Hammer ID

[Adit0]

Got an aussie orange hammer from violet sea a few days ago. Does this look likes it's wall or branching?

 

[Patio]

I'd guess branching based on the two circular patterns shown in the top down picture.

 

[Coral reefer]

Does it look like the skeleton has been cut somewhere? I’d ask the store, they should know.

 

[Adit0]

Does it look like the skeleton has been cut somewhere? I’d ask the store, they should know.

It does... in the second pic the base you see is definitely a cut, however it doesn't look like the cut went through the heads themselves.

 

[NanoCrazed]

That's likely a wall...

 

[Patio]

Curious in learning here- Why do we think wall?

 

[Coral reefer]

You can see where it was fragged.

 

[NanoCrazed]

also... walls look more sqaurish vs round with branching. My orange branching hammer has stubby but distinguishable branching...

 

[Adit0]

I was thinking branching hammers probably come in colonies too that get fragged... my gut says it's a wall but it does kind of look like two different heads of polyps in the first pic.
The blue one next to the clownfish is a wall for reference

 

[NanoCrazed]

when I have a moment, I will piss off my orange hammer to grab a pic of the structure for you...

 

[Patio]

The blue one next to the clownfish is a wall for reference

Oh I thought it was just a different angle.

I haven't kept a wall hammer in at least 15 years so I am rusty on the polyp shaping of wall. Branching I have kept many more.

 

[Adit0]

Oh I thought it was just a different angle.

I haven't kept a wall hammer in at least 15 years so I am rusty on the polyp shaping of wall. Branching I have kept many more.

oops I meant the blue hammer next to the clownfish in the first pic (not the blue pic)

 

[NanoCrazed]

You can see distinct branches of thr branching orange hammer....when it's pissed off.

 

[Adit0]

You can see distinct branches of thr branching orange hammer....when it's pissed off.

View attachment 31004View attachment 31005

where'd you get those and how fast do they grow?

 

[NanoCrazed]

I got this a few years back from an importer on the east coast. End of Oct 2018,

I'd say it grows OK. But not fast... though, i lost all the original heads and regrew it to its present state from a lil polyp offshoot.

Here's a shot from when i orginally got it...

 

[NanoCrazed]

I should add that i don't feed my euphyllias. So they probably aren't growing as fast as they could...

 

[Kensington Reefer]

This has grown from a 3 head frag into this in 4 years. This tank gets (unfortunately) only pellets several times each day.
I does get decent light, semi regular 30% water changes with NSW, and plenty of flow

 

[NanoCrazed]

Going back through my journal, i guess the orange hammer grows fast enough after all. This was exactly 1 year ago....1.5 heads to start compared to 4+ today.

 

[Adit0]

I took this pic at night. It kind of looks like its splitting into two heads? Or do wall hammers also take on this kind of shape?

 

[Patio]

Cool follow up!
Are you able to take a top down pic when the lights are on? I am curious to know if there are now three circular growth patterns where there were only two in the first top down picture.