Hammer Coral Care Growth Feeding Dosing Flow Placement Saltwater Coral Reef Aquarium

This video is all about hammer coral care. I will talk through growth, dosing, feeding, flow, and placement requirements in order to maintain good health and maximize growth.

Water quality is also a huge aspect of health for hammer corals, so for this video I will assume you are starting with good water quality.

Growth - there are many factors that affect growth. I will be detailing each. They include water quality, dosing, feeding, flow, and placement.
*Note - the more heads you start with the faster growth you get.
- First example is my WWC Aussie Blue Gold Hammer. This was bought May 10th as 8 heads and I have seen a ton of growth. As of July 29th I have 17 heads.
- Second example is standard green with purple tips. Started with 3 heads 9 months ago now have 10 heads.
Third example is bright green tips. Started with 2 splitting heads 9 months ago and now have 8 heads.
- Last is bicolor grafted hammer. This one may not look like I have had a ton of growth but I have fragged it twice over the 8 months I have owned it.

Dosing - I dose 2 main additives. Polyp Lab One and Kent Coral-Vite.
- Polyp Lab One is a calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium supplement in one. Does the same as 2 part systems do.
- Kent Coral-Vite is an all around supplement that replenishes trace minerals and more.

Feeding
- Live phytoplankton. Great food for filter feeding corals and copepods.
- Polyp Booster provides amino acids that are great for corals and promotes color.
- Reef Roids is a great food for all types of corals. I do direct feed every head.

Flow - I utilize random flow so the corals get the benefits of high flow without the negative effects of constant high flow. My total tank flow ranges from 1100 - 2100 gph.

Placement - placement within the tank plays a huge role in health, growth, and growth patterns. I believe some of the more higher end hammer corals such as the golds and oranges flourish better in higher light, so I place them higher in the tank. Whereas some of the more standard green color hammer corals can flourish in lower light and a much wider range of flow and conditions.