White Duncan Heads

[i cant think]

System
120 gallon tank, 130 gallons total volume
Tank has had water in it for about 10 months but I have been going slow with adding fish/coral
Fish are 2 Clowns, 1 Ruby Longfin Wrasse and 1 Marine Betta
Alk: 8.84
Cal: 416
Mag: 1464
PH: 8.09
Temp: 77.1
PO4: .01
NO3: .2
Corals fed twice a week with Reef Roids, Coral Amino and LPS Grow+Color Pellets

I have a Duncan that I added to my tank on 12/28/23 and it looked like this

It now looks like this

FTS

My question/concern are the white heads under the green ones. Is it normal to have these?

It’s likely just that those heads don’t need zooxanthellae as they’re being overshadowed by the heads which do have zooxanthellae.

 

[esquare]

It’s likely just that those heads don’t need zooxanthellae as they’re being overshadowed by the heads which do have zooxanthellae.

Makes sense, I was able to get another pic last night when the tentacles were retracted a little.

 

[krystinaxlea]

I have roasted coral in the past with high par so, on this build, I decided to go on the low side. While expensive, a par meter has been my best investment.

Not to sound dumb but what is a par meter? It's my first year and I'm still learning ha

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I'm here to say that if they weren't getting enough light than they wouldn't exist in the first place, I've found when duncans bud, if they are shaded than they will wilt away back into the skeleton, I think something else is at play here

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Not to sound dumb but what is a par meter? It's my first year and I'm still learning ha

A PAR meter is a device used to measure the intensity of light, different corals require different amounts of light, so the device can be used to determine the PAR of a certian location, which you can then use to see if said corals can do well there/if they're doing well there. Light requirements for corals is measured in PAR, and too little or too much PAR can result in an unhappy coral (example: corals like leathers can thrive in pretty much any PAR, while corals like acropora generally like higher PAR around 250+, while lower light corals like, say blastos can thrive at 50 PAR)

 

[krystinaxlea]

A PAR meter is a device used to measure the intensity of light, different corals require different amounts of light, so the device can be used to determine the PAR of a certian location, which you can then use to see if said corals can do well there/if they're doing well there.

That's amazing thank you for the information!

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

That's amazing thank you for the information!

I did add a little more info to the post after I posted it in case you didn't see that. Happy to help

 

[esquare]

Sorry, just saw this. Good explanation of a par meter. I've been amazed at how little light a lot of LPS need. Also, I cannot determine the difference between low par and high just looking at the light so a par meter has been very helpful for me.

 

[twentyleagues]

Just getting back in a little over a year ago I felt it necessary to purchase a par meter with all the changes to lighting since I have been gone. I am glad I did. I got an open box from brs. It came in perfect working order everything was spotless didnt even look used. I got it for about $100 less then a new one. Its really nice to know how much par you are putting to the corals. Not every coral plays by the rules though. I have zoas in 125 par typically a low light coral stretching for light. If I didnt have a par meter id guess it was lower than 50-75 par and I might be tempted to increase my output. In this case I will probably just move them to a higher par spot, again par meter to the rescue.