# hammer head coral



## binhle (Sep 19, 2011)

Got this beauty on the weekend. Just wanted to share, cheap $80 camera not showing all the great color of this thing. Anyone know if I should feed it anything? Also pictured is this "mushroom thingy" that I've had for almost a year now, it'll be nice to know what to call it.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

looks like a hairy mushroom , but ill leave it to the true experts to truly ID it


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Nice hammer coral. I have a similar one and it doesn't require feeding. I think the other one is a toadstool leather, _Sarcophyton sp_. My clowns like to try to get in the way when I'm taking photos of the corals too... they love the limelight, don't they?


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

"It will benefit from additional food fed weekly in the form of micro-plankton or brine shrimp".

Please Use google Before taking Everyones word for it.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+485&pcatid=485


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Yeah I spot feed mine twice a week of mysis/brine shrimp and since I started doing that I've noticed 12 new heads starting to grow rapidly. Just make sure your pumps and powerheads are off when you feed.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

4 new heads in a little over a month for me.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Yup, you are both right. I was wrong. I don't spot feed mine often at all and it has been steadily growing, but not nearly as quickly as yours are (mine's doubled it's size from 3 heads to about 7 heads in about 8 months). I suspect it does get some food when I spot-feed my other corals, because the food disperses in the tank at that time. After a bit more reading today though I totally agree that they can not get 100% of their energy needs from photosynthesis and do require some food. This is also the joy of google searches, you sometimes get contradictory information. The best way to know all the requirements of your critters is to have a good book on hand, and supplement that with all the google searches you have time for.

Very sorry for the misinformation in my previous post . I was all excited because I knew the name of your soft coral and wanted to share


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

JulieFish said:


> Yup, you are both right. I was wrong. I don't spot feed mine often at all and it has been steadily growing, but not nearly as quickly as yours are (mine's doubled it's size from 3 heads to about 7 heads in about 8 months). I suspect it does get some food when I spot-feed my other corals, because the food disperses in the tank at that time. After a bit more reading today though I totally agree that they can not get 100% of their energy needs from photosynthesis and do require some food. This is also the joy of google searches, you sometimes get contradictory information. The best way to know all the requirements of your critters is to have a good book on hand, and supplement that with all the google searches you have time for.
> 
> Very sorry for the misinformation in my previous post . I was all excited because I knew the name of your soft coral and wanted to share


Haha...always a good feeling when you know what the coral is right?

Julie, start spot feeding it and you'll notice very fast growth with it. I feed mine about a half a cube twice a week and it eats the whole thing.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

I have to beat my Tangs off mine when im feeding..... Those Bastards


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

altcharacter said:


> Haha...always a good feeling when you know what the coral is right?
> 
> Julie, start spot feeding it and you'll notice very fast growth with it. I feed mine about a half a cube twice a week and it eats the whole thing.


Definately a good feeling to know something!

I like fast growth but my tank is getting too small as my corals get larger. I need a bigger tank!


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Always go big... This way you dont always have to sell corals... Im greedy and like to keep them as long as i can before trading them off.


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## binhle (Sep 19, 2011)

Will try spot feeding this weekend, might have to beat off the ever hungry clowns with a stick. Is mysis shrimps ok?


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

The corel Will tell you what food it likes.

When spot feeding Dont blow the food too hard on the hammer... You might cause it to retract.


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## SourGummy (Apr 29, 2011)

i feed them with grocery store frozen live shrimp about once a week.. from 3 heads to 21 in about half a yr. But my blood shrimp loves to take food them, so need to give it a big chunk of the meat before feeding my coral


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