Duncan tentacles short..

[RacingTiger03]

I've had a duncan in my tank for a couple months, and the last 2-3 weeks its tentacles have become very short (not like before when they were 1-2"). Now my duncans just look like oversized zoas lol. Does anyone know what determines tentacle length of these guys so I can get them back up to the 1-2" range? Everything else in the tank is doing great including my RBTA *shrug*.. and the duncans appear to still be doing great other than that. Good coloration and eating well.

 

[subielover]

Have you changed anything? Lighting, flow, dosing, salt, etc?

 

[Dylan]

Have you been feeding it alot more?

 

[RacingTiger03]

same salts, I did add one 22watt T5 bulb... I have started dosing limewater to keep things stable. I have been feeding it less as well. Just two days ago I moved it to a higher flow area of the tank hoping that may encourage tentacle expansion (similiar to zoas) and so far no luck with that, but i plan on giving it a week of that.
The second reason I moved it is about 24" away I added a stylo to the tank, and thought it may be battling a bit with the duncan. though the duncan was downstream from the stylo, and I run carbon due to a RBTA in the tank i don't think that is very likely...
thanks for the quick responses guys!

 

[RacingTiger03]

Anyone have some advice on how to get the longer tentacles back? Should I start feeding it more often again? Take the additional light back off?

 

[subielover]

I would leave it alone and let it adjust.

 

[BlazinNano]

My Duncan acts up every so often. i have had it for over a year and sometimes it will only open half way. Just leave it alone and it should go back to normal.

 

[RacingTiger03]

I really have to learn to work on my patience when things aren't how I like lol. I guess I was just worried that it may be getting attacked by my stylopora. Hopefully it will get back to normal length before too long :)

 

[subielover]

Yup, that is one of the biggest/hardest things to do in this hobby, that is keeping our hands out of the tank.

 

[650-IS350]

mine is only high flow growing really fast but short tentacles.

 

[BlazinNano]

I really have to learn to work on my patience when things aren't how I like lol. I guess I was just worried that it may be getting attacked by my stylopora. Hopefully it will get back to normal length before too long :)

They are tuff. I had chalice frag land on mine and took out 3 head completely. Within a month they where growing back. My duncans where the very first coral I ever got over a year ago. They have been in three different tanks, me learning about the hobby and they are still alive. My duncans and my frogspawn are the only things I have left from the begaining.

 

[wicked demon]

They are very sensitive to light change, mine shorten the tentacles every time I change the bulbs, then take a month or two to get longer again. Also I have seen phosphate issues cause the same thing, it seems to be a reaction to somwhat moderate changes in environment, and they will stay that way till you get the conditions corrected and stable for a while.

 

[110reef]

I have started dosing limewater to keep things stable.

Are you sure that this is making things more "stable"? When I dosed limewater, it caused my tank to swing wildly (due to the way I dosed it primarily) All I am saying is be careful dosing, it can hurt more than it helps sometimes. I eventually got a calcium reactor which has helped me keep my tank infinitely more stable than when I was dosing!

 

[RacingTiger03]

Are you sure that this is making things more "stable"? When I dosed limewater, it caused my tank to swing wildly (due to the way I dosed it primarily) All I am saying is be careful dosing, it can hurt more than it helps sometimes. I eventually got a calcium reactor which has helped me keep my tank infinitely more stable than when I was dosing!

Pretty sureit is staying more stable... I've been really careful about how I dose. Less than a 2 liter a week and still doing weekly 20% wc. My corraline and coral growth have really taken off since dosing and my parameters are much better than before. I had a hard time keeping my alk high enuf.