Duncan Question

[chinkalink]

Ok i have these duncans started with about 8 heads and now there is 20+ but the skeleton is not getting that much bigger is it because i never add calcium to my water? all i really do is weekly water changes and add #28 cubes and i feed them with brine shrimp everyday is there other things i should add to my water do i need a calcium reactor or anything else?

 

[Whalehead9]

I have the same problem, and I have a calcium reactor. They are just slow growers. Be patient.

 

[chinkalink]

cool thanks man i want to frag it already and give a piece to my friend =)

 

[giants4pc]

I had one head that has split to four heads in a month. However, they all roamed to different areas in the tank. They are acting more like anemones than LPS. Is this normal?

 

[AquariumChicky]

I got a 2-head Duncan about a month ago. It's starting to get a 3rd head, but the 2 it has have about doubled in size! As mentioned earlier, they're slow growers....... unlike Xenia!

 

[giants4pc]

What about movement? Is it normal for them to behave this way?

 

[xanthurum]

I would like to add 2 things

1. giants4pc no i have never heard of any LPS moving around like an anemone

2. chinkalink your calcium level should be fine if you are doing weekly water changes. You may also want to stop feeding everyday. There are several other posts in which people have lost almost entire colonies of Duncans and other LPS due to daily feedings. What happens is the coral starts growing faster than the animal can keep up with and eventually it has to stop the demands somehow. Just my opinion but I would think about it.

 

[flyyyguy]

here is a type of question I havent thought about asking for a long time about a coral I own....but after reading a coupel of comments here......

Do these things need fed?? I feed my tank tons and rely on tons of fish poop to feed everything along with some oyster eggs and amino acid dosing........fish poop...its whats for dinner.

I recently acquired a decnt sized specimen but if this thing requires target feeding like a suncoral.......im going to get rid of it. I killed my last suncoral years ago and know better. I got the duncan from a guy breaking down a tank and no....i obviously didnt do my homework. lol

??

 

[TheFallofSidney]

^ Yes duncans require target feeding. They're actually part of the same family, dendrophylliida, as the sun coral.

I absolutely love my duncan. It's without a doubt my favorite piece. Now I just need more

 

[GoingPostal]

They don't need tons of feeding, mine got fed about once a week, every ten days, now they are getting it every two or three because I bought some dendros too but they don't need daily feeding or anything. Pretty easy to take care of and grow fast!

 

[TheFallofSidney]

I feed mine about 2 twice to 3 times a week at the most. It's doing very well and has 3 new heads begin to pop up in the month or so I've had it.

 

[giants4pc]

Mine move - and they are definitely duncans???

 

[Whalehead9]

Giants4pc post a picture of your corals. Duncans definitely do not move.

Feed 2 times a week in fair flow and be patient.

 

[str8clownr]

ya id like to see these "moving" duncans as i have never seen or heard of that either

 

[flyyyguy]

sounds like a nem

 

[kiknchikn]

I started with one polyp of duncan and 2 months later i have 8 polyps. Babies are growing like crazy right at the base of the original polyp, but not much skeletal growth yet.

 

[str8clownr]

do you try feeding the babies that sprout up at the base or leave them be and just feed the biggy???

 

[TheFallofSidney]

I try feeding mine sometimes, and they usually eat when I do.

 

[zeppelin]

Duncanopsammia do not 'require' feeding. They are photosynthetic. However, they do grow faster if fed routinely. I never target feed the colony I have in my display tank.

As duncans are lps, they grow in a hard skeleton, so they do not 'move'. If your duncan is moving, it either experienced polyp bailout, which I have not heard of in duncans, or you have something else, most likely an anemone of some kind.

One thing that seems to help duncans get longer skeleton, so they can be fragged easier, is more flow. A duncan in less flow will sprout out babies on the sides of adult polyps, but remain in a tight bunch. Duncans in more flow seem to stretch more, and develop more of a branching look as the new skeleton grows. Thats what seems to be happening with my frags anyway. Either way, the skeleton grows slowly, IMO.

Hope that helps.

 

[will16]

Like one of the other posters, I feed mine 2-3 times a week Mysis. I swear you can see they are bigger the day after a feeding. They are my favorites, they eat well and grow well. What more can you ask for?