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Pic?I have green star polyps and they look quite happy but they aren’t spreading to other rocks. I’ve had it for about 2 months now and haven’t seen any new growth
Salinity is 1.025Pic?
Parameters?
I have green star polyps and they look quite happy but they aren’t spreading to other rocks. I’ve had it for about 2 months now and haven’t seen any new growth
Unsavory responses? that’s called a “spoiler alert”Many people see GSP as a nuisance weed here, so expect some unsavory responses to this. Lol. It will take off in a few months, it might just be adjusting. Branching GSP is better if you want it to take over your tank. Try feeding it pretty much any kind of coral food.
But what could be the reason for it not spreading ?Unsavory responses? that’s called a “spoiler alert”
But yes, in a “be careful what you wish for” world, complaining that GSP isn’t spreading is pushing it
I can guarantee if you place it next to your Walt Disney acro you will see explosive growth….But what could be the reason for it not spreading ?
yeah but that’s not really scientific because you wereI once grew GSP’s in a toilet using salt packets from Wendy’s, with a heat lamp.
That said, almost every tank I set up gets an island for gap’s.
The more there is, the faster it grows, it took mine almost 6 months to cover the little rock it was on. 90% of that growth being in the last 2 monthsI have green star polyps and they look quite happy but they aren’t spreading to other rocks. I’ve had it for about 2 months now and haven’t seen any new growth
Did you log your dosing regimen
Bump those nitrates up to the 20-30 range or even higher if you want to see growth. I would also recommend a phosphate level ABOVE 0.1 if really want GSP to grow.Salinity is 1.025
Alk is 9
Nitrate 5
I think maybe it’s my light since my other coral aren’t doing so well
As many decades as you have had your tank this may be a stupid question, but do you see any parameter changes from the times when it spreads quickly versus when it doesn't? Does anything else in the tank change at the same time?It runs in cycles and most people don't keep a tank long enough to see this. After saying that I, or no one else knows what makes it grow or not grow,
I only have a piece of it now about 8" wide but It used to be all over the place. Now it receeded to one place and in a year or two, maybe five, it will again cover everything.
I kind of like it.
Gtinnel, I really don't test parameters except calcium and alk and even those it is rare. For the majority of my tanks life, maybe the first 40 years I didn't test anything except maybe nitrate occasionally.As many decades as you have had your tank this may be a stupid question, but do you see any parameter changes from the times when it spreads quickly versus when it doesn't?
I find it fascinating the insight from someone who has had a tank that has been around for what nearly 50 years. I also agree with you that the water chemistry can't be defined by the few parameters that we as hobbyists test for. Even an icp test I'm sure isn't going to cover everything. Your theory of it being chemical warfare from corals that causes a certain coral to struggle/die in a specific tank seems feasible to me. It's not uncommon for someone who has a beautiful healthy tank to say that there is some common, generally easy to keep coral which they can't keep alive.Gtinnel, I really don't test parameters except calcium and alk and even those it is rare. For the majority of my tanks life, maybe the first 40 years I didn't test anything except maybe nitrate occasionally.
But I see many cycles not only with GSPs but with everything.
I can give some examples. See here in my tank maybe 35 or so years ago. I had those leather corals growing out the top of the tank. They grew for a few years and all of a sudden they shrunk and eventually disappeared and something else, maybe star polyps or mushrooms (I don't remember) took over.
There was a few years when these acropora's grew like weeds. I hardly had to buy any as I had to many and had to keep cutting them. Then they shrunk and now I only have a few very slow growing ones.
This thing was a tiny mushroom for years, all of a sudden it grew 10" and stayed like that for a few years. Then it shrunk down to an inch or two.
A few years ago montipora covered my tank. Now it is gone.
Those two above pictures are reversed.
See the algae here? It covered everything and drove me nuts. Then disappeared with no help from me.
Most people don't keep a tank long enough to notice cycles but I never change my practices so I have no idea what causes it. But if you only keep a tank for 5 or 6 years, you won't see anything.
I personally think it has something to do with the coral themselves. As you know all corals exude chemicals into the water and those chemicals are designed to keep other corals from overgrowing them. Maybe in certain times with certain corals those chemicals are either stronger or more specifically designed to repel a type of coral we are keeping. I am guessing here but it is my only explanation and we almost never discuss coral wars which is a very real thing as far as corals are concerned.
Remember corals spawn in relation to cycles of the moon, maybe they get confused in a tank, I don't know.
We only discuss parameters but the sea is way more complex than parameters and those things we can't measure and I am sure that is the reason some of us can't keep certain corals while others have problems with them overgrowing a tank.
Mushrooms come to mind. Sometimes they are a pest and we can't get rid of them and some of us (like star polyps) won't grow no matter what we do.