Green Star Polyp Takeover/Removal

nkyreef · Jul 5, 2017

I would like to remove all the GSP in my tank. I bought everything from a reefer getting out of the hobby. None of the live rock had any coral when I set everything up at home. However, some GSP survived. As you can see in the picture it is on the large rock in the middle. This rock is probably 15 - 20 pounds and would be a real pain to take out. I have removed a portion before, but in 4 weeks it grew back. I've read that I can spread kalkwasser paste on the area and that should kill everything. First, will this work? Secondly, what effect will this have on my tanks parameters (alk, calcium, etc)?

saltyfilmfolks · Jul 5, 2017

Yea, dont go the Kalk route. its not that effective and yea in concentration it can spike your Alk/PH
GSP is a booger to kill. I made "caps" out of coral putty and glued them on to smother them.
like a pancake and put glue on one side.

cloak · Jul 5, 2017

I agree, smothering the mat with some epoxy is probably your best bet. Your basically just laying down a new foundation that you can build on. GL.

nkyreef · Jul 5, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Yea, dont go the Kalk route. its not that effective and yea in concentration it can spike your Alk/PH
GSP is a booger to kill. I made "caps" out of coral putty and glued them on to smother them.
like a pancake and put glue on one side.

What brand of putty do you use/like? I've used AquaStik Epoxy Putty from Two Little Fishies to cover up some colonial hydroids and it doesn't seem to stick very well to the rock. Plus it smells kinda foul lol.

saltyfilmfolks · Jul 5, 2017

nkyreef said:
What brand of putty do you use/like? I've used AquaStik Epoxy Putty from Two Little Fishies to cover up some colonial hydroids and it doesn't seem to stick very well to the rock. Plus it smells kinda foul lol.

I use the two little fishies. I use gel superglue. It's the glue that sticks the putty is just kinda binds it and helps it push into the holes.
So make a lil blob and a dollop of glue. Then push it onto the rock.

reefwiser · Jul 6, 2017

To remove my GSP I just removed the rock and stuck it in a tub of bleach water. Then cleaned off the rock and soaked in vinegar water to neutralize the bleach.

Peanut · Jul 6, 2017

This will do it, its in the same family....

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/eliminating-blue-clove-polyps-with-fenbendazole.308994/

I had some GSP in my frag tank that was on the same system. its gone too.

nkyreef · Jul 6, 2017

Peanut said:
This will do it, its in the same family....

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/eliminating-blue-clove-polyps-with-fenbendazole.308994/

I had some GSP in my frag tank that was on the same system. its gone too.

Never heard of blue clove polyps before. The article in the forum detailed it's effectiveness. It would make me nervous adding any chemical to the environment. I will definitely be reading up more on this. Thanks for sharing.

nkyreef · Jul 6, 2017

I thought about covering it as well. Maybe using a cut piece of black plastic with a piece of dry rock to hold it down. Not sure how long it would take to die off with that solution. It's definitely not worth pulling the rock out as it's a main support for the rocks around it.

Peanut · Jul 6, 2017

nkyreef said:
Never heard of blue clove polyps before. The article in the forum detailed it's effectiveness. It would make me nervous adding any chemical to the environment. I will definitely be reading up more on this. Thanks for sharing.

I completely understand, I was nervous as well...when I got to the point where I was considering breaking down the entire tank I figured I would give it a shot.

The detail the original author of the article gave of the research he did and the experience was amazing and made me feel a lot better, yet I was still nervous because of the product he was using (crushed dog deworming pills). When I found a source of pure Fenbendazole I felt a little better and I detailed my experience to hopefully help others with the same issue. Since, I have been contacted by a handful of others with the same issue that wanted a packet of Fenbendazole and have dosed their tanks. Other than the polyps of this family and worms, nothing else in my tank was affected. I would recommend this treatment without hesitation to anyone with the issue, it saved my tank and my sanity.

nkyreef · Jul 18, 2017

Well I went the epoxy (Two Little Fishes Aquastik) route. GSP is some stubborn stuff! In some thin parts of the epoxy it just poked right on thru like flowers in the spring. No big deal I can cover again. However the worst part is I haven't been able to run my skimmer for 3 days because the Aquastik is making it foam like crazy! I changed the carbon in my reactor and attempted to turn it on the next day and still foam. Today I guess I'll do a water change and see if that helps.

revhtree · Jul 18, 2017

nkyreef said:
Well I went the epoxy (Two Little Fishes Aquastik) route. GSP is some stubborn stuff! In some thin parts of the epoxy it just poked right on thru like flowers in the spring. No big deal I can cover again. However the worst part is I haven't been able to run my skimmer for 3 days because the Aquastik is making it foam like crazy! I changed the carbon in my reactor and attempted to turn it on the next day and still foam. Today I guess I'll do a water change and see if that helps.

What works for me is turning the skimmer on the "lowest" settings, least amount of flow and air. Let it run for a while and slowly increase.

thelawnwranglers · Jul 18, 2017

Anybody know for a good tool to separate from the rock? Youtube video had what looked like a flat head screw driver? I was trying to get some separation on mine to frag. I want it to take over my back wall.

I got the small BRS tool set- unsure how the scalp sets up or if that would work well

Fritzhamer · Jul 18, 2017

Fluconazole will kill every last one.

Reefster · Jul 18, 2017

[QUOTE="GSP is a booger to kill. I made "caps" out of coral putty and glued them on to smother them.
like a pancake and put glue on one side.[/QUOTE]

That Weird....I Try to Keep it Alive and it Always ends up dying for me....I can never keep it Alive...just like Pulsing Xenia's...No luck keeping them Alive for me!