Dunca Coral needs helps

[qfen223]

Help! my duncan coral for atleast a month or more basically looks like a zoa. the large polyps havnt been “extended”. he was fine for a while but then kinda shriveled up. he’s open now but again still not extended. this is my first coral and i’m lost.I need to test but i know the temp is around 78-80 and the salinity is alittle low at 1.020.
(one pic is a few days after purchase & second is today(normally is it more open than the second pic)

 

[MurphyTheClownfish]

What are your other parameters?

 

[Ryde]

Help! my duncan coral for atleast a month or more basically looks like a zoa. the large polyps havnt been “extended”. he was fine for a while but then kinda shriveled up. he’s open now but again still not extended. this is my first coral and i’m lost.I need to test but i know the temp is around 78-80 and the salinity is alittle low at 1.020.
(one pic is a few days after purchase & second is today(normally is it more open than the second pic)

Till you test not much can be determined.

 

[MurphyTheClownfish]

What are your other parameters?

My bad about this one, didnt see the part where u mentioned u would test

 

[CanuckReefer]

Help! my duncan coral for atleast a month or more basically looks like a zoa. the large polyps havnt been “extended”. he was fine for a while but then kinda shriveled up. he’s open now but again still not extended. this is my first coral and i’m lost.I need to test but i know the temp is around 78-80 and the salinity is alittle low at 1.020.
(one pic is a few days after purchase & second is today(normally is it more open than the second pic)

1.020 is actually quite low. I would raise salinity very gradually to start ....with a goal of 1.025 IMO. Then get a handle on the parameters with some testing. They are fairly resilient corals in my experience. Best of luck.

 

[qfen223]

My bad about this one, didnt see the part where u mentioned u would test

so i tested (using the API liquid test) and i’ll post a pic but
salinity- 1.020 (will raise with next wc)
temp- 78/79
ph- 8.2
ammonia- >0.25
nitrite-0
nitrate - hard to tell, maybe around 5.0
i can do calcium and phosphate too if you think it’s needed

 

[qfen223]

Till you test not much can be determined.

so i tested (using the API liquid test) and i’ll post a pic but
salinity- 1.020 (will raise with next wc)
temp- 78/79
ph- 8.2
ammonia- >0.25
nitrite-0
nitrate - hard to tell, maybe around 5.0
i can do calcium and phosphate too if you think it’s needed

 

[DiefsReef]

When was the last water change? Need to know dkh and cal numbers.

 

[qfen223]

When was the last water change? Need to know dkh and cal numbers.

last water change was last week, 2 maybe 3 gal change.
dk is 125.3 i think
phosphate is >0.25

 

[Joe31415]

Also, and I'm not saying this is the case, but you should probably find 1 or 2 (or 3 or 4) good local fish stores in your area. Specifically ones that have at least half their space dedicated to saltwater fish/inverts. You're almost certainly going to get better results buying from a place owned and operated by people in the hobby (and who will personally lose money if they have poor/unhealthy stock or employees that lack the knowledge) vs Petco

 

[Shirak]

Get yourself some decent test kits if you plan to keep stony corals. Most important is Alkalinity. Salifert is good and inexpensive. I use the Hanna Alk dkh tester but I have other brands if I need a second opinion.. Your salinity is not a little low.. It's ALOT low. Start raising it now by adding some salt to some RODI and adding to the tank in place of RODI water used for evaporation. When you do a water change make sure it's reading the correct salinity, 1.025-1.026 or so. Your calcium and all your other parameters including alkalinity are all going to be low to very low because of the low salinity. This is bad news for any stony coral.

It also looks kinda pale so I am wondering about your nutrients, fish in the system how often you feed etc. Looks like it has been starving of nutrients.

 

[Tim McLellan]

1.020 is actually quite low. I would raise salinity very gradually to start ....with a goal of 1.025 IMO. Then get a handle on the parameters with some testing. They are fairly resilient corals in my experience. Best of luck.

I would agree, 1.020 salinity is pretty low and the first thing I would address and get it close to 1.025

 

[qfen223]

Also, and I'm not saying this is the case, but you should probably find 1 or 2 (or 3 or 4) good local fish stores in your area. Specifically ones that have at least half their space dedicated to saltwater fish/inverts. You're almost certainly going to get better results buying from a place owned and operated by people in the hobby (and who will personally lose money if they have poor/unhealthy stock or employees that lack the knowledge) vs Petco

i’m trying ! it’s really hard i live in a very farm area in PA so there isn’t much here unfortunately. I’m willing to drive into the city tho! i’m

 

[qfen223]

Get yourself some decent test kits if you plan to keep stony corals. Most important is Alkalinity. Salifert is good and inexpensive. I use the Hanna Alk dkh tester but I have other brands if I need a second opinion.. Your salinity is not a little low.. It's ALOT low. Start raising it now by adding some salt to some RODI and adding to the tank in place of RODI water used for evaporation. When you do a water change make sure it's reading the correct salinity, 1.025-1.026 or so. Your calcium and all your other parameters including alkalinity are all going to be low to very low because of the low salinity. This is bad news for any stony coral.

It also looks kinda pale so I am wondering about your nutrients, fish in the system how often you feed etc. Looks like it has been starving of nutrients.

sounds good i will start adding salt rodi tomorrow. it was my first coral and i really should have started with a zoa haha. i only have one clown and three snails at the moment. looking for a friend for my clown and some more snails. i’ll retest when my salinity is better! i think my salinity is so low cus originally i used a hydrometer big mistake, so now i have a refractometer so i’ll get on that! thanks

 

[Pntbll687]

i’m trying ! it’s really hard i live in a very farm area in PA so there isn’t much here unfortunately. I’m willing to drive into the city tho! i’m

Where do you live in PA?

As for the duncan, lighting and nutrients are going to be key. As long as alkalinity is between 7-12 you should be ok. Try to get nitrates a little higher 20ppm at least. Personally I keep my tanks in the 30-40 range and don't have issues with duncans.

Any idea what kind of PAR that area of the tank is?