duncanoppsammia

[vio]

my lfs just got a bunch of australian duncanopps in. thinking of trying some but at 25 bucks a head i dont trust my research alone. anyone got some experience?

[7digits]

I bought 2 heads from reefhotspot.com about a month ago for 10 a head. Include shipping and it would be about 20 a head unless you include the other corals I ordered. 2 heads are now becoming 6 heads. They are easy to feed. I target feed them 2 times a week, but they catch shrimp that I feed to the fish every day. Easy to take care of and are probably doing better than the rest of my corals. Moderate light and flow. Actually I think they would be happy anywhere in my tank. When they open all the way up they are huge. Get some.

[Steve McKay]

Careful Vio, once they get eight heads they have been known to eat small children.

[Parrothead]

They are a nice coral, as mentioned above moderate flow, they do not like to be blasted, target feeding is recommended, they can and will grow quickly in the right conditions

[ChemGuy]

Would this be a good coral for a beginner like me?

[Parrothead]

Vin,

I've been messing with a nice 2 headed frag I picked up at my lfs, I've had no issues, but my 55 has been up well over a year, it is a fairly hardy coral, you would probably be alright, If you decide to pull the trigger try and find a 2 - 3 head frag to start with, they do grow quick in the right conditions, the reason I say this is if it doesn't make it, you are not out alot of cash, your tank in reef time is still fairly new, but if you have your water quaility where it needs to be, yeah you should be fine, make sure you have the necessary test kits available to monitor you cal, alk, and mag, this coral develops a stony base that will need cal etc. to thrive.

[Steve McKay]

Would this be a good coral for a beginner like me?

Yes.

[vio]

im an idiot. i just realized that they weren't duncans they were dendros :eek3: any one know anything about these. from what i have read they are very easy to care for. now the 25 a head price tag makes a bit more sense. maybe i shouldnt have been up so late last night.

[Steve McKay]

im an idiot. i just realized that they weren't duncans they were dendros :eek3: any one know anything about these. from what i have read they are very easy to care for. now the 25 a head price tag makes a bit more sense. maybe i shouldnt have been up so late last night.

I don't know how you got them mixed up. You need a long vacation.

[vio]

i forgot the name and was browsing some websites and for some reason the name duncan sounded just right but now i realized that i was wrong.


any info on dendros??

[Steve McKay]

i forgot the name and was browsing some websites and for some reason the name duncan sounded just right but now i realized that i was wrong.


any info on dendros??

There nonphotosynthetic much like my Sun coral. If you get them, find a shaded spot they do not need light. You must feed each polyp about every three days and it will grow well. Here is one of my previous post about my Sun coral but it also applies to the dendros.

I have found feeding my Sun Coral a little frustrating at times.Not because I have to feed them but because of the method used.I have been using a Sea Squirt with varied results.You first must find a way to keep your fish and inverts away,they will steal the food from the coral possibly damaging it.I cut the top off a plastic soda bottle and put it over the coral.I then feed through the neck with the Sea Squirt.This works but adds to the frustration.Brine Shrimp sized food and smaller works well with the Sea Squirt.But try mysis,squid,clams and other larger food items and you will discover this doesn't work well.You can try the probe on the end of the Sea Squirt but the food is to small or falls off.Earlier I had thought about removing the coral from the tank to feed it,but dismissed the idea because I feed them a little then wait for them to digest their food and feed them some more.I was worried about the temperature of the water dropping and then putting them back in the tank shocking them.Then all of a sudden it came to me.A Fish Bagger box the kind the LFS uses to bag your fish.They hang on the outside of a tank but they will also hang on the INSIDE!Dip the box in your tank and use tongs to safely grab and put your coral in the box.I do this without exposing it to air,as not to shock it if the air conditioning is on.I'm lucky and have my tank on a tank desk (old heavy duty metal desk) I put the box on a towel in front of me and feed the polyps with a pair of 10" aquatic forceps.Once they are fed the first time I hang the Fish Bagger Box on the INSIDE of my tank keeping the temperature stable.Then later I feed them again and hang them on the inside again for a while to make sure the temperature is ok.Then I put them back in the tank in the reverse order without exposing them to air.This method works very well for me because the coral is right in front of me.Using the forceps I can easily feed all the polyps including the ones that are smaller and hard to reach.The Fish Bagger Box is 7"Lx3.5"Wx5.75"H.If your coral is bigger than these dimensions,I'm sure they make bigger ones.Both the Fish Bagger Box and Forceps in different sizes should be available online at most major Aquarium Suppliers.In conclusion,you can feed your coral much more easily with greater accuracy.Use the forceps with larger food items and the Sea Squirt with the smaller food items.This method can be used for other corals besides non photosynthetic corals.The only limitation is the size of the coral and or the fish bagger box.You can use your imagination to add to this method as I have only fed once this way.All I know is it is a major improvement and I'm very happy with the results it's to easy.I hope this can be of help to you,if anyone has any comments,ideas or suggestions I welcome them.

Kevinpo reponded:Another way is to use a turkey baster at night when the fish are asleep. Then you only have to worry about the shrimp stealing the food.

My response:I realize you are far more experienced than I.But I have always fed at night.Most of the fish stay asleep,but I have to turn the light on in the room to see well enough to feed.That and the smell of food usually brings out my Blue Damsel for a bite to eat.I also have Nassarius snails that will come out and ruin your day.I used tongs to relocate the snails as they show up,even though I put the cut off soda bottle over the coral.They will dig down and come up inside if you don't relocate them.The Sea Squirt works well with Brine shrimp sized food and smaller.Yes you can just squirt them,but then you will have excess food floating in your tank.I feed my Sun coral every two days and that would produce excess nitrate I don't desire.I like to feed my Sun coral larger food items like chunks of Formula one,mysis shrimp,squid,mussel and blood worms.Try doing that with a Sea Squirt,have fun.A turkey baster might work better with slightly bigger food items.But then again excess food.I find it much easier and can accurately feed each polyp if I remove the coral.My tank is on a tank desk I place the corals on the desk in front of me and sit down and feed them.Much like I did when my son and daughter were babies,but not with a 24"spoon.I hatch my own brine,which I'll put in the bagger box and let them swim around until their eaten.Cyclops can be added and stirred every few minutes to keep them in suspension.After your done feeding with nauplii and cyclops if you don't want to add them to the tank(I return the water I use in the bagger box to the tank)you can use a coffee filter to strain the water.If you want you can save the nauplii and feed your fish the next day.By no means was this meant to be a cut on the Sea Squirt,I still use it to feed frozen brine.You have much better dexterity and can feed brine with little waste with the Sea Squirt if you have the coral sitting in front of you.I use the forceps to simply grab a piece of food,which I thaw out in a small plastic container and give it to a polyp.My Sun coral is doing very well,it has recently started budding(Having babies)if that is the correct term.One of the buds is big enough now to except my feedings.WHERE'S MY CIGAR!I have gone through a learning experience,My Sun coral is my first coral and I hope this info can be useful to newbies like
myself.

I hope this helps all you Sun Coral fans.

[Steve McKay]

One thing I must add is that the dendros polyps stay open most of the time unlike the Sun coral. So you can feed it anytime. The more you feed each polyp the faster they will bud (have babies) if you feed it every day you will see a big difference. But you must feed each polyp.

[vio]

sounds intense. maybe a little more than i need. i usually just monitor my tanks while i feed and pick the hermits and nassarius snails up and move them away. pain in the ass though. i like that fish bagger idea. good thinking.

think i might pick up one head and see how i handle. its a rarity i can afford the australian guys so i might not be able to pass this up.

[Steve McKay]

sounds intense. maybe a little more than i need. i usually just monitor my tanks while i feed and pick the hermits and nassarius snails up and move them away. pain in the ass though. i like that fish bagger idea. good thinking.

think i might pick up one head and see how i handle. its a rarity i can afford the australian guys so i might not be able to pass this up.

If you feed it well it will reward you well. At one point I was feeding my Sun coral every two days, it was budding so much and growing so fast I went back to every three or four days. I did this because I realized it would outgrow the rock it was on in short order. It has grown so much that I'm going to have to glue it to a bigger rock very soon. I think you saw photos of it before, here's one when I first received it and here it is now.