Duncan Flesh Receding??

Levib.Lenhart · Aug 17, 2020

Ive been struggling with this Duncan for quite some time now. It hasn't fully opened in roughly a month, this seemingly starting after I got new lights (ocean revive-ran at 30 blues, 8 whites). Now the flesh seems to be receding. It is placed near the middle of the tank, in a low flow area. Prior to the new lights, It was doing brilliantly, so is the new light too intense? Should I move the coral lower? And what can I do to improve the flesh and its health?
Params:
Temp: 78
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 35-40 according to an api test (yes that's high, did 20% water change 3 days ago but no drop as of today.. have a skimmer and chaeto fuge)
Mag: 1480
Calc: 490
currently do not have tests for alk, phos, or dkh..theyre sold out everywhere for some reason.

xxkenny90xx · Aug 17, 2020

Duncans are more sensitive then other lps to parameter fluctuations so you really need to test your Alk and phos. Are your Nitrates steady or have they recently shot up?
Anyways it's most likely the light so I'd move it to the bottom of the tank, maybe even give them a little bit of shade

Levib.Lenhart · Aug 19, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
Duncans are more sensitive then other lps to parameter fluctuations so you really need to test your Alk and phos. Are your Nitrates steady or have they recently shot up?
Anyways it's most likely the light so I'd move it to the bottom of the tank, maybe even give them a little bit of shade

Okay, I will look again for alk and phos tests. My nitrates have been fairly steady, I try to slowly lower them but they stay right around 35-40.
I did move the Duncan down lower yesterday, so hopefully that will help a bit.