Another Hammer Coral Question...

[sillysidewinder]

So I got a piece of Hammer coral from Randy a while ago. Probably about 5-6 months ago. When I got it I was about 2-3 months into the hobby. For a while in my tank it wasn't doing so well because I was still beginning and getting the hang of things. Since then, I bought some more hammer from another manhattan reefs member which has been flourishing in my tank. Yesterday I counted and in the 2-3 months that I've had it, it has gone from 7 heads to a total of 19 heads. This thing is branching out in every direction! It's one of my favorite corals. My question is, how can I rehabilitate the other hammer that I got from Randy. It opens and closes daily just like it should. There are 4 heads currently that are still alive, however there's another 4 or 5 heads that are dead. Is there any way that I might be able to revive these other heads, or do I just have to wait for it to branch off with new ones?

 

[basiab]

Dead heads stay that way. Sometimes they aren't really totaly dead and can come back. But for the most part it needs to grow new ones like your other one. Each coral is unique and while one may like your setup and grow like crazy another similar one may not and may in fact deteriorate.
When it is different types of coral you can assume it is due to chemical warfare and the loser is slowly dying away.

 

[sillysidewinder]

yeah. im kind of just letting my big hammer grow over the palys that i dont want in there anymore. is that ok? i figured the hammer would just kill it over time

 

[James]

Yup, that is fine, unless you are the paly; in which case it probably sucks.