green star polyps not opening..

Discussion in 'Soft Corals' started by 1fishyguy, Nov 23, 2011.

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  1. Reef-a-holic

    Reef-a-holic 3reef Sponsor

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2011
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    Location:
    KC, MO
    Sumps are nice...once you do your first "sump system" you'll probably never go back to a system without one. Sumps can be fairly low tech and inexpensive...an old tank or even Rubbermaid totes can work. You just have to do some research and decide how you want to go and then jump in and do it, LOL!

    Honestly, I doubt you need to dose anything. It's a common misconception when people start out in this hobby that you need to dose all kinds of stuff. Some LFS's are bad about selling you a bottle of this and a bottle of that...before you know it you've got a dozen bottles of stuff...most that you probably never needed. Your hammer and candy cane are actually a type of hard coral (just not SPS)...so they will use some Ca/Alk, but with what you've listed regular water changes with a good "reef" salt should take care of pretty much all your needs...dosing may actually be making things worse. It's sometimes hard to get your head around when you're new to all this, but Ca, Alk and Mag are all related...when you dose any of them it effects all of them. Water changes are the simplest way to keep things on track...for the most part you are adding all the important elements back in proper ratios that way.

    Lastly, I would suggest investing in some test kits so you will know exactly what your params are. Testing at the LFS and them saying "everything looks good" is often not the whole picture. Test strips are pretty worthless, you'll want decent liquid test kits for Ca, Alk and Nitrate at a minimum...ammonia and nitrite maybe, although you shouldn't have any ammonia or detectable nitrite...if you do something is dying and you're in bad trouble, LOL! Eventually you may want a Mag test too. Keeping those things in check and stable along with stable pH, temp and SG are 90% of keeping happy corals.
     
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  3. brunoboarder244

    brunoboarder244 Torch Coral

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    well candy canes and hammers are hard corals but large hard corals so they will use some calcium but not too much you should be able to keep them happy with regular water changes etc

    as for the rubberbanding yes it could be upsetting it anytime i touch or move mine they close up for atleast a few hours
     
  4. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    We need to know what your calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are. Do you have a test kit for any of these? What type of water are you using? Tap? Ro? Di? Ro/di?
     
  5. 1fishyguy

    1fishyguy Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Update.. after checking every hour for the past 3 days I looked today and I have 4 polyps out!!! Not a lot but a start!!
     
  6. Stercus Accidit

    Stercus Accidit Feather Duster

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    I have a similar issue with my GSP. Mine are fairly dark purple based, and for the first few weeks I had them they were looking great. I had my lights off for 2 days to help rid some algae and they have not fully opened since then, it's been almost 2 weeks now. I have at most 5 polyps actually open and they look wilted when they do. There are some small polyps around the edges that are colorless...kinda translucent grey. I also have a frogspawn, couple favia, goniopora, and shrooms all of which are doing fine. I have even tried spot feeding phyto, and normally dose with it every couple few days. Still not looking better....?
     
  7. 1fishyguy

    1fishyguy Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Location:
    Missouri
    Prob just outa wack from lights being off so long.. mine were out of the lights for an hour taking them home and they are still gradually opening after 6days!!