Duncan not opening

F

firstlight10

New member
My duncan hasn't opened up in a couple of weeks and I am getting concerned something is wrong with it. It had been doing well until one day it stopped opening. No major changes were made to the tank during this time except for switching the type of magnesium supplement I am using. Tank is a 20L mixed reef, lighting is a combination of T5's (daylight), T8's (actinic) and LED's (moonlight) totaling ~100 watts. Is there anything I can do to get it to open up again?
 
When my Duncan did that for about a week it ended up producing more polyp heads. I don't know how the new heads produce; it looks like they start out as a small bud that grow into a large polyp.
 
When it happened to mine I had let my water evaporate too much before topping off and the salt level was too high . What is your salt level reading and are you using a refractometer to test your water?
 
My current salinity is 1.024 as checked with a hydrometer. I like to keep my tank in the range of 1.021 to 1.023. All of my other water quality is better than it has been in a while. Should I attempt to feed it to see if that causes it to open up?
 
Those plastic hydrometers are known for being inaccurate so it might be worth comparing it with someone who has a refractometer. At least then you could rule out salinity issue. 1.021 is fine for a fish only tank but a little low for a reef tank . Shoot for 1.023.

How about water flow? Mine seems to like a lower flow.
 
I am going to purchase a refractometer soon. When I first bought my hydrometer (about a year ago) I tested it against a friend's refractometer and it read the same. I will try and borrow a friends' refractometer to check the salinity. My duncan did best when it was in the moderate flow area of my tank. It is now in a lower flow/ lower light area, it did start to open up again today. I am going to leave it where it is and see what happens.
 
It is starting to open back up. I would estimate it is 50% open. I am having temperature issues with my tank due to an unexpected heat wave so my primary lights will only be on 4 hours a day for the next few days until the heat wave ends. I hope leaving the lights off doesn't have a negative effect on my recovering duncan.
 
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