Duncan coral spilling guts

[Jakub_M]

Hello there, i have had my duncan coral for almost 2 months now and at first he was open and happy but later down the line my clownfish got an interested in it, which i hoped it wouldn't happen but he is constantly tormenting it and its now fully closed, but i have also seen heads die off never noticed it until i took it out to cut off a vermited snail, also worth mentioning that i have noticed it spilling its guts right around the time that my clownfish started to host it. I really don't want to lose this coral as its a beauty it has grown two new little heads but they are also retracted i tried feeding it reef roids and it made the situation worse by making him spill even more of its guts what can i do to help him, is the only way to help him is to get rid of the clown ?

water parameters just in case:
lights on for 11 hours at 70%

Alk: 9.3
Cal: 440
Mag: 1440
Phos: 0.04
Nitrate: 25
salinity 35 ppt
Ph: 8.3
Temp: 26 C
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0

TIA

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Hello there, i have had my duncan coral for almost 2 months now and at first he was open and happy but later down the line my clownfish got an interested in it, which i hoped it wouldn't happen but he is constantly tormenting it and its now fully closed, but i have also seen heads die off never noticed it until i took it out to cut off a vermited snail, also worth mentioning that i have noticed it spilling its guts right around the time that my clownfish started to host it. I really don't want to lose this coral as its a beauty it has grown two new little heads but they are also retracted i tried feeding it reef roids and it made the situation worse by making him spill even more of its guts what can i do to help him, is the only way to help him is to get rid of the clown ?

water parameters just in case:
lights on for 11 hours at 70%

Alk: 9.3
Cal: 440
Mag: 1440
Phos: 0.04
Nitrate: 25
salinity 35 ppt
Ph: 8.3
Temp: 26 C
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0

TIA

Can't tell anything about the lights with the information you posted. PAR numbers would be more helpful.

You could try moving the Duncan to a different spot and hope the clownfish loses interest.

What is the flow like around the duncan? Did it move a lot, or just slowly wave in the current? If it just slowly wave, you could try increasing the flow. That might also encourage the clown to move.

Just a few thoughts, no experience with a clown hosting a duncan. I do have a large duncan and clownfish. My duncan is in moderately high flow and is very happy.

 

[Jakub_M]

Can't tell anything about the lights with the information you posted. PAR numbers would be more helpful.

You could try moving the Duncan to a different spot and hope the clownfish loses interest.

What is the flow like around the duncan? Did it move a lot, or just slowly wave in the current? If it just slowly wave, you could try increasing the flow. That might also encourage the clown to move.

Just a few thoughts, no experience with a clown hosting a duncan. I do have a large duncan and clownfish. My duncan is in moderately high flow and is very happy.

that's the problem i don't know my par levels. i have also moved the Duncan to stronger flow and nothing, still retracted i have also moved it to lighter flow. I'm really stuck as im running out of ideas what could be wrong with it.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

that's the problem i don't know my par levels. i have also moved the Duncan to stronger flow and nothing, still retracted i have also moved it to lighter flow. I'm really stuck as im running out of ideas what could be wrong with it.

Well, let's start with tank size, type of light, spectrum (such as AB+)? How long did you leave the duncan in the different spots? Have you tried feeding it frozen food?

 

[Jakub_M]

Well, let's start with tank size, type of light, spectrum (such as AB+)? How long did you leave the duncan in the different spots? Have you tried feeding it frozen food?

Well my light is a reefled 50 from red sea running at 70% im not sure about the spectrum im new to this hobby and the lights, the duncan stayed in the spot that he was doing very well, it was open fully and swinging in the current and it was in that spot for a month i would say, and now i have moved it to lighter current and its been there for about a week i have noticed that every time i feed the corals and fish the duncan slight opens but its minimal and right after feeding i noticed that more guts were being spilled, i have fed it frozen mysis but the only mysis i have is with garlic and i have fed him that. He ate it no problem but would feeding it mysis which were originally mixed with garlic a good thing ?. i have also been feeding my favia mysis with garlic and it didn't end very well he was great at first he started splitting into a 3rd head then he started stripping and now there is barely anything left of him ? did i kill them by feeding them mysis with garlic

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Well my light is a reefled 50 from red sea running at 70% im not sure about the spectrum im new to this hobby and the lights, the duncan stayed in the spot that he was doing very well, it was open fully and swinging in the current and it was in that spot for a month i would say, and now i have moved it to lighter current and its been there for about a week i have noticed that every time i feed the corals and fish the duncan slight opens but its minimal and right after feeding i noticed that more guts were being spilled, i have fed it frozen mysis but the only mysis i have is with garlic and i have fed him that. He ate it no problem but would feeding it mysis which were originally mixed with garlic a good thing ?. i have also been feeding my favia mysis with garlic and it didn't end very well he was great at first he started splitting into a 3rd head then he started stripping and now there is barely anything left of him ? did i kill them by feeding them mysis with garlic

Ok, maybe try not using the garlic. Also, how often were you feeding the corals. Most of the time, they will get what they need from the frozen food floating in the water that the fish don't get to first. If you are going to feed the coral directly, try once a week to once every other week.

The Reef LED50 is a good light. I don't think it has as many variables as an ecotech, which is a good thing for those who don't want to mess with spectrum. Without knowing the depth of the tank and how far down the coral is placed, it is still hard to figure out if it is getting enough light. That may have been the problem with your favia as well. So, tell me more about the dimensions of the tank and how far above the tank the light is placed. Is it only one light?

We will get this figured out.

 

[Jakub_M]

Ok, maybe try not using the garlic. Also, how often were you feeding the corals. Most of the time, they will get what they need from the frozen food floating in the water that the fish don't get to first. If you are going to feed the coral directly, try once a week to once every other week.

The Reef LED50 is a good light. I don't think it has as many variables as an ecotech, which is a good thing for those who don't want to mess with spectrum. Without knowing the depth of the tank and how far down the coral is placed, it is still hard to figure out if it is getting enough light. That may have been the problem with your favia as well. So, tell me more about the dimensions of the tank and how far above the tank the light is placed. Is it only one light?

We will get this figured out.

i didn't really have a schedule as i loved seeing my corals eat so at some points it was small bits everyday (i knew it was bad but couldn't help it) then i slowed down to twice a week and i have also switched to reef-roids ( im also aware that reef-roids raise Po4 but in my case i need that as my Po4 was almost 0 i had to start dosing Po4 as i couldn't get it above 0.01 my phosphate is now stable at 0.05 ) for my LPS and my micromussa seems to like it. my tank is a 45x45x45cm cube over all volume is 90L with the sump but display volume is 60L, my light which i only have one sits about 14cm above the tank as that's the height red sea's brackets sit around at. My whites sit at around 45% at 15:00 and then they go down and the blue rises to 65% at 18:50 so the evening is a lot more blue than the morning. i have also recently added a bi-colour blend about 3 weeks ago but i have never seen him touch my corals but maybe during the night wanted to throw the blend on here just incase he could be causing problems ?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

i didn't really have a schedule as i loved seeing my corals eat so at some points it was small bits everyday (i knew it was bad but couldn't help it) then i slowed down to twice a week and i have also switched to reef-roids ( im also aware that reef-roids raise Po4 but in my case i need that as my Po4 was almost 0 i had to start dosing Po4 as i couldn't get it above 0.01 my phosphate is now stable at 0.05 ) for my LPS and my micromussa seems to like it. my tank is a 45x45x45cm cube over all volume is 90L with the sump but display volume is 60L, my light which i only have one sits about 14cm above the tank as that's the height red sea's brackets sit around at. My whites sit at around 45% at 15:00 and then they go down and the blue rises to 65% at 18:50 so the evening is a lot more blue than the morning. i have also recently added a bi-colour blend about 3 weeks ago but i have never seen him touch my corals but maybe during the night wanted to throw the blend on here just incase he could be causing problems ?

Getting closer.

I would feed the Reef Roids no more than once a week. Your PO4 is fine right now. Mine never gets above 0.03.

I still don't know how far below the light your duncan is. If it is directly below the light at the bottom of the tank, the absolute most PAR it would receive if you were running your light at 100% is 100 PAR. That is too low for that coral.

It seems like you have a schedule programmed for the light that changes the intensity throughout the day. We need to know how many hours of peek light it is getting and how much light that is. Based on what you have said, that duncan could be getting as little as 65 PAR at the peak, and less most of the day.

If you could post a picture of your light schedule and tank, we can get a better idea if it is getting enough light. Right now, I am leaning towards not enough light.

 

[Jakub_M]

Getting closer.

I would feed the Reef Roids no more than once a week. Your PO4 is fine right now. Mine never gets above 0.03.

I still don't know how far below the light your duncan is. If it is directly below the light at the bottom of the tank, the absolute most PAR it would receive if you were running your light at 100% is 100 PAR. That is too low for that coral.

It seems like you have a schedule programmed for the light that changes the intensity throughout the day. We need to know how many hours of peek light it is getting and how much light that is. Based on what you have said, that duncan could be getting as little as 65 PAR at the peak, and less most of the day.

If you could post a picture of your light schedule and tank, we can get a better idea if it is getting enough light. Right now, I am leaning towards not enough light.

I have managed to add two photos of my tank and my light schedule, so what your saying is that i should increase the light intensity or do i just move the duncan up to a higher place on my rock work ? because if you're saying that my par levels at the bottom of the tank are so low i also have 2 micromussa and they like lower par won't that disturb them ? or do i just increase my lights by 5% each week ?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I have managed to add two photos of my tank and my light schedule, so what your saying is that i should increase the light intensity or do i just move the duncan up to a higher place on my rock work ? because if you're saying that my par levels at the bottom of the tank are so low i also have 2 micromussa and they like lower par won't that disturb them ? or do i just increase my lights by 5% each week ?

If it were me, I would put the blue light at 85% and have a 1 or 1.5 hour ramp up and ramp down and leave you white lights where they are. The light should have an acclimation mode, and I would start it out at 70% of the new schedule and have it reach the full schedule in 4 weeks.

I would also move the duncan a little higher in the tank. Somewhere between half way down to 2/3 down should be fine. Your micromussa should be fine, they will still be in less than 100 PAR.

Just keep a close eye on things.

 

[Jakub_M]

If it were me, I would put the blue light at 85% and have a 1 or 1.5 hour ramp up and ramp down and leave you white lights where they are. The light should have an acclimation mode, and I would start it out at 70% of the new schedule and have it reach the full schedule in 4 weeks.

I would also move the duncan a little higher in the tank. Somewhere between half way down to 2/3 down should be fine. Your micromussa should be fine, they will still be in less than 100 PAR.

Just keep a close eye on things.

done just that thank you man i really appreciate it was asking for help on different platforms but no one bothered to answer. and now ill just give it time and see if anything improves

 

[IslandLifeReef]

@Jakub_M, any updates on how things are going?

 

[ying yang]

Just read the thread and couple times you say tried feeding Duncan and it spills more off its guts and another time fed reef roids and spilled more off its guts,my first thought was ,sure its just not pooping as what goes in must come put ha ha.
As read many threads off new reefers not knowing what there coral was doing and ended up was just pooping ,( myself included when first got my very first lps coral and seen brown stringy stuff coming out and thought the torch was expelling zoo-anthele ha ha)

Sorry no help on your lights and stuff like that apart from give it enough " indirect flow" not direct and watch some youtube videos off what flow should look like on similar corals to your own and if going give a coral high light,start off low in tank and slowly over few weeks raise it up via a frag rack or re-position frag/coral on rocks etc.

Good luck