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Green Star Polyps 9/6/11 green star polyp question. No
searching... 1/1/10 Re: green star polyp question. "The
Linked F's Above..." 1/1/2010 Re: green star polyp question.
Sys.... 1/3/10
Starburst Polyp 7/4/05 Greetings Mr. Fenner, <My hair might be long too, but it's not white and stringy and...how do ya like that one, eh Bob?!> <<Hey, my hair's not all white! RMF>> I have been browsing the WWM site, but have not come up with an answer as to my question yet, so I thought I would ask you. <We do have a bit of light reading here> You have been so helpful in the past when I had issues with things and needed your guidance. <Glad to hear it> Let me describe my setup. <With gusto> 100 gallon reef with 200 lbs live rock from Liverocks.com Critters: 1 pink spotted watchman goby 1 maroon clown 1 scooter blenny 1 purple queen Anthias 80 hermits: red legs, blue legs, zebras, and scarlets 2 black longspine urchins 4 baby sea urchins, came with live rock) 8 zebra turbo snails 100 Nassarius snails 8 emerald crabs 25 red rock crabs (came with live rock) 1 red coral banded shrimp 1 red blood shrimp 6 peppermint shrimp 2 medium brittle stars Corals: pulsing xenia long tentacle anemone <I never recommend mixing anemones with corals - totally unnatural. Consider a species tank for your anemone> 8 different kinds of mushrooms Hawaiian featherduster green star polyps green button polyps brown button polyps branching hammer coral medium toadstool mushroom yellow polyps Christmas tree worm rock starburst polyps candy cane coral Water parameters: nitrite-0 pH-8.3 nitrate-.5 ammonia-0 calcium-500 phosphorus-.5 salinity--1.025 <your calcium is a bit high, but otherwise everything seems fine. Is that 8.3 during the day, or at night?> Everything is doing really well so far, but I have noticed my starburst polyps have not opened in a couple of days. I had to move the rock 2 days ago, and they have been withdrawn since then. I read that they need high light, so they are a little over 3/4 of the way up in the water, and I have a wave maker on the left side, that alternates the current across everything. I put in all Kent Marine supplements, some on even number days, and some on odd number days, and I only use Kent Marine salt. I change the filter floss in the overflow every other day, My feedings consist of every other night, with target feedings of the anemones, button polyps, & the brittle stars. My lights are VHO 110 watts apiece, putting 440 watts of light into the tank for 12 hours a day.( 5.0 watts a gallon approx.). I think I am doing everything right, but I am concerned about my starburst polyps not coming back out. Am I missing something here, or am I just being too expect ? I do appreciate you Mr. Fenner, your website is a godsend. <I think that your polyps are just shy about being moved - maybe they feel fat now that they're more exposed. Seriously - they should open just fine within a few more days. Did you move them vertically much? I've had mine stay closed 2-4 days before after a disturbance. BTW, tonight you had the honor of addressing M. Maddox (I lost my head deflating tack earlier, sorry), up late waiting for the deep impact probe to hit. C'mon, how can you beat a 500lb copper ball slamming into a meteor at 125,000 kilometers an hour?!> Sincerely, Dan Simpson Dayton, Ohio <Let me know if they don't open as usual in a few days - M. Maddox> Help with Clove Polyp 3/25/04 Hi, I have a clove polyp rock that has what at first appeared to be algae growing on it. Lately, in the last week it has not been opening at all. My water quality dropped while I was in the hospital with my son for about a month. I did a full change and continue to keep it up. I have a before and after picture attached. Any ideas? I would appreciate your advice. <I would suggest that you simply continue paying attention to water quality and water movement. Clavularia are remarkably hardy corals and should come back nicely when conditions improve.> Thanks, Patrick Phillips <Glad to! Adam> Moving mushrooms and Starpolyps I'm moving my 37 gal reef into a 115 gal tank I just acquired at an amazing price (rich guy, got bored, sold very nice system for $500!). The new tank came with a lot of nice-looking live rock and hundreds of small, light yellow mushrooms all over the place. <Hmmm... no such thing as light yellow corallimorphs (mushrooms). At least not healthy ones. These creatures are bleached of zooxanthellae from neglect (aged light bulbs, aged water blocked light from yellowing agents, poor water quality, etc). Some will survive, some may not. All will require feeding to recover> After browsing through your FAQ /articles I still have some questions and need your expert advice. 1. Is it possible for hundreds of mushrooms between dime and quarter size, all pale yellowish, to be healthy specimens of something? <good intuition on your part. These are stressed mushrooms> This does not sound like mushrooms anyone else describes, nor have I ever seen such a thing in a store. (Their tank had SG 1.024 pH 7.8 NO3 15 KH 6 when I took it apart, lighting is six VHO bulbs, 3 actinic, 3 white, can't read wattage but incredibly hot, ballast is 2 120V Ice Caps, guy said they were 6mos old.) <Hmmm... take a good look at the lights... 6 month old lights are already getting too old for coral care (change fluorescents every 6-10 months). If the lamp ends are darkening noticeably, they may be older. More importantly... then pH of 7.8 and the dKH of 6 indicate old water likely that hasn't seen a water change in a long time (no doubt part of the neglect of the system)> 2. They were out of water for about 2-3 hours during the moving process 24 hours ago (simply too many to keep submerged, though I did keep them wet). Most look ok, some have brown sections. Are these likely to die? <not that big of a deal... most all can take it. Dying ones are unmistakable... they slough a lot of mucus and appear to melt> If they are dying, should I remove them? <ASAP... could get infectious to others> (I seem to remember reading something about dying mushrooms producing something terribly toxic, but can't find it today). Do I need to run a PolyFilter for a while if a lot of them die? <indeed... PolyFilters, carbon and water changes will all be very helpful> 3. The live rock/mushrooms are in a heated, circulating tub in my bathroom while I am waiting for the tank to settle (very fine silty substrate) and generating enough RO water to fill the tank so it can run. <understood... be sure to aerate the water before buffering it and then before salting it> This will probably take another couple of days. Will they be ok in the dark in the bathroom without significant lighting or am I creating an emergency? <nope... food is more important right now for these creatures. If you can do water changes you may feed them a little. Else simply wait for the tank to be set up> If this is not ok, what do you suggest in the meantime? <cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers today> 4. Non-mushroom question: I have lovely green star polyps growing all over the back of the tank in my little reef (I like this so much it has made me put off getting a new tank for months!). When I move out of that tank, can I peel them off and stick them to something (of course I can, but is there any hope of survival?) <they will easily survive. The underside of the stolon mat can be superglued to a temporarily dry wall of the new aquarium (drop water level... glue coral... wait a few minutes and refill). They can also be glued or tied to PVC pipe or anything else you might like. Slashing or nicking the underside of the stolon mat with a blade will also spur growth and reattachment (mentioned in my Book of Coral Propagation)> or do I just have to let them die? <absolutely not my friend... they will almost certainly live. Very hardy> Thanks in advance Tracy :) <best regards, Anthony> Polyps and low pH - 2/23/03 I decided I wanted to try Corals out, I set my tank up with proper Lighting, water specs were good zero's, 1.025 SPG, 480 Calcium (a little high but not horrible) my watts per gallon are 4, and ph is 8.2. I bought a small Brown poly frag with 5 small polyps for $5 just to see how my tank would handle the coral, It took a week for them to open up, and only 2 did, the other 3 are dying I think, because they have shrunk considerably, should I pull this out? or since the 2 "live" ones seem to be doing fine now is it salvageable? <I say definitely! I would leave them in the tank. Part of the problem could have been the many adjustments they were put through from shipping to destination point, then wholesaler to retailer, and lastly, from their tank to your tank. Leave them where they are and let it go for about month, They will survive...... > Or could this hurt the tank? <I don't think they will hurt the tank. Keep an eye on the other inhabitants, and maybe add some carbon if you are not already. Increase water changes as well> also what is the best way to raise Ph? <Many to choose from. Check here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marphfaq2.htm> I am having a hard time keeping it at 8.2 it will sometimes drop to 7.8 for no apparent reason. <Possible the difference between your light cycle (not the Tron type) but maybe when your lights are off vs. when your lights are on? That type of difference is somewhat normal. See what you can find from the faq link above. In any event, leave the coral in the tank and give it time to adjust and recover. Good luck. Paul> Green star polyps not opening up... Know its Flow 4/24/03 Hello there! As always, thanks for a great site! My green star polyps have all of a sudden stopped emerging from their mats. <most often a lack of water flow... sometimes enough to allow a slight suffocating sheen of brown diatom algae or simply detritus. Briareum needs very strong random turbulent water flow> It has basically looked like a skeleton for the past two days. All of my other corals are doing fine. About a week ago, my daughter turned off my power strip that all of my power heads, lights, etc. are connected to. It was off for about 12 hours. No circulation, no nothing!!!! OUCH! Anyway, things seem back to normal except for the star polyps. Any ideas? Thanks, Bryan <indeed the above contributed... it may take some days/weeks of pouting by the coral before polyps come out again... be sure they are not being encroached by algae... and get good water flow now. All in good time. Best regards, Anthony> - Green Star Polyps - I started up a 10-gal mini reef about two months ago. After having all but mastered freshwater over the past ten years or so and maintaining a 29-gal marine saltwater fish aquarium for just over a year with only two casualties, I decided to give reefing a try. I run a 10 gal tank with a hang on the back power filter outfitted with a protein skimmer (both of which are rated for a 30 gallon tank) and live rock for filtration. The temperature is maintained at 74-76degrees. The power strip I believe is a 30 watt 50/50 (the light was retro fitted by my local retailer for me who have been <strange characters that appeared in place of this word edited out, gotta love the info age> with everything else I have ever done in my tanks), which is on for about 14 hours a day. <That's a might too long, try not to push it over 12 hours> I began with an initial cycle crew of 2 small common hermits, a small tomato clown and a small four-striped damsel. After about three weeks, with my water chemistry good, I added a small red-collared turbo snail to help with a small algae problem and a small green star polyp colony (about 2.5 inches in diameter) and a tiny yellow polyp colony (only seven polyps). Everything seemed fine and beautiful. That was two weeks ago. Two days ago I had noticed that the algae was getting a little heavy, so instead of turning the light on before I went to work at 6:00a.m., I waited until I got home at around 4:00 p.m. and turned the light on. The green star polyp hadn't exposed itself and didn't all that night. It still hasn't. The yellow polyps are fine though. I am really beginning to worry. <This is likely because of the change in photoperiod, it's just a little peeved with you, no worries> My water chemistry is all good with the exception of a reading of 11 dKH, a calcium reading of 350, and a phosphate level at .25 ppm. <That explains the algae, your phosphate level should be undetectable. Any measurable phosphate means that you have a TON even though it may be the lowest level on your test kit.> Am I in trouble? Is there anything I can do? Is the green star polyp lost? <The polyps are not lost, but you do need to increase the lighting over this tank (a single normal output lamp just isn't going to cut it). I would suggest either a pair of 28 or 32w power compacts or Custom Sealife's 96w "Power quad". Both of these units described can come in a 20" unit to fit your tank. Hope this helps! -Kevin> Please help! Scott Charleston, SC Green button polyps III Anthony, I apologize for being very new to this hobby. <no need to apologize for that... you have just begun a wonderful journey. Our aquariums are so much more than a hobby... indeed they are learning centers> A simple answer of you did not supply enough information for me to answer your question would suffice. <agreed... will do then> I am actually not having a bad day. It is just having asked so many questions to people online about this hobby it is amazing to see how many people reply with answers that seem to make them look all knowing and if someone has a question them look stupid. <let me strongly advise you not to solely use me or anybody on the internet as your primary source of information. Rather, use books (my published works and the works of so many others) and other authoritative sources. Internet communications are often casual and quite variable in quality as you have experienced. But published hobby and science literature is verifiable information. Starting with a good (or not) bibliography. For coral identification, let me suggest Eric Borneman's "Aquarium Corals" and for reef husbandry and coral health/propagation... let me suggest (immodestly if so) my "Book of Coral Propagation: Reef Gardening for Aquarists". If you are further interested in non-Cnidarian invertebrates (sponges, shrimp, crabs, clams, starfish, etc), Bob and I have just released "Reef Invertebrates". But don't just take my word for it on these references... do visit Amazon and the big message boards for independent reviews of these texts> I have enclosed a pic of my polyps. My water parameters are fine. I do not have them with me at the moment. My main question is why would they fade out? <I still cannot say... I need more information, respectfully requested as you have outlined above. What is your Alkalinity (carbonate or general hardness)... this is underrated as a stressor on non-scleractinians. Has there been any salinity or light shock (did you quarantine the animal properly for 3-4 weeks before tossing it into the display). Hmmm... many possibilities here> I guess one of the things that pissed me off your response to this: "I have read many of the articles on the green button polyps but I am not sure that my question has been answered. <<good heaven's... I did not know that there was even one article on green button corals <G>. Heehee... through me a bone here please>> what does the above mean? <it means that people write into us all the time claiming to have exhausted all leads... but yet they cannot even name the species of their animal (listed in all the references and so helpful for us know what you are talking about)... and they cannot recall any pertinent data. In this case, I have a collection of over 1000 periodicals and many hundreds of books on aquatic science... and I cannot name one hobby article specifically on "green button polyps". As such, I thought you were looking for an enabling easy answer from us. With this being your third e-mail without even basic information as requested in my last reply, I'm still not sure this isn't so> and... "I recently have been adding 3 Kent products." <<that's OK... we all make mistakes>> <after many years in the hobby, we each develop brand preferences or have certain regard for other products/brands based on their collective track record> I guess u can't see where the above statements would bother somebody. Thanks, Reese <Absolutely, yes... understood and agreed. And I hope that you too can be mature enough to understand that I cannot help you because you have yet again asked "why" your animals are not fairing well... yet still have not provided the requested info. You said you don't have the water tests on hand? I wonder if you even did them... else, how could you not recall "fine" water quality with zero ammonia, zero nitrite, zero nitrate, etc. And what of my request last time to know your lights, depth and size of tank, placement of coral, etc to help diagnose your question/problem. Please don't waste my time or anybody's. Respond politely with information to help us to help you if you'd like another reply. Best of luck, Anthony> Green Star Polyps New, not improved! I recently <How recently?> purchased some green star polyps as well as some large button polyps from my LFS. I have other corals in my system such as a large colt coral, assorted mushrooms, pulsating xenia, several anemones, a gorgonian, and other small button polyps. All other corals are doing good with the exception of the green star polyps. After purchasing both the star polyps and the button polyps I had them placed near the top of the tank. The button polyps began to open but seemed to be squinting so I moved them further down towards the bottom where they fully opened and look great. <Good idea to start most all "light sensitive" organisms near the bottom> I have tried moving the star polyps from higher to lower and back again. I have taken them out of the current flow and put them back in. Presently they are at the top of the tank in a strong current flow but still do not seem to be opening. It has been about 4 days since I have seem them open. I am running under normal fluorescents (160 watts total - 55 gallon tank - 50/50 and daylight bulbs). All other corals are doing well as is everything else. My anemones are actually reproducing all over the tank. Is this coral dead and if so when will I know to remove it from the tank. The polyps are still bright purple and are sticking up about a half inch from the rock that they are attached to but no polyps is protruding from the top. All water parameters are acceptable and I dose with iodine about once a week. The star polyps are isolated from everything else and since I observe the tank more than the TV I haven't seen anything bothering them. Any clue what may be wrong with them. Thanks T.J. Sylvester <Good descriptions here... Likely what you and your green star polyps are experiencing is a negative chemical interaction... Much like having a Eucalyptus tree overhead with leaves, chemicals influencing the non-germinating plants below... your Polyps are losing out to some other stinging-celled life in your system... If possible I would move this colony to a different system... If not, trade them back in at the LFS... or wait it out and see if they can gain chemical ground. Adding a sump, volume of water, placing activated carbon in your filter flow path, more live rock, macro-algae all might help if they are to stay or not. Bob Fenner> Re: Green Star Polyp Compatibility Anthony, Thanks for the rapid reply (you must've just started the shift)! <in fact... I think I have given up on sleep instead> A short follow up question (please!?): is iodine supplements important to this species' long term health - <important if not critical> I currently don't test for it? <Seachem is one of several manufacturers of a test kit, but it is somewhat moot. Iodine dosed as per manufacturers recommendations only stays in solution for hours. That is why it is so important in reef tanks to dose small amounts daily. If you test... please don't obsess about not being able to keep iodine levels up. Simply begin with a safe small dose and increase slowly over weeks/months until you notice that the brown diatom algae flares (indicating a slight excess on the dose). Skim hard and back up to the last known safe dose> I searched the site and noticed comments about iodine being important for some critters. Couldn't find it spelled out. Thanks David <it is critical for most every reef invertebrate in particular. Best regards, Anthony> Compact Florescent Lighting For Green Star Polyps Hi, Anthony, Steve or Bob <Steven here today.> I have a question on lighting for you guys. Right now I have 4Watts/Gallon of PC lights (50% at 10000K white, 50% at 17000K blue) over my tank. Is it ok if I place my green star polyps in a position such that they are about (vertically) 6 inches of air and 24 inches of water away from the lights? <That seems a little deep, but these are widely variable/adaptable animals. Mine only grow in the shade of other corals. They are in about 12 inches of water, under 4-40 watt lamps of normal output fluorescents, crammed over my 55 gallon tank. The lights sit 1" over the water with nothing shielding them. All in all, I do not have bright lights and yet this particular coral seems bothered by them.> There is also a thin 3mm acrylic sheet between the lights and the polyps, which I am unable to remove due to water splash. Also, I can change any of the above tubes to 7000K white tubes. Should I change the combination? <If you are getting good growth from these lamps, I would leave them. Much of the nomenclature with this degree of Kelvin lighting versus that degree of Kelvin is shear marketing.> I read somewhere that star polyps need 5-7.5 W/gal florescent and I was wondering how those translate to PC light terminology and my water depth. <I would read over Anthony's piece on lighting acclimation found here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acclimcoralslight.htm Generally, best to leave corals alone for a while and only make moderate shifts.> Many, many thanks in advance, Edwin Lam <You are welcome. -Steven Pro> Green Star Polyps Hello WWM crew! <Anthony Calfo in your service> (I am looking forward to meeting Bob at the DMS meeting in Arizona on the 25th of April.) <yes... friendship aside, he is one of my very favorite speakers in ten years of conferences/club meetings. A great personality!> My question today is in regards to a green star polyp. First the required information: (we upsized our 55g tank two weeks ago to) 125g reef, 30g sump with 4+ in of live sand, 120lbs Fiji LR (this is increasing weekly to 150 lbs total), <yes... more the better> over 120 lbs of live sand. Lighting is 4 96watt PC (2 10,000K daylight and 2 actinics 36") with dawn/dusk controls. <doesn't have to be so blue, although I like it myself> We invested in a RO system for this tank and had previously used tap water which, unknown to us, contained approx. 20ppm of nitrates when we tested it. <yeeha!> (No wonder my nitrates never seemed to get below 20ppm) Water chemistry is as follows; Temp 76, Sp. Grav. 1.022, pH 8.3, Ammonia- 0, Nitrites- 0, Nitrates <2.0ppm, Calcium 400, Alk - Norm. (my test kit doesn't give a number, just low, normal, high). I supplement with Kent Marine concentrated iodine, (according to the directions), 1 gal Reef Pure Kalkwasser plus is dripped once a week. We use a 15 watt UV sterilizer, and a DIY protein skimmer that makes really great foam and about 1/2 in to 1in of dark green skimmate(?) a day. <excellent> We feed brine shrimp and flake (every other day), and phytoplankton twice weekly. <skip the brine (nutrient poor) and sub a better assortment of ocean meats (Mysid, Pacifica plankton, krill, etc).> We have 3 different types of mushroom corals, brown, green metallic, and green fuzzy. 1 colony of yellow polyps. For fish we have 5 green Chromis, 1 gold stripe maroon clown, and 1 mandarin goby. Crustaceans include, 1 lg coral banded shrimp, 2 sally-light foot crabs, 4 Mithrax crabs, several hermit crabs. Snails galore (about 35), and many different varieties :). The green star polyp was doing very well in the55g and for about the first week in the 125g. We noticed that after the first week there were fewer and fewer polyps emerging. I read on your site about the iodine, <yes...necessary for soft corals especially. Bob favors weekly doses, I believe. But I strongly prefer small daily doses> proximity of the mushrooms, <indeed a very serious aggressor... most all corallimorphs> lighting, and water flow. I have since moved all the mushrooms to the opposite end of the tank, moved the polyps to the top of the tank, and made sure they have plenty of flow over them. <I'd say that strong random turbulent flow is the most common problem/deficiency> I am planning on placing activated carbon into the filter system to get rid of any bio toxins. <cool... one ounce weekly per 50 gallons rather than 4 ounces monthly is better> We also have Caulerpa growing in the main tank to keep the nitrates down. <can be irritating to some coral... just keep it in check> Any other suggestions you might have for the health of the polyps would be greatly appreciated. <you have all of the bases covered nicely. And remember with this coral that it does not feed organismally (no particles)... it is mostly symbiotic and believed to make up the est by absorptive feeding> Thanks a bunch. <best regards, Anthony> Green star polyps again. Thanks Anthony for the quick response. <always welcome> One item that I forgot to mention, I have not seen any polyps emerge for two days now. I read on your site that they can retract for up to a week. If it goes any longer than that are they going to be in real danger of dying off? <yes...possibly. Do protect against nuisance algae encroaching in the meantime. Use a soft toothbrush if necessary.> The mat has not changed color, it is still very purple. <very good sign> (About the iodine, the bottle suggests a large dose once a week and then smaller doses daily. We never used it in the 55g however.) Is it possible that the polyps were feeding on or being fed by the nitrates in the 55g and now that we have reduced the amount they are not getting the nutrition they need? <very unlikely... the transition was enough to disturb this hardy but finicky tube coral> Thanks again. <with kind regards, Anthony> Iodine and Star Polyps Hi Bob/Steve/Anthony: <Bob at this point/time> I noticed some recent postings regarding Iodine and Green Star Polyps. Apparently, everyone has a different thought on the amount and frequency of the dosage required. <Yes> I certainly don't want to just dump chemicals in my tank if they are not needed, so I'm wondering if you have some thoughts as to how much, how often, and when to dose? <Many... not easy to elaborate here though... need for many pages of "stipulations" and suggested "if this, then..." types of statements necessarily. Not much NEEDs to be added to a "going" system... other than water changes, foods...> Craig Bingham spoke at my local club last week and made the interesting (although controversial) statement that many of the chemicals we as hobbyists feel compelled to dose may be maintained at appropriate levels simply by using natural sea water specific gravity, as opposed to more diluted specific gravities. I found this interesting and wonder if you have any thoughts on this. <I am in total agreement. One important note I'd like to place here is the "western" mentality re testing, presence and adding/worrying about chemicals... Many "bio-useful materials" are rapidly "changed" in ways that test-kits don't record (because they are designed, intended to only register certain valence states, or can't discern "bound" materials... The too-typical response to such "non-registering measures" is to "pour more in"... Almost always w/o appreciation for the seemingly unending consequences, interactions with other materials, life, effects of thermal, density, dissolved gas, light penetration... interactions...> I would think that his contention certainly supports the practice of regular water changes to maintain desired levels of some chemicals, although I suppose some things are used up quicker by animals, skimming, and filter media. Do you agree? <YES! Thank you for this> Thanks for your insights! <And yours. Bob Fenner, who will leave this thought-provoking query, email for Anthony and/or Steven's input as well> |
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