Tank raised Duncan help

[Mr. Stooge]

Good evening everyone! I need some help. I have a Tank raised Duncan I added about 2 weeks ago. The first week and a half it was doing great! But now it has been closed for about 4 days straight. I noticed that it partly opens at night when the lights turn deep blue and off. I moved it lower in the tank to see if it was the lighting and or flow but it still hasn't opened up. I also noticed that a 3rd head has begun to grow.. I have 4 zoas, 2 palythoas, 1 litho, a favia brain coral and a black dragon acro as who are all happy and open. I have a 32g BioCube with moderate flow. Water parameters are good! I was spot feeding it mysis shrimp before it closed as well. Dosing calcium and magnesium. And using 4ml of Reef Energy plus coral nutrition every other day. tank is 2 months old and has been cycled with turbo start. I also have a clown and a wrasse in the tank

 

[Mr. Stooge]

Here it is half open

 

[Lunardogz]

Alkilinity is too high and your magnesium is a little low. Try to keep the Alk at 8/9 and Mag 1300-1420. If you can bring down the temperature to 78, but 80 is fine.

 

[Lasse]

What do you measure PO4 with?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[35ppt]

Alk and Mg are fine IMO. I would suspect the lack of Po4 and No3.

 

[Mr. Stooge]

What do you measure PO4 with?

Sincerely Lasse

I'm measuring with the API saltwater test kit

 

[Mr. Stooge]

Alk and Mg are fine IMO. I would suspect the lack of Po4 and No3.

How would I increase those? I was under the impression that it is okay with those being at or near 0

 

[Lunardogz]

I'm measuring with the API saltwater test kit

I wouldn’t trust API test kit.

 

[Mikedawg]

First thing I would recommend is that you use more valid/reliable test kits like Salifert or Nyos, imho API is not useful. If you believe nitrate and phosphate need to be elevated after better testing, try feeding fish a little more.

 

[Lasse]

I do not know the API test - it is not available here in my country (Sweden). I use hanna checker for PO4 and Red Sea Pro nitrate test (or sometimes Saliferts nitrate test).

I do not know Duncans especially but most LPS need some nitrogen and phosphate in the water IME.

If you asked the reefer community 3 years ago about PO4 levels - you would have 99 % saying - zero or lower If you put the same question to the same community today - you will probably have the ration 50/50 between readable (above 0.04 ppm) and zero even for SPS

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Mr. Stooge]

First thing I would recommend is that you use more valid/reliable test kits like Salifert or Nyos, imho API is not useful. If you believe nitrate and phosphate need to be elevated after better testing, try feeding fish a little more.

When I first got the setup the API test kit is what was recommended for a beginner. I'm currently switching to salifert test kits which I currently use for alkalinity, magnesium, calcium and PH. The remaining parameters are tested with API until I'm done switching over to more reliable tests.

 

[35ppt]

How would I increase those? I was under the impression that it is okay with those being at or near 0

IMO it's best to dose No3 and Po4 so that you can control those levels separately. Brightwell makes NeoNitro and NeoPhos but it's much cheaper to buy food grade or pharma grade Sodium Nitrate and Trisodium Phosphate. Corals need some detectable levels of No3 and Po4. I aim for around ~0.03-0.08 Po4 and ~5-15 No3.

 

[NS Mike D]

keep the duncan where it is now. I had one for a year on the sand bed that looked like yours, even thought it was dead and when I picked it up to throw away I glimpsed some flesh so I moved it. Low and behold it took off and grew to the size of a baseball. Your appears to be reacting positively with the move, albeit slowly.

Don't do anything water wise until you get those reliable tests. While I suspect you will likely need to up NO3, API will test zero when there is NO3 and PO4.

You have a new tank. As it matures there will be lots of life in the water column that will make corals happy. In the meantime, resist the urge to react if a coral doesn't make it. The new test kits will help.

While new tests kits will give you more reliable numbers, and conventional wisdom say keep NO3 and PO4 way down in a new tank, keep in mind that running numbers very close to zero can be disastrous. @35ppt posted good targets, IMO. And another "keep in mind" it's very hard to get those test kits perfect. User error is common, even with years down the road and the test kits themselves have a range of accuracy.

You are doing the right thing. Your eyes told you that something wasn't right. You weren't 100% positive so you posted here before acting.

 

[Mr. Stooge]

keep the duncan where it is now. I had one for a year on the sand bed that looked like yours, even thought it was dead and when I picked it up to throw away I glimpsed some flesh so I moved it. Low and behold it took off and grew to the size of a baseball. Your appears to be reacting positively with the move, albeit slowly.

Don't do anything water wise until you get those reliable tests. While I suspect you will likely need to up NO3, API will test zero when there is NO3 and PO4.

You have a new tank. As it matures there will be lots of life in the water column that will make corals happy. In the meantime, resist the urge to react if a coral doesn't make it. The new test kits will help.

While new tests kits will give you more reliable numbers, and conventional wisdom say keep NO3 and PO4 way down in a new tank, keep in mind that running numbers very close to zero can be disastrous. @35ppt posted good targets, IMO. And another "keep in mind" it's very hard to get those test kits perfect. User error is common, even with years down the road and the test kits themselves have a range of accuracy.

You are doing the right thing. Your eyes told you that something wasn't right. You weren't 100% positive so you posted here before acting.

Thank you very much! I actually tried moving it to another rock that was lower where it was to the sand bed where I then took the pictures. It opened up a little more and then moved it to another rock that was a little lower than the previous location but off the sand and if actually fully opened up right away! My guess is that this Duncan in particular likes lower lighting and low/medium flow. I will definitely work on those nutrient levels though and get the the No3 and Po4 a little higher.

 

[Mr. Stooge]

Photo of the happy coral

 

[old salt reefer]

Glad to see the above picture.

Mine likes to eat(LRS nano frozen).

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I'm measuring with the API saltwater test kit

If that’s the case your no3 and po4 aren’t likely zero. Those kits aren’t very granular in their results.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Thank you very much! I actually tried moving it to another rock that was lower where it was to the sand bed where I then took the pictures. It opened up a little more and then moved it to another rock that was a little lower than the previous location but off the sand and if actually fully opened up right away! My guess is that this Duncan in particular likes lower lighting and low/medium flow. I will definitely work on those nutrient levels though and get the the No3 and Po4 a little higher.

Mine loves being on the sand bed. I’ve got it in the front corner opposite the wave maker. It gets lower light, low/medium flow, and everything blows right to it so it cleans up all the uneaten food.

 

[Mr. Stooge]

Mine loves being on the sand bed. I’ve got it in the front corner opposite the wave maker. It gets lower light, low/medium flow, and everything blows right to it so it cleans up all the uneaten food.

That's pretty much where mine is now,except on a rock instead of the sand bed. It seemed to open a little when I moved it there from its original location up higher on the rock work, then i moved it again to the current rock its on now and opened right back up!