Duncan coral help needed (UPDATE possible emergency!!!)

wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Hey all,
So I've had this little Duncan coral frag in my tank for over a week now and it still has not fully opened. It currently has 2 heads. The head at the top of the stalk seems to open fully but does not extend its tentacles, and the head at the bottom only usually opens halfway and remains "crescent moon" shaped, btu sometimes I've seen it open like the top head (fully open but with stubby tentacles).
When I've fist got it I had it towards the front of the ank so I could see it better, but then I heard that Duncans prefer to not be in direct light, so I moved it to the back under some shade from a cave, and it seemed to get a little better, but still not 100% better.
It has responded to my target feeding. That seems to help also, but after being "more" open for a few hours after being target fed it will shrink up again.
All other corals in the tank are fully open and seem to be doing great, and they would fully open within hours of being placed in my tank.
Last time I tested my water, my PH was 8.3, Ammo and Nitrite were both at 0, Nitrate was between 15-20 (but I did a WC and brought that down to 5 2 days ago), and my calcium was reading at 430. But, regarding the Nitrate, the test was done using an API test kit so since for some reason they read nitrate higher then they should I'm going to assume that 15-20 reading I was getting was halved.... so at the most I believe my nitrates were really at 10ppm before I did my WC.
Also, since atm I'm only testing using whats in the the API saltwater master kit, plus calcium, is there else anything you'd recommend I'd start testing for starting today? Could it be possible that maybe there isn't enough iodine or magnesium in the tank... and maybe the Duncan is sensitive to that and the other corals not so much?
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks!
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Ha! My Duncan must be psychic... an hour or so after I posted this it opened up fully... both heads lol. The tentacles are more extended than I've ever seen them but they were longer when it was at the store still... but atleast some progress is being made! ;)
Anyway, I just tested the water again a few minutes ago and the only thing I could see that wasn't perfect was my PH, which was at 8.0, so I just put in some buffer and my SG was at 1.022 so to bring it up I'm going to top off my evaporated water with saltwater instead of RO water until the SG gets back up to 1.024 where I like it.
Is it possible that these could have been a factor to my Duncan being shy all week?
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Ok well I just came back from a 2 week trip and now the duncan is completely closed. I haven't tested the water yet (except for calcium) but I plan on doing 2 50% water changes over the next week to make up for me being gone. If the water changes don't cause the coral to open, what else should I try?
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///t/387222/duncan-coral-help-needed#post_3411838
Did your lights have their usual cycle while you were away?
Yeah. I've instructed my uncle, who lives at the house with us, when to turn on/off the lights and he says he did it exactly like I asked him too.
But uh oh, I think I just made things worse... just now in my attempt to place the coral in a spot I think it would be most happy I somehow managed to break it off its base!!!

From what I can tell, there is no structural damage to the coral, its just now off the plastic base it was stuck too. Now I need to know will the coral survive? If I can now just place it a crevise in the rocks will it eventually naturally adhere to one of the rocks assuming nothing knocks it down? If the coral is fine without the base, I think I can place it in a better place without that stupid base getting in the way.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
id stick it in the sand or in a crack between rocks or something! Be gentle though as the stalk is part of the coral! You can put duncans in the dark and they will grow as long as u feed em! By dark i mean the most shady spot lol! ....
also med-low flow for right now might not be a bad idea! Id test ur trates again! Phosphate would be another to check out! Coral dont like trates man! Nor phosphates!
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Ok well I put it in a shady spot between a couple of rocks last night. It fits there now that the base is gone. This morning it was opened just enough that I can target feed it. Now that its fed, it is opening up a little bit more.
Hopefully as long as it stays in this new spot and I keep target feeding it, it will open up fully soon.
Dang this duncan is the most termpermental coral I have atm!
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
sg is kind of low 1.026 would be better also what your alk reading and retest nitrates a few days after wc to see if you still have high readings.If you dont trust your test kit take it to an lfs and have your test kit confirmed
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by IBEW41 http:///t/387222/duncan-coral-help-needed-update-possible-emergency#post_3413158
sg is kind of low 1.026 would be better also what your alk reading and retest nitrates a few days after wc to see if you still have high readings.If you dont trust your test kit take it to an lfs and have your test kit confirmed
Yeah I haven't tested my water since I came back from my trip but I did do 2 50% water changes since then so I figured if there was anything wrong in the water the water changes would have taken care of it. The Duncan is still a lil shy so it look like I'll do all my testing today.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
My Duncans have been one of my hardiest corals. It doesn't like too much flow or too much light. It does like to be fed. I'd say medium light, low flow and some targeted feeding until it really settles in is the way to go.
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Well I tested my water a couple of days ago and everything seems to be at their acceptable levels except my SG is a little low, which I am gradually bringing up by replacing evaporated saltwater with more saltwater instead of RO water. The Duncan seems to be doing a lot better... in fact, I've noticed a 3rd head form (with tentacles and all) and 2 more heads on their way!
But yeah, it seems to like to be semi-shaded and where the flow is at its lowest in my tank.
 
R

rawdog

Guest
I sort of have/had the same problem , My Duncan was open then stayed closed for a bit and the swelled up like a balloon on top head (2 headed frag exactly like yours ) Then went back in for awhile . Now I've had this coral for a month now and moved 3 times to try to alleviate the problem . It's latest spot is up a little higher in the tank and in direct light with a nice swirl of flow around it .It has open up on the main head and the smaller head still doing the crescent moon as you described . Now today I spotted a long thin string tentacle coming out of all heads from their mouths(main head about 8"s long /secondary about 3"s long and I noticed a 1 string about a 1/2 " long on side of Duncan coming out also ) Yay..it's growing a 3 rd head based on the fact this tentacle only came out of their mouths) I did a target feeding and the tentacles went away a few minutes later .I only have one other coral about a foot away in tank Xenia Pom Pom .I am not sure if Duncan was threatened in some way , but they aren't supposed to have stinging tent's.Well sorry to get of track , but as long as it is still opening up and shows no sign of die off you will find its happy spot , noticed mine is a bit picky but real hardy .
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Actually now my duncan is doing pretty well. Its been quite a while sonce it was closed, and that only because my hand bumped it while I was moving around some rock. In fact, it even went from a 2 head frag to a 5 head frag over the last few weeks! :-D
I think the trick was magnesium. Ever since I started adding that along with my calcium, my duncan, acan, and elegance pieces really started to react positively.
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tur4k http:///t/387222/duncan-coral-help-needed-update-possible-emergency#post_3413653
My Duncans have been one of my hardiest corals. It doesn't like too much flow or too much light. It does like to be fed. I'd say medium light, low flow and some targeted feeding until it really settles in is the way to go.
This! Also they seem to have a bad temper
I have noticed if a fish swims too close or touches my duncans they will close for a couple days etc. I would worrie
 
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