Hammer Coral Starter Care Guide
A practical introduction to hammer coral care, including health risks, water quality, tank setup, food and behaviour.
Use this guide to notice and organize information. Contact a qualified veterinarian for medical concerns or urgent change.
About the Hammer Coral
Hammer corals are large-polyp stony corals with fleshy tentacles shaped like anchors or hammers. Their living tissue sits over a sharp calcium-carbonate skeleton and can be torn by rough handling or excessive flow.
Aquarium-cultured frags are widely available. Branching and wall-form colonies grow differently, so identify the form before planning placement or fragging.
Health risks to know about
Important concerns include rapid tissue loss, brown-jelly-like infections, bleaching, salinity or alkalinity swings, skeleton exposure, pests, copper exposure and damage from nearby coral.
A polyp pulling tightly away from the skeleton, spreading brown mucus, rapid tissue recession, a gaping mouth or sudden bleaching needs immediate isolation-aware expert advice.
Tank, water and equipment
Use a mature, stable reef aquarium with low-to-moderate flow, suitable reef lighting and generous space around the colony for long stinging sweeper tentacles.
Measure salinity with a calibrated refractometer. A specific gravity around 1.023 to 1.026 is a common coral range, with alkalinity, calcium and magnesium monitored because the coral builds a skeleton.
Food and feeding
Lighting supports much of its nutrition, and appropriately sized coral pellets or small marine foods can be offered when feeding tentacles are extended.
Pause strong flow briefly if needed, feed modestly and remove rejected food.
Behaviour, tank mates and enrichment
Gentle inflation and swaying are normal. The tissue should move without being whipped against its own skeleton.
Hammer corals can sting neighbouring coral well beyond the visible colony, and some angelfish or butterflyfish may nip their fleshy polyps.
When to contact an aquatic veterinarian
Get help for gasping, collapse, severe wounds, major swelling, inability to stay upright, rapid unexplained deaths or a problem that continues after water parameters are corrected.
Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, temperature and salinity whenever behaviour changes. Water quality is part of the medical history, so record results before contacting an aquatic veterinarian.
Read the supporting material
These sources stay with their original publishers. WiseTails links to them and provides its own summary; it does not republish their text or images.
Supports the species-specific care summary for Hammer Coral.
Original source ↗02professional org · Ornamental Aquatic Trade AssociationHow to Test for Water Quality in a Marine Tank / AquariumSupports the aquarium cycling and water-quality context used in this guide.
Original source ↗