My Duncan's ok?

I feed them crushed flake food mixed with mysis, soaked in garlic. Well when I originally got them they were in bad bad shape. Wouldn't open but a tiny bit. Since I've had them they have improved much, I had them on the sand bed but then moved them up, I just relocated them back to the sand bed. I wasn't sure if the flesh receding was a original prob from when I first got them or is it my tank, I'm omw to my fish store for some test, I feel my calc test kit is bad.

 

Their new location.

 

Yeah..I think your test kit may be bad or may have expired...the shelf life of these products aren't very long.You do have a nice colony.. Try the silversides soaked in garlic..you'll be amazed..trust me!!! Good luck!!

 

Cut the siver sides up of course. I usually cut them into 1/2 inch pieces...although I have seen a duncan take a whole silver side...

 

Duncans are a pretty amazing coral and in my experience they will pretty much eat anything and can swallow pretty much anything that they can fit within the diameter of their head.

 

Here they are after the lights have been on for an hour, sort of shaded, low flow. My LFS tested my calc came back to 480, so I bought a new kit, tested it myself and got 480. I will chop up some silversides later, 1/4in slices soaked in garlic and see how they like it.

Do I feed every head a piece?

Should I cut the dead heads off or will they ever regrow on the dead heads?

 

If there's no flesh in the skeleton, then that's it for that piece. They dead ones can be easily cut off. You still have a nice size piece there. You don't really need to soak the food in garlic. That's only to entice fish to eat, but, if you like the smell, knock yourself out. It's not necessary to feed every head, although it is better to feed smaller pieces to most of them rather than big chunks.

 

Thanks jerry, info noted.. Will chop some up and feed every head.
I've moved the Duncan's in a softer spot, anything I can do to help stop the tissue from receding?

 

I feed every head..3 times a week..its up to you...within a week you'll see a big difference.. Receding? Is the green part of the head getting bigger or smaller?I noticed that about my Duncans too...sometimes the green head will be big while the tenticles are small...and vice versa.I check my params weekly and everything is normal..I guess they have their moments...but cool..let us know how this works out...

 

So I think I figured out my prob, I came across this article

"So what effects will low magnesium have on your reef aquarium?

You will find it very difficult to maintain high alkalinity and calcium levels if magnesium is low.

Corals will slow in growth and will cause some corals such as Duncans and torch corals to recede, and in some cases die. You may as many other reefers do, think you have something unseen and/or unheard of eating your corals, because branching heads or receding one by one. Don't get fooled by this, it more likely be the case of the weakest dies first as normally the case in nature. Confirm this by checking the level of Magnesium in your aquarium or even better have a list of checks to be carried out on set days.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3899065

After reading it I tested my mag 3x and I got (red sea test kit) 1st 760, 2nd 720, 3rd 740.. I went back to my LFS and had them test, he got 760.. He started offering me this and that, I didn't buy anything, I wanted to get some advice on here from the pros on what's a good magnesium to dose. Thanks. I hope I can get this settled ASAP.