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Dendro Stretching


Minidoll

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I've had this Dendro Fistula for around 9 months. It was one head back when I bought it and it's now growing a third head. I feed it 2-3 times a week. My question is, why does it stretch like this? All the photos that I've seen of this coral are not showing long "necks" like mine. It does this for hours after it's been fed, also at night too. Is this normal? 

IMG_0263.JPG

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So I just fed both heads a little piece of raw table shrimp. I could see the food go down to the base (stomach?), it was pretty cool. Sure hope someone can chime in about the stretching. 

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Very interesting. Never seen dendro stretch. They don't need light or very little and they like moderate flow.

 

Is it in a high flow area that the flow may be causing the heads to raise and appear to stretch?

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They are in random moderate flow. They are mounted about a couple inches off the sand, under a Nanobox Duo. Wonder if they're getting too much light?? Being non-photosynthetic, would that matter? 

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Not sure they would stretch toward the light if it were getting too much, I would think it would try to shrink away from it. Maybe the flow is too much and it's stretching for a little less flow? Not real sure on this one. Though I'm no marine biologist. Just thought I'd throw my couple of cents in there... Just my thoughts. 

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Much appreciated to you both. I would think it would close up if too much flow or light like most corals do. It's a mystery!

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I've seen all types of nps coral in all different lighting situations and never saw them reach for anything.  If I had to guess lighting has nothing to do with it. 

Too high of flow, they should contract their fleshy bodies down, and that soft slippery flesh around the base of their skeletons would slough off.  It's very delicate and will actually come off on your fingers if you touch it too aggressively. 

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Just an uneducated thought...how big of food do you feed them?  Maybe they became accustomed to stretching around food items and it stretches like that when they want a feeding?

I must have missed the part about it doing this around feedings and at night  When they would normally be looking for food. 

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I really appreciate your help!

Not very large, mostly small mysis or a tiny piece of raw shrimp. I've tried turning down the flow with no change. I've blocked the light a bit just over the dendros by using a semi-transparent plastic container lid resting on my tank lid. No change. Occasionally they do close up but most of the time they are open and stretched, day or night. It's growing a third head so I guess it's happy. Looks weird though. 

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Harrisonbored

Interesting read

 

https://reefs.com/magazine/a-field-guide-to-the-sun-corals-164/

 

Not sure if this section applies to yours or not...

 

One name that is frequently misapplied to this species is D. fistula. It’s almost impossible to determine where misidentifications like this originate, but once an incorrect name gets used it tends to stick. Aquarium authors are a steady source of these misidentifications, and a recent article by Young (2013) is a fine example. He astutely recognized that D. fistula had been synonymized as Eguchipsammia fistula and published the “fathead dendro” under this new name. Thus was born a new and even more egregious misnomer. E. fistula is a deepwater species with colorless polyps and a unique twig-like colony shape that is unattached and lays half-buried in the muds of the ocean floor

 

 

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GregEmmitte

It looks like a flow issue. Either too much or not enough. I've got multiple dendros with growing new heads under a kessil A360we at 40% most of the day, and mine seem fine. It is most certainly true that plenty of NPS cannot handle a lot of light. Chili coral for example will seem to bake and shrivel and shed skin, potentially poisoning a tank. And I'm fairly certain blueberry tree doesn't like too much light as well. I would also think too much light would make a dendro shrivel up?

 

On 6/2/2017 at 0:32 AM, Clown79 said:

I'd put them in a more shaded area. They are nps.  They can handle light but moderate to low light is best.

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