ORA Marshall Island Hammer Coral

Description

Hammer Corals are common corals that can be found all over the Indo-Pacific. There are generally two kinds of hammer corals: branching and wall hammers. Wall hammer coral is typically much harder to keep than branching hammer coral. They are more sensitive and easier to kill. With branching hammers, one dead polyp does not mean the whole colony will die. On the other hand, wall hammers are essentially one polyp. This means that if one section starts to decline, the whole colony usually follows suit. Fortunately, the hammers sold here are branching hammers. Hammer Corals can be placed in a wide range of aquarium conditions, but typically enjoy moderate lighting and flow. It is much easier to give a hammer Coral too much light than too little with today’s reef lighting. Putting hammer Corals in lower light may cause duller colors, but too high of light will cause bleaching. Hammer coral coloration is improved with higher lighting only to a certain extent. For flow, this coral should be given moderate, indirect, random flow. Do not “blast” this coral with flow. Instead, make sure its tentacles are swaying slowly in the water. Hammer Corals with proper flow extend fully and have a pulsing motion. Like most other corals, hammer Corals contain photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae. This algae provides the coral with needed nutrients. This is not a coral you should go out of your way to feed with pellets or powdered food. It is difficult for this coral to grab onto food and consume it, and even if it does, it tends to spit it out later anyway. It would be more beneficial to dose your aquarium with phytoplankton and ensure that your nutrient levels are in a good place. Ideally, your nitrates should be around 1-5 ppm and your phosphates should be just barely detectable. Your nutrients can be higher than that for this coral, but you may start to risk algae growth at that point. This coral is quite aggressive, sending out long sweeper tentacles to attack nearby corals. Be sure to provide plenty of room between this coral and others. You can place this hammer Coral near other hammer corals and frogspawn corals. You can safely create a sort of “Euphyllia garden” by doing this. Concerning temperature, as long as your aquarium is withing 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit and stable, you will not have issues in that respect. Make sure your other parameters are stable as well.

Care requirements

Purchase Size: 2″

Placement: You can place hammer Corals at all levels of your aquascape as long as it receives proper flow and lighting.

Lighting: Medium to high.

Flow: Moderate.

Parameters:  72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 32-35 ppt

Calcium: 350-450 ppm

Alkalinity: 8-12 dKH

Magnesium: 1,250-1,350 ppm

More Information

This strain of Hammer Coral is maricultured in the Marshall Islands. It has been cultured for many years, which means that it is easier for it to transition into a home aquarium than wild collected colonies. Maricultured corals are grown in the ocean offshore, but they are separate from real reefs and are not collected from real reefs either.