what would eat a hammer coral?

[SkiCurtis]

I gave my daughters 7th grade science teacher a nice neon green hammer frag and he said the next day it looked like something has eaten it. what could eat it that would live in a reef tank? He did like this piece. i have donated lots of frags for his school tank and it looks much better with corals. and the kids are getting into much more now he says. he has no budget for this tank. its out of his pocket so I'm trying to hook that tank up!Any input would be great.

Thanks Curtis

[mrcoral.com]

What type of fish are in the tank? Curtis next time I see you I will give you a few frags for the School.

[flowerseller]

What type of fish are in the tank? Curtis next time I see you I will give you a few frags for the School.

Awesome MC.

Water quality will.

It might even just be tight on the skin giving it an "eaten" apperance.

[mogurnda]

Are there other LPS in the tank that are doing oK? Just wondering if it's predation or meltdown. "Looks eaten" could mean a lot of things; were there bite marks, or shredded flesh? I know it's hard when you didn't see it, but whatever info you have would help.

 

Possible predators include hitchhiking crabs, buttlerflies and angels to name some.

[Jan]

Brown jelly disease can go through a colony of frogspawn in one day especially if it is places in an area with low to no flow. Was there any brown gelatenous looking substance on any of the soft corals in that tank?

[Coral Hind]

It could have been caused by the coral being cut on its own septa. It could have been from stress which caused it to receded, to much water flow, or damaged while being delivered to school.

 

I would have your daughter's teacher send home a water sample to test for SG, alk, and nitrates.

[SkiCurtis]

Thanks for all the input and I'm going to email this thread to the teacher. And he maybe can make a coment.I'm trying to recruit him into the club. As always Mr. Coral you Rock!! :clap

[inglewood68]

This is the science teacher. All the other corals in the tank are doing well. The coral was looking great the day it came. Polyps really extended in the medium flow placement. It was a naked, clean white skeleton the next morning. Water conditions have been great. I did find a random molt of a crab claw that I did not recognize.

 

I would like to give great thanks to skurtis (Curtis) for his kindness and generosity. The difference in the tank has been beyond amazing. I love hearing students ask if I got any new coral and another say in a reasonable tone " Oh, this digitata is new and this chalice coral here."

[inglewood68]

Here is a picture of the aquarium. The only coral I had before were a couple of mushroom polyps and some green starburst. Thanks again to skicurtis!!! It would not have been possible without his help.

[WaterDog]

This is the science teacher. All the other corals in the tank are doing well. The coral was looking great the day it came. Polyps really extended in the medium flow placement. It was a naked, clean white skeleton the next morning. Water conditions have been great. I did find a random molt of a crab claw that I did not recognize.

 

I would like to give great thanks to skurtis (Curtis) for his kindness and generosity. The difference in the tank has been beyond amazing. I love hearing students ask if I got any new coral and another say in a reasonable tone " Oh, this digitata is new and this chalice coral here."

I dont know, but if you didn't recognize the crab molt, maybe a reef crab is eating the coral. I think theyre called Xanthids.