[mgams]

I have one colony of star polyps in my 55gal tank that are not doing well. Their condition has been poor for the past few days. Everything else in the tank is growing fine: Leather corals, Xenthia , green polyps, and mushrooms. Any thoughts?

[jmick01]

I had a colony of green star polyps when i first started that had a tough road. They ended up dieng due to an infection of the mat, which i was told could have been a pre-existing condition. On the other hand i have a colony of brown star polyps that thrive and were from the same tank, and store . Do you dose any suppliments, spiriluna, or some type suspension food(marine snow)?

JMM

[reefhead]

First off , I dont think dosing any supplements are gonna help much.(except for ca/alk)

What type of lights do you have?

what are your Water params?

what test kits are you using?

joe

[Reinhold]

Is there any debris or algae covering the base mat of the Star Polyps? They require a clean base and relatively active current to keep them free of debris.

[scubadude]

Originally posted by Reinhold
Is there any debris or algae covering the base mat of the Star Polyps? They require a clean base and relatively active current to keep them free of debris.

totally agree w/ya Rein!...especially the current issue

[thezookeeper]

I had this problem for a long time with my green star polyps. No one seemed to know what was wrong, but I got the same advice. Increase current, make sure the mat is clear. It turned out for me that algae of some sort (it looked black) had begun to cover the mat and therefore the polyps would not extend. First I tried to use a turkey baster type thing and blow the debris off of the mat. It didn't work for me because the algae was pretty thick. So I got a new toothbrush and gently brushed the algae off. In a couple of days, the colony was opening much more and now it's back to it's beautiful state. Who knows, it may happen again, but for now it's okay. HTH


Joanne

[the_blue_tuna]

Star polyps seem to be , atleast in my experience , very sensitive to alkalinity changes , especially lowering . That would be the first test I would make if a visual inspection does not turn up anything obvious.

[mgams]

Thanks for the replies. To answer some questions....

JMM--- I use coralife Invertebrate Smorgasbord. I also dose with Kent Marine Turbo-Calcium and Super Buffer
Reefhead asked:
What type of lights do you have? one Daylight VHO and one Actinic Blue VHO

what are your Water params? sal .023 ph 8.3 alk ? I need to check according to the_blue_tuna!

what test kits are you using? Sea chem

There was some detritus in the rock the polyps are growing on but nothing covering their mat. I did a H2O change and dosed with Kent Coral-vita yesterday. Not much change in the polyps though.

[Reinhold]

thezookeeper:

Well, I tried the toothbrush idea to clean the base of my Star Polyp. I must have brushed too hard, as 90% of the polyps now appear dead. There are still some healthy polyps left, so hopefully the whole structure won't die.

[thezookeeper]

Hi Reinhold. When I brushed the stuff off of mine, I did it very gently. It seemed like I had "killed" the polyps and I thought they would not open again. But they did after a few days and today are beautiful. Hopefully, this will be the case for you. I would not have suggested it if someone else had not suggested it to me and I had not personally tried it. HTH


Joanne