First Duncan Coral Feeding Questions

[EricR]

I’d like some basic input on feeding a Duncan coral.
Is spot feeding truly necessary?
Would it likely be fine with no target feeding?
I’ve seen some say to feed as often as every other day.

First LPS — bought single head Duncan from LFS for $25 yesterday.
I’ve researched flow and PAR and they seem pretty tolerant of different conditions.
*pretty much anywhere I’m thinking of mounting will be somewhere around 100 PAR and what I’d consider medium flow.

All of my current corals are soft corals of various types and I don’t really “feed” them, per se.
I do kind of target feed CoralAmino to my ricordea mushrooms and zoas once per week, if that counts.

For Duncans, I’ve seen people say mysis, maybe chopped up since this one is so small.
Any foods that would be good for Duncan coral that might also benefit ricordea (florida) and zoas, occasionally?
For mysis, is freeze-dried worth trying at all? (Saw some CHEAP at PetCo so just curious)
*already have some freeze-dried krill for some reason but seems like a pain to chop up and soak long enough to get it to sink (if it ever does)
For fish, I mostly feed LRS Reef Frenzy Nano so could just try squirting some of that on it.


New Duncan on rack:

My rock scape looks like this — I know I want to give it some room but haven’t thought about where to put it yet:

*I really need to learn to shorten my posts but once I get babbling, I just can’t stop,,, sorry…

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I’d like some basic input on feeding a Duncan coral.
Is spot feeding truly necessary?
Would it likely be fine with no target feeding?
I’ve seen some say to feed as often as every other day.

First LPS — bought single head Duncan from LFS for $25 yesterday.
I’ve researched flow and PAR and they seem pretty tolerant of different conditions.
*pretty much anywhere I’m thinking of mounting will be somewhere around 100 PAR and what I’d consider medium flow.

All of my current corals are soft corals of various types and I don’t really “feed” them, per se.
I do kind of target feed CoralAmino to my ricordea mushrooms and zoas once per week, if that counts.

For Duncans, I’ve seen people say mysis, maybe chopped up since this one is so small.
Any foods that would be good for Duncan coral that might also benefit ricordea (florida) and zoas, occasionally?
For mysis, is freeze-dried worth trying at all? (Saw some CHEAP at PetCo so just curious)
*already have some freeze-dried krill for some reason but seems like a pain to chop up and soak long enough to get it to sink (if it ever does)
For fish, I mostly feed LRS Reef Frenzy Nano so could just try squirting some of that on it.


New Duncan on rack:

My rock scape looks like this — I know I want to give it some room but haven’t thought about where to put it yet:

*I really need to learn to shorten my posts but once I get babbling, I just can’t stop,,, sorry…

They don't need feeding, though it does benefit them, I wouldn't recommend freeze dried food as it can cause issues, but small chopped mysis once or twice a week will make it happy

 

[Seansea]

It will grow faster if you feed it

 

[saltcats]

I rarely target feed mine and he never seems to catch much himself from what I've seen... He's doing fine! He definitely grows faster when I feed him more though, I usually give frozen mysis or whatever bits of reef frenzy I am feeding the rest of the tank.

My ricordea eats mysis as well... I never target feed it but unlike my duncan food naturally drifts onto it. It doesn't have a strong reaction though, almost moving in slow motion to take the pieces to its mouth.

 

[cilyjr]

It will grow faster if you feed it

I Absolutely agree. I had 5 heads that just stayed like that. Started blasting it with some of the frozen food when I was feeding my fish.
And now ..

 

[brclark82]

Mine will eat as much mysis as my clowns if he can get his tentacles on it…doubt it’s necessary but along with my bubble tip they can take down some serious food

 

[EricR]

Just remembered I started this thread so...
Single head Duncan at a bit over 2 months seems to be doing well and growing,,, but it's tentacles are much stubbier now than when I bought it (in post #1):

*I have been feeding it maybe 2-3 times per week (just chopped LRS Reef Frenzy) and it seems to get bloated for a bit (a few hours) then goes back to normal so I'll assume that's all good

 

[Naekuh]

Don't feed it if you have a cleaner shrimp.
I am saying this from experience.

They will learn that the duncan is a slot machine, and if they bug it enough, it will spit out whever food you fed it.
Hence they will then torcher the living hell out of the duncan thinking they can get a free jackpot here and there.

So i do not recommend teaching your shrimp that the duncan is a slot machine for food.

 

[EricR]

Don't feed it if you have a cleaner shrimp.
I am saying this from experience.

They will learn that the duncan is a slot machine, and if they bug it enough, it will spit out whever food you fed it.
Hence they will then torcher the living hell out of the duncan thinking they can get a free jackpot here and there.

So i do not recommend teaching your shrimp that the duncan is a slot machine for food.

Yeah... I have a skunk cleaner shrimp so I know what you're talking about.
I hand the shrimp a chuck of clam to distract him, target feed the duncan, then dump feed the rest of the fish, in that order ... seems to work (so far).

 

[EricR]

At 3 months since I got my first Duncan (post #1), it looks to me (in person) like it's growing pretty well,,, but the pictures don't really seem to illustrate that,,, oh well:

 

[The_Paradox]

Might want to bump up light. It’s been awhile since I fragged a Duncan but here is 30,60 and 90 day growth of last one started from 1 head. They grow fairly fast and I only feed them once a week.

 

[EricR]

Might want to bump up light. It’s been awhile since I fragged a Duncan but here is 30,60 and 90 day growth of last one started from 1 head. They grow fairly fast and I only feed them once a week.

Thanks for the tip -- I have borrowed a PAR meter (Apogee MQ-510) a couple of times.
That one is at right about 100 PAR right now.
I've been keeping lights that way because I have all soft corals with just that one LPS.
What would be your recommended PAR range for that duncan?
*across the whole tank and all soft corals I feel like I could slowly increase lighting but have always been in the camp of "better to not over-do it"

In case it matters, I run 12 hour total photo period with 7 hours at peak intensity

 

[The_Paradox]

Thanks for the tip -- I have borrowed a PAR meter (Apogee MQ-510) a couple of times.
That one is at right about 100 PAR right now.
I've been keeping lights that way because I have all soft corals with just that one LPS.
What would be your recommended PAR range for that duncan?
*across the whole tank and all soft corals I feel like I could slowly increase lighting but have always been in the camp of "better to not over-do it"

In case it matters, I run 12 hour total photo period with 7 hours at peak intensity

Would have to see how it responds. The one I posted was in a frag tank on the low light side which is around 200 par average with hot spots directly under the lights but I’m not sure exact numbers it was at. Usually the only thing I keep under 150 par are things like war coral or mushrooms and some NPC obviously.

 

[EricR]

Would have to see how it responds. The one I posted was in a frag tank on the low light side which is around 200 par average with hot spots directly under the lights but I’m not sure exact numbers it was at. Usually the only thing I keep under 150 par are things like war coral or mushrooms and some NPC obviously.

Thanks.
I also have some flow oddities as I have no sump with just one large HOB (Seachem Tidal 110) that causes a lot of downward current right in that area.

I probably have more issues with flow than lighting (or so I think) so just try to do the best I can with my setup.
*currently dealing with wavemaker issues as my (what I'd call trustworthy) AI Nero 5 died when my urchin chewed into the cable (recently) and now have a couple of smaller wavemakers carrying the load -- so that's obviously relevant (but too long a story)

 

[Seansea]

Corals can take awhile. My pc rainbow has been in my tank for 9 months and has just barely puddled up. Meanwhile my purple stylo right next to it has grown like 20 branches. Sometimes it just takes ahile.

How often do you feed it and what do you feed it? I find reef roids can really make corals taKe off

 

[EricR]

How often do you feed it and what do you feed it? I find reef roids can really make corals taKe off

I've been giving it (directly) some small chopped bits (meatiest pieces) of LRS Reef Frenzy since that's what I normally feed my fish anyway.
I direct feed the duncan randomly but roughly 3 times per week.
*I have all soft corals otherwise and never really target feed them

 

[EricR]

Hey,,, just noticed that my single head duncan (from post #1) has about 4 or 5 new heads starting to form around the perimeter (or so I hope/think that's what's happening).

Here's a couple on one side:

 

[EricR]

The single head duncan from 11/2023, first post, is doing well.
The new heads in last post have all gotten pretty large.
Just figured I'd post an update.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

The single head duncan from 11/2023, first post, is doing well.
The new heads in last post have all gotten pretty large.
Just figured I'd post an update.

Awesome! My Duncan grows a few heads a month. It's getting out of control lol. Hoping to upgrade my tank soon but I don't know what to do with it in the meantime!