alittlemark Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I have always thought of the green star polyps as just about the easiest coral that you could put in your tank. Maybe I am wrong there, but it is making my "failure" frustrating. I got a big patch of GSP and super glued it to a rock in a corner of my tank near the overflow. At first the polyps extended quite a bit, and then nothing. For the last couple of weeks I have had almost now extension. I keep the 90gal tank at about 80 degrees and nitrates are frequently at 5ppm or less. The light is provided by 6 54watt t5s. There is a gentle constant flow on the GSP, and intermittent heavier flow. Lately The GSP has been partially extending at night, and then drawing back in when I turn the lights back on (and the powerhead that provides the intermittent flow. it gets turned off at night). Any ideas? I am getting growth at the edges of the purple mat, so I think that it is healthy enough there. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 could be getting too much flow and that's why it's hiding during the day (since the powerhead is off at night) how long has it been in the tank, could be light shock or some other adjustment. what are phosphates at? is there somthing upsetting them? whenever a snail or crab or anything crawls across them, they all hide for quite a while (hours), not sure if some fish might be nibbling them? sounds like your lights aren't on a timer, how consistent is the timing that you turn the lights on and off? corals are creatures of habit. could actually be too little nutrients, how long has the tank been set up/what else is in there? that's me firing from the hip...not sure if it's useful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefSafari Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I have a couple different kinds of GSP's, and mine has done the same thing before, seems random, but they always perk back up and keep growing and spreading...so I never really worried about it. I still have the original peice of GSP that I bought when I first setup a reef tank, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you start to notice it receeding or dying off, but they seem to hide sometimes for several weeks at least for me, it hasn't done it in a very long time, but they are pretty hardy corals, so I wouldn't worry too much, give it a few weeks and see what happens...Just my opinion.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlemark Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks, that is a lot to consider. Could be that there is too much flow. I did increase the flow to them in an effort to get them to come out, but they are definitely coming out more when the powerhead is off. It has been in the tank for maybe a month? I am not sure. I don't know my phosphates unfortunately. I should maybe be checking them, but I have not so far. They may be bothered by the frequent back and forth passing of my clarkii clownfish. They have never showing any interest in the GSP, but they do live behind the rock that the GSP is on. That means there is a lot of traffic around the rock. The lights are not on a timer, but I would say that they are still pretty consistent (+/- 15 minutes). The tank has been up for 5 months. thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I also had some gsp go for a long time with out openning but it was still growing now it is healthier then ever completely covering the whole rock it is on the best thing I ever did with my gsp was to keep the rock it is on seperate from the rest so it is easy to keep under control it does grow fast =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev311 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks, that is a lot to consider. Could be that there is too much flow. I did increase the flow to them in an effort to get them to come out, but they are definitely coming out more when the powerhead is off. It has been in the tank for maybe a month? I am not sure. I don't know my phosphates unfortunately. I should maybe be checking them, but I have not so far. They may be bothered by the frequent back and forth passing of my clarkii clownfish. They have never showing any interest in the GSP, but they do live behind the rock that the GSP is on. That means there is a lot of traffic around the rock. The lights are not on a timer, but I would say that they are still pretty consistent (+/- 15 minutes). The tank has been up for 5 months. thoughts I would definitely consider getting a cheap timer for your lights and check the phosphates, you'll want to keep those in check to prevent any nuisance algea outbreaks if not for anything else. Jmo Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlemark Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Yeah I will have to look at the time situation again. I have a timer, but the way things are under the tank, there is no room to plug it in. I am sure that I can make it work though. I will definitely want to check on phosphates. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasasah Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I hear they like the salinity on the low end. Like 1.024 instead of 1.026 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlemark Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Ah, interesting about the salinity. Mine is pretty consistent at 1.026 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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