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Duncan coral help


cota472

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so we have had this duncan for a couple months now and every day it has been big, open and full. i did a regular water change last week just the same as i always do and all of a sudden it is closed, it is partially opened in the mornings until the white light comes on then it closes completely. the only thing that changed that day besides the water was my LFS suggested instead of adding roti-feast, that i should add phyto-feast. i dont want anything to happen to my duncans they looked so good when they opened.

i ran a set of tests and the results are as follows

Nitrates - 20

Nitrites - 0

Ammonia - 0

High Range pH - 8.2

SG - 1.025 tested with a refractometer

i didnt test the calcium but last time i tested it, it was at 420, that was about a week ago

 

my GF took a water sample to the LFS and had them test phosphates and ALK, both were normal. they also ran an ammonia test but theirs came out 1.5 he tested the SG and it read 1.029.

 

after she came back i checked the calibration on my refractometer and it was off just a hair but not enough to be .004

i ran another ammonia test and it still came out 0

i use API tests, i have had this kit since i started my tank so about 5-6 months old (who knows how long it might have sat on the shelf) so my test could be old

 

any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated

 

here is a pic of them closed

102_1280.jpg

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How long has this been going on for? I have had my larger Duncan get stressed and stay shut for 3 or so days, then bounce back and be fine.

 

A smaller Duncan frag I got free was majorly cold in shipping and it took about 9 days to show me any signs of life, then another week or so before it opened fully....now it is growing like crazy!

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What type of water do you use? Store-bought or do you own your own RO/DI unit, when was the last time you changed the resin on the RO/DI etc?

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What type of water do you use? Store-bought or do you own your own RO/DI unit, when was the last time you changed the resin on the RO/DI etc?

 

I get the RO/DI from the LFS. But now that I think about it they mixed it with some other water, and they dont normally do that

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I get the RO/DI from the LFS. But now that I think about it they mixed it with some other water, and they dont normally do that

 

Lesson learned...get your own RO/DI unit...yes you can actually get stand alone units for a pretty decent price and get yourself a TDS meter...presto...no more unknown water worries....this lets you worry about one less thing...we reefers have enough to worry about already...good luck with the Duncan, I am thinking about getting an Aussie Duncan at the LFS so I am tagging along now...

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I'm having some Duncan problems myself.

 

My Duncan was doing great over the past month, it's grown from about 3/4" diameter to almost 2".

 

But I recently placed it near my Yuma and the Duncan's tentacles which are close to it have shriveled up. Looks like it got burned on one side.

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cota472: +1 on the water change, if water is suspect. Also, your Nitrates are a bit high - is this new or ongoing? I use API kits, though not perfect, they seem in the ballpark. With such diverse readings (you should have no Ammonia and SG of 1.029 seems high), can you find another LFS to test water?

 

DC84: Move the Duncans away from the Yuma. Ricordeas are semi-agressive and Yumas, I believe, are more so. They will sting and kill other corals that have contact. I had my Rics sting both a CandyCane and Zoa frag - each closed up when Ric grew large enough to touch them. I moved the frags away from Rics and they opened back up! Be careful with the Yuma.

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i stopped by the LFS that i got the water from and asked one of the other employees there about the warer and he said the water it was mixed with was just DI he said the duncans are almost bulletproof and they should pull through. they think it might be because of the amount of water i changed, 4 gallons.

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  • 1 month later...

its been a while and i was just wanting to give an update as to that happened with this.

 

the duncans are recovering and we have been able to get them to come out more lately. it appears to be a temp issue, my digital thermometer was reading 77 - 80 degrees, after setting up another tank for my GF and getting a new thermometer for hers we found out mine was off by almost 6 degrees. i have added a sunpod to my tank and purchased a new thermometer and now my temps stay between 75.6 and 78.4.

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its been a while and i was just wanting to give an update as to that happened with this.

 

the duncans are recovering and we have been able to get them to come out more lately. it appears to be a temp issue, my digital thermometer was reading 77 - 80 degrees, after setting up another tank for my GF and getting a new thermometer for hers we found out mine was off by almost 6 degrees. i have added a sunpod to my tank and purchased a new thermometer and now my temps stay between 75.6 and 78.4.

 

I'm no expert, but my Duncan does the same thing w/o any change I can find to params (and I've tested everything under the sun). Sometimes they just decide to close for a day or so...sometimes so tightly they are nothing but a cylinder...and the next day they'll be open and look like they are loving life. I think they're pretty hard to kill...just a bit flakey.

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I'm no expert, but my Duncan does the same thing w/o any change I can find to params (and I've tested everything under the sun). Sometimes they just decide to close for a day or so...sometimes so tightly they are nothing but a cylinder...and the next day they'll be open and look like they are loving life. I think they're pretty hard to kill...just a bit flakey.

 

I would completely agree with this. Happens once in a while with my Duncans, and then a few hours later or even a day or two later they look better than ever.

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  • 5 weeks later...
I would completely agree with this. Happens once in a while with my Duncans, and then a few hours later or even a day or two later they look better than ever.
Maybe you change to much water in one session and your coral got all shocked out. My Duncan are so hardy and grow like crazy. Just start spot feeding them Mysis until they belly full and they will grow you some babies LOL. Hardy coral.
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The Propagator

A good guess is an undissolved salt particle got snagged on a tentacle and they ate it.

Your LFS worker is correct though. They are frigging tanks ! They can really take a beating and bounce right back.

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