what is this white stuff growing on my hammer?

[Cheeser]

my hammer was looking good until about a week ago. im pretty sure its dying. theres just a small piece barely hanging on. i dont know what to do. theres like a white jelly or something growing on it.
what should i do?
ive also found like 4 nudibranches in my tank this past month.

 

[jesse]

i think it depends on the nudibranches because i had some that ate some of my corals but ppl say that some dont eat them. either way i wouldnt have them in my tank.

 

[little_fish]

The white stuff is actually newly exposed skeleton. Hammers are usually very tough corals, so if you can figure out what is bothering it they can make a come back. Can you list all of your water parameters and tank equipment?

 

[Bifferwine]

Brown jelly disease commonly affects LPS corals, but it's a brown jelly, not a white jelly. It looks like the white stuff is dead coral flesh. Have you seen any of the nudis on or near that coral?

 

[Cheeser]

my nitrates have been at or around 20.
ammonia at zero.
i think it may be phospates cuz i dont have a phosphate kit yet.
also could it be that my lights are too low?
i moved em up like 6 inches today. so ill see if that helps.

i have a 65 with like 75lbs of rock, coralife superskimmer modded, koralia fans...2 ecoray60s... 4 smaller fish.

 

[little_fish]

Did you acclimate your corals to the new lights? It looks like you have some super powered LED lights there.

However, high nitrates like you have can also cause issues

 

[Cheeser]

no i didnt acclimate to light. i started the hammer off lower and he was fine for a couple months. it didnt start til i moved him higher towards the top.

 

[little_fish]

how long have you had those lights?

I would put the hammer back down at the bottom right away.

 

[Cheeser]

ive had em like 3 0r 4 months

 

[Cheeser]

im pretty sure my hammers dead :(
theres no meat on him anymore.
all bone.

is there a chance he can come back from the dead?
and also...since he died in my tank will that have any kind of effect on my other corals?
i think moving my lights a little higher definitley helped. everything looks happier, even my fish. :)

 

[FishyReef]

If there is no tissue left on the skeleton, then it is likely dead completely. It shouldn't affect your other corals or fish since it sounds like it died from lighting rather than a pest or brown jelly (which could spread to your other corals if that's what killed it, but doesn't sound like that was the case).