Hammer Coral with bubble like center

[clbarton]

I have a new bubble coral (got it 2 weeks ago) with 4 branches who is in pretty much perfect condition. But there is a swelling happening right in the middle of two of the branches - it looks like a bubble that could pop at any second. I am a bit concerned because I have never seen anything like it before. Is this normal? A condition? Should I correct it? Salinity at 1021 and all levels are good. Calcium at 350. Thanks! :?

Any comments are very much appreciated.

[corrado170]

What color is the bubble? If it is green it is just bubble algae and you should try and remove it withough popping it. Will not really hurt anything though.


-ACAquatics

[Pineapple House]

I'm a bit confused. The Title is "Hammar coral with bubble like center," and then you say you have a bubble coral that has some swelling... oh well

Do you have any pictures of this? A picture would extremely help.

Also, does it look like there is any tissue loss? Or is it just the 'Bubble Like appearence?' Any recent changes, such as in lighting? Or current, or anything else that you can think of?

Sorry to answer your question with more questions, but to give you a proper answer, we need the propler specs. So:
1. What is your lighting?
2. How old is the tank?
3. What are the current inhabitats?
4. What is the nitrite, ammonia, pH, Nitrate, temp, etc?
5. What fish do you have?
6. Any corals placed near/next to the bubble?


I was thinking of more part of the corals tissue, but here's a picture of Bubble Algae, which is discribed above:
http://www.saltreef.com/images/pests/bth-valoniasmall2.jpg
By any chance is that what you were seeing?

PH =)

[phistio]

(slightly offtopic)

also...i just happened to notice that you're calcium is a tad bit low. as well your salinity is lower than most people prefer to keep their's at. i keep my calcium at about 430+, and my salinity at 1.0245

[RazerCorals]

I am confused you said you bought it so it is obviously a coral.

Is it a bubble coral or a hammer coral?

If it is a bubble how does it have 4 branches?

So now I am assuming it is a hammer coral with 4 different stalks.

In this case a bubble coming out of it is quite unusual.

What kind of lights do you have?

Do you feed?

[clbarton]

Thanks for all the responses, and sorry for the lack of clarity.

It is a Hammer Coral, I do not have any bubble coral. I just bought it about 2 weeks ago. What I see (unfortunately I cant get a pic at the moment, but will do my best to get one asap) is coming out of the very center of one of the branches is what appears to be clear bubble like flesh, filled with water?, that swells and shrinks throughout the day. It looks just like the coral is blowing clear bubble gum... There is no loss of flesh from what I can tell, the other branches are fine, but the tentacles are not very big.

I did a water change about 5 days ago, and since then the bubble has gotten bigger, but also shrinks back down. I noticed that after the water change, my salinity had dropped for about a day before I corrected it to 1020 and is now back at 1023. Could this be contributing? Here are the specs of the tank:

Tank is 6 months old.
125 Gallon w/ 25 gallon sump.
2 Metal Halides 175 Watts, 10,000 K
2 Blue actinic strips
PH 8.2
Nitrate, Nitirite, Ammonia 0
Calcium 350 (will raise to 450)
Salinity 1023 (will raise to 1024).
Temp 80

Additives:
Calcium Buffer System, Potassium iodode, Strotium chloride, Coral Vital, Phytoplankton every other day. No direct feeding to corals.

Livestock (all small)
1 yellow tang, 1 Hippo Tang, I blue chromis, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 sleeper goby, 2 clownfishes, 2 tiny firefish

1 green polyp coral (spreading like crazy), 1 mushroom coral (also spreading a lot), 1 brain coral, 1 tree/broccoli coral (growing like crazy), 1 hammer, 1 trumpet coral

[RazerCorals]

Off topic but you have a yellow watchman too yay! How big is it?

[clbarton]

My watchman is about 2 inches long, and definitely the entertainment of the tank. Makes me laugh every day! He is very happy now, but initally wouldn't stop jumping into the spill box.

[RazerCorals]

It's cause of your tangs, mines about the same size. When I had my small Kole my watchman would jump a lot. Now that Kole has passed on his does whatever he wants.

[clbarton]

Do you think maybe it could be some sort of reproduction? I see no other signs of sickness or disintegration. Hmmmm.....

[Chryocon]

it could be a form of reproduction, but then again it could just as easily be a parasite that lives with the coral or a type of algea....

[deathsauce]

i have green bubble algea. is that bad? what is it?

[Chryocon]

it is bad but be carfull removing it....I have little to no experience with it but when I did have it I romeved the sand and/or rock(s) that it was on and washed them in freshwater and manually removed it....for most this is not an option...on a side note, popping them will send there spores EVERYWHERE in your tank

[phistio]

the green bubble algae is Valonia...

i'll be honest and say i have some valonia in my tank...but it doesn't bother me much...i don't try and remove it.

[Pineapple House]

If you pop it, it will spray C02 (Carbon Dioxide) everywhere, as well as many more spores to reproduce. They can grow to very large sizes (the bigest i've seen if the size of a large golf ball), which sometimes can be harmfull. When they're the size of small grapes, you can take a pair of tweezers, and gently pick them off. Then you can have fun poping them outside the tank :wink:

But generally, they're harmless. I find them ugly, who would want small green marbles growing in your tank?

Graham =)

[ScubaDiver]

Okay, so a follow-up to the "bubble" coming out of the hammer coral.....

Turns out the hammer was splitting into two seperate branches, as in propogation through division. Pretty amazing to observe! What was four branches is now 5.

Now the hammer is getting bigger, and there are also 2 new branches forming off two of the stems.

:D

[phistio]

awesome...i don't know why it didn't occur to my in the first place...

nice!!! :D

[pete_ra]

phistio, why do u keep your salinity at 1.0245, that seems too high, but it depends on your critters. Do you inhabitants like it? please list me your inhabitants

[phistio]

natural sea water is 1.024 to 1.025...all of my inhabitants seem quite pleased. i'd venture to poll that the majority of this board keeps their reef tank at 1.024 or around there.

more over, i keep my salinity at 33ppm regardless of specific gravity.

[pete_ra]

that is new news to me, my lfs says they keep it at 1.020, but im a 1.022, i have a yellow tang, hawk, clown, condy, brain, various shrooms, would they like this condition better?

[Goggles]

Pete_ra the lower specific gravity is okay for your fish. Its one of the ways to help prevent ick on your tangs, along with a warmer temperature IIRC. I'm not sure how it affects corals though.

[phistio]

a lot of times LFS keep their salinity a bit lower. couple of reasons...one being cost, less salt, less money, and easier to maintain. two, most fish can stay "healthier" in terms of not transfering pathogens from one carrier to another in water with a lower specific gravity. there is a lot of stress in LFS water...consider a "time bomb" waiting to go of...so it's somewhat a preventive measure.

when salinity is more close to natural levels, fish can live longer.

also, in the world there are a few places where salinity is different. your hawkfish (if a red sea species) is more used to living in a specific gravity of about 1.030. but there are many places in the reef of the open ocean where species can not tollerate a swing of .01...that's how stable a natural reef is.

do some research, and decide what specific gravity is best for you...