Duncan Coral Issue (skin bubbling?)

[Killgannon]

Hi All,

I've got a strange issue with my Duncan Coral and I've been unable to find the appropriate answer after searching the forums and the general internet. My Duncan's skin seems to be "bubbling". I've had this particular coral for some time and it's grown 2 new heads. However, it's base (stalks?) seems to be inflating/bubbling up extremely. All my parameters are within range, double checked by my local coral store. See image below. The answers I have found to this is typically "looks like it's growing some more heads", but this looks nothing like the previous 2 that sprouted successfully and literally looks like the skin has inflated. At night time when the heads are retracted, these bubbles are flapping all around. Is this a sign of some sort of irritant? I've changed nothing for months, no lighting changes, no new fish....nothing. Thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions!

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

They kind of do look like new heads but oddly so. What are your parameters? In range works better with horseshoes and hand grenades.

 

[Killgannon]

They kind of do look like new heads but oddly so. What are your parameters? In range works better with horseshoes and hand grenades.

Temperature: 77°F
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 8.2
Alkalinity: 9 dKH
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1320 ppm
Nitrate: 2.5 ppm
Phosphate: 0.02 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Those params look good. I'd wait it out and see what becomes of the odd heads. Do you feed your duncan?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

complete uneducated guess is its inflating around new skeletal growth.

 

[Killgannon]

Those params look good. I'd wait it out and see what becomes of the odd heads. Do you feed your duncan?

Yes, I feed Reef Roids 2 -3 times a week and occasionally mixed with mysis - small amount. Also, if the Duncan doesn't respond quickly to feeding I skip it. If it responds quickly like it's hungry I feed.

 

[Killgannon]

Any other thoughts on this? It’s going on 3 weeks like this with no changes. The corals seems fine other than this, but the skin bubbles are so thin it looks like brushing up against them would cause them to pop. I’ve had this particular coral branch new heads, but it looked nothing like this. I’m concerned it’s irritated or something. Oddly enough, my frogspawn is also bubbling, but it’s clearly splitting and seems normal for those?