Toxic Splatter Frammer Coral

Toxic Splatter is a color morph of hammer coral (Euphyllia) whose heads carry green, yellow and pink flecking instead of a single tip color. Under blue-heavy light the pink reads strongest at the tips and the green through the body. How much of that you keep depends on your light and your nutrients: the same head looks different at 100 PAR than it does at 200.

This one has been in our Key West systems long enough to open fully and take food. Hammers are among the easier LPS to keep alive, which is a low bar. They are harder to keep colored. When a hammer goes brown it is usually too little light and too much nitrate, not disease.

Care. Moderate light and moderate, indirect flow. Aim for PAR 100 to 200 and keep the head out of a direct powerhead stream, because a hammer that stays retracted is almost always being blasted. Feed mysis or a meaty pellet two or three times a week. The sweeper tentacles extend several inches after dark and will sting whatever they reach, so leave room on every side.

Placement: Middle of the tank with gentle, indirect flow. Give 4-6 inches of clearance — sweeper tentacles can sting neighboring corals.