Thinning out duncan coral

mooney

New member
Have mercy on me, I'm new on Reef Central. I have two large colony's of Duncan coral one has around 50 heads but is only the size of a softball and the other has around 35 heads and about the same size, my question is I thinking about thinning out the heads to help them grow faster does anybody have some tips? I have fragged them before with no problems but I don't want to start cutting on them if it's not going to help them branch out and grow larger.
 
I've been told i the past there is different species of duncan coral, but then i'm told there is only 1 species of duncan, the short and long tentacles are explained by conditions in which the coral resides:) The same concerns branching/non-branching bit.
 

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[welcome]

My experience with LPS is that size is a function of light and flow. If light or flow is too high the corals tend to contract. Since the skeleton of a Duncan is fairly compact that's it's normal state. Fragging it or pruning it isn't going to make it expand more. You need to adjust light or flow. Based on your pic it appears to be in a high flow area. Change your flow or move it to a lower flow area.

jmo,
 
+1 for Agu, also +1 for most Duncans being the same.

In my area a couple people got Duncan frags from me. So they are all from the same original colony.

In my tank I can get long and short tentacles based on placement. Mine do not branch but stay together (high flow?). A friend has some of the same Duncan with long branches. I think he has both lower light and lower flow.
 
I've got two duncans right next to each other from the same parent stock. One is a tight ball like yours but the other has a branched skeleton.
 
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