Green star polyps

[The cats wrasse]

now i know gsp grows fast and i know gsp has long tenticals for catching free floating particulates (this is gonna sound weird) but imagine a refugium with gsp covering every inch of the glass from top to bottom ...bassically what im about to ask is "could" one use a gsp covered refugium to filter their display?

 

[fish farmer]

I've had GSP get smothered by hair algae which could compete in a refugium situation.

In fact GSP has pretty much disappeared in my system now that my nitrates and phosphates are bottoming out.

 

[The cats wrasse]

I've had GSP get smothered by hair algae which could compete in a refugium situation.

In fact GSP has pretty much disappeared in my system now that my nitrates and phosphates are bottoming out.

yes the algae will out compete the gsp but im wondering would you have any hair algae if you had a giant tank of gsp soaking up your nutrients (im not saying the best nutrient system but would it export to any notable degree?

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Yes and no. Yes you could do it but it wouldn’t do much at all. Mangroves or macro algae would be much better.

now i know gsp grows fast and i know gsp has long tenticals for catching free floating particulates (this is gonna sound weird) but imagine a refugium with gsp covering every inch of the glass from top to bottom ...bassically what im about to ask is "could" one use a gsp covered refugium to filter their display?

 

[45ZoaGarden]

No. I don’t notice any difference in nutrient reduction with my gsp. But when I added cheato it dropped and dropped even more when I added a mangrove

yes the algae will out compete the gsp but im wondering would you have any hair algae if you had a giant tank of gsp soaking up your nutrients (im not saying the best nutrient system but would it export to any notable degree?

 

[45ZoaGarden]

The main issue is growth rate. Even though gsp grows pretty fast, it’s growth is still pretty slow compared to algae or macro algae. Algae would outcompete gsp every day of the week. A second issue is the amount of surface area. Say you had a 10 gallon fuge, the gsp would only grow over the surfaces of rocks or glass. In other words, it would have a very low surface area and generally a low population/density compared to the water volume. Macro algae would fill in the ENTIRE water volume creating a much higher surface area and a higher density compared to the water volume. Though it’s a good, and interesting idea, it’s just not ideal. It would also be rather hard to harvest. You would have to cut it out with a razor blade and not be able to get much out. It would also release toxins into the water when cut. All issues macro algae doesn’t have.

 

[fish farmer]

The main issue is growth rate. Even though gsp grows pretty fast, it’s growth is still pretty slow compared to algae or macro algae. Algae would outcompete gsp every day of the week. A second issue is the amount of surface area. Say you had a 10 gallon fuge, the gsp would only grow over the surfaces of rocks or glass. In other words, it would have a very low surface area and generally a low population/density compared to the water volume. Macro algae would fill in the ENTIRE water volume creating a much higher surface area and a higher density compared to the water volume. Though it’s a good, and interesting idea, it’s just not ideal. It would also be rather hard to harvest. You would have to cut it out with a razor blade and not be able to get much out. It would also release toxins into the water when cut. All issues macro algae doesn’t have.

Chaeto did wonders for my nutrient reduction, even with less that optimal lighting it still grows.

 

[NS Mike D]

I concur with @45ZoaGarden . An interesting practice along the lines, is to use GSP to line the back and side walls of the DT. Visually, is softens the look of the tank with the lush green walls and, as we know, corals uptake nutrients and are indeed part of the tank filtration.