoo541]

My hammer has never sent out sweepers. If anything gets touched by its normal tentacles, though, there will be some definite stinging. My hammer actually shrinks significantly at night. I have the branching variety.

 

[sadielynn]

Yes they can send out sweeper tentacles but if placed on an opposite side you may be ok, what size tank do you have ?They do have the potential to kill other corals , keep a close eye on it and watch for signs of stung corals. I think you might be ok others here have kept them no problem maybe they will have some input due to the holiday you may not get an answer right away do use the search tool above and search hammer and read up on it

 

[incysor]

I've never seen a sweeper tentacle extend longer than two inches or so from the main body of the colony. This is a coral with a potent sting however.

B

 

[naomi]

my tank is 10 gallons so its about a foot but i don't really have anywhere it could go with out it reaching other corals, do you think i should sell it on?

 

[sadielynn]

I would keep it and watch it for signs of agression

 

[Jonddk]

Keep it in lower flow. Sweeper tentacles tend to develop when they are in higher flow areas. Maybe you could dedicate one side of your nano to LPS. Torch, Frogspawn and Hammer corals usually get along well without stinging each other.

 

[9O0cReef]

i have branching hammers as well and they dont really have any sweepers at all. I would keep it for now. Just try your best to keep other corals atleas 2 inches or so from it for the time being. When it grows you may have to re-arrange or sell the hammer. You should be fine for now in my opinion. Good Luck

 

[naomi]

i kept it away from all of my other corals and it was doing good and not stinging other corals,but a week ago i noticed some tissue regression and know its dead :cry: i don't no what happened!!!

 

[sadielynn]

Try to keep the flow high to it and see you may need to frag the dead skeleton off but it may not be totally lost . Hopefully incysor or john will have some input for you :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

hard to say without tank parameters and specifics - but yea i would do as sadie said and keep it in the tank with a somewhat high flow cuz only a small amount of tissue needs to survive for it to come back. i would need more info to attempt an answer to why