Green Star Polyp opening time and flow requirements.

[Knight_Solaire01]

Hello everyone. Currently I have not been able to get the most invasive of corals to thrive yet in my tank. I am on the tail end of beating a hair algae explosion that already claimed two of my three montipora and almost tools my purple gorgonian. I introduced a new gsp frag the other day and I swear it was more out and open(barely but still out) in the bag then it is in its new home. Do they take a while to settle in even after drop acclimating them?
Edit:This is a 32 gallon biocoube and I have a sicce 2000 powerhead as well as a Aquatop MaxFlow mini pump to make sure there is flow and no dead spots. Do the polyps need constant flow over them?

 

[Indytraveler83]

My GSP isn't particularly sensitive to flow one way or the other, but it does like "dirty" water. What are your parameters? It could be too clean for GSP, especially if you've pulled a lot of nutrients fighting algae recently.

It could also just be still adjusting. If something truly angers mine, it stays closed up for a few days before coming back out.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

My GSP isn't particularly sensitive to flow one way or the other, but it does like "dirty" water. What are your parameters? It could be too clean for GSP, especially if you've pulled a lot of nutrients fighting algae recently.

It could also just be still adjusting. If something truly angers mine, it stays closed up for a few days before coming back out.

I am actually working on a budget right now and don't have the kits. I am getting my water tested tomorrow so I will let you know and if there is a problem with the specs you can tell me. Sorry for the wait haha. And as for it being dirty, the tank actually is still a bit dirty even with my 15% water changes every week. The protein skimmer is working and filling up nonstop. My zoanthids which also like a dirty tank have also just now come out from hiding from the algae.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I am actually working on a budget right now and don't have the kits. I am getting my water tested tomorrow so I will let you know and if there is a problem with the specs you can tell me. Sorry for the wait haha. And as for it being dirty, the tank actually is still a bit dirty even with my 15% water changes every week. The protein skimmer is working and filling up nonstop. My zoanthids which also like a dirty tank have also just now come out from hiding from the algae.

If zoas are happy GSP should be too, they like similar conditions. I'd just be patient with it, it can be a bit moody. Also be sure nothing is irritating your GSP. It's very non-aggressive and will close up when touched or bothered by anything.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

If zoas are happy GSP should be too, they like similar conditions. I'd just be patient with it, it can be a bit moody. Also be sure nothing is irritating your GSP. It's very non-aggressive and will close up when touched or bothered by anything.

Currently the cleaner shrimp will climb on it which may be doing the trick to annoy it. As it opens up more do you think that it will see it and stop picking at it? Also this is my third attempt to grow GSP. I am not sure how, but I have yet to successfully grow this coral which is normally a nuisance in other tanks. I know how fast it grows and how it kills other corals, thus I gave it it's own rock. But this coral refuses to spread and just dies in a few weeks. I really hope this bright green neon doesn't do the same. :/

 

[Indytraveler83]

Currently the cleaner shrimp will climb on it which may be doing the trick to annoy it. As it opens up more do you think that it will see it and stop picking at it? Also this is my third attempt to grow GSP. I am not sure how, but I have yet to successfully grow this coral which is normally a nuisance in other tanks. I know how fast it grows and how it kills other corals, thus I gave it it's own rock. But this coral refuses to spread and just dies in a few weeks. I really hope this bright green neon doesn't do the same. :/

My cleaner shrimp does the same. He's never really stopped walking across the GSP. Again, parameters may help tell the tale.

I think we all have corals that just don't thrive for whatever reason. I can't keep montipora alive to save my life, but I have a wild caught wall hammer that's thriving, despite the wall variety reportedly being very difficult to keep.

Once you get a test kit yourself (even the basic API reefer kit is better than nothing) you can test and see what your trends are. Getting a snapshot from the lfs helps, but if you can test every few days for several weeks, you'll learn a lot about what your tank does, and it'll help you figure out what you need to do to stabilize it, and what you may struggle to keep.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Also what kind of test kit would I need specifically for corals? I know I need to check for Alk, Calcium, and Nitrates. What else?

 

[Indytraveler83]

Phosphate is the other big one you want to monitor. Obviously salinity is important too, if you don't already have something to test it with.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Phosphate is the other big one you want to monitor. Obviously salinity is important too, if you don't already have something to test it with.

I get my water tested for free each week at my local fish store. They always say my calcium, alk, PH, Nitrates, Amonia, and Salt are all perfect. This leads me to think that it may be the temp as my apartment is really stuffy and air flow sucks. I have two fans pointed at my tank to cool it down as I can't afford a chiller yet. I also try to make sure my flow is good for everything as dead spots may hurt them sometimes.