Why isn’t my GSP opening

[JosephM]

I know this is stupid... no one likes GSP. But
I like the look and I’m trying to grow it on my back wall. I bought it maybe a couple weeks - a month ago and it opened up the same day I put it in and has opened up everyday since then. In the picture you can even see it’s growth. About 4-5 days ago it stopped opening al the way then 2 days ago it stopped opening completely. I’ve taken a turkey baster to it multiple times and nothing. All my other corals are looking great. Any ideas?

 

[tbrown]

Mine opened when I first brought it home. Within a week, it had tripled in size. Then the same thing happened to me. I decreased my lighting and it has been opening and growing again.

Another possibility that seems common is algae or detritus on it.

Are there any other corals nearby that could be stinging it?

 

[JosephM]

Mine opened when I first brought it home. Within a week, it had tripled in size. Then the same thing happened to me. I decreased my lighting and it has been opening and growing again.

Another possibility that seems common is algae or detritus on it.

Are there any other corals nearby that could be stinging it?

There is some detritus on it that the turkey baster won't blow off, but it's always had some on it and never affected it. Lighting hasn't changed at all either except lowering whites by 5% and raising blues by 10%. There's nothing close to it, he's a Lone Ranger in the back.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

If your levels are fine it will open up soon. It isn’t going anywhere. GPS is awesome when used here and there. It will be fine.

 

[JosephM]

If your levels are fine it will open up soon. It isn’t going anywhere. GPS is awesome when used here and there. It will be fine.

How long should I wait before I get concerned? And I like to think my levels are good lol, I like testing my water.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

It just depends. GSP does this now and again. But not for weeks. If you don’t have ammonia it will open. As it grows and the tank becomes well established it will rarely happen.

 

[JosephM]

It just depends. GSP does this now and again. But not for weeks. If you don’t have ammonia it will open. As it grows and the tank becomes well established it will rarely happen.

It could be a small amount of ammonia that's doing it. I've been adding fish and feeding heavier to raise nutrients. Alert badge is showing safe though. Maybe a small amount can affect it?

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

There was a stint there my GSP didn't open for a very long time. As far as I can remember, it was for several months.

 

[namfuak]

Yeah, I wouldn't really worry too much about it, especially if other corals look okay. It does look like it's getting sand buildup from a powerhead or something else. I would just let it do it's thing.

 

[JosephM]

Yeah, I wouldn't really worry too much about it, especially if other corals look okay. It does look like it's getting sand buildup from a powerhead or something else. I would just let it do it's thing.

Yeah, definitely sand on it. I just don’t know how to clean it other then with a turkey baster. It’s in a hard spot and already connected to the tank glass.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

GSP is probably living in my sink drain. You have to work to kill it. Just don’t freak out over it. I’m sure everything is fine. Whatever you do don’t start changing stuff to fix the issue. Just wait. It will open.

 

[namfuak]

Yeah, definitely sand on it. I just don’t know how to clean it other then with a turkey baster. It’s in a hard spot and already connected to the tank glass.

Was it always getting blasted with sand? It's really not too late to change it if that is the issue. Just take a razor blade to the part that has climbed up the back wall and then glue the plug to another spot. Like others have said, it's pretty hard to kill. I ended up gluing a couple different star polyp types to my back wall. The new ones, I let grow out a little on the plug and then popped them off at the glue seam, glued them to the back wall, and then glued the fragments to a new plug to keep some frags.

You did start at the bottom which is good because GSP will typically always grow upwards towards the light. You can always just frag off pieces and glue them to the sides or other areas to fill in. This coral is extremely forgiving.

 

[namfuak]

On the right side of the tank, I have glued four frags to the back wall. Eventually, I'll start scraping some of the growth and gluing to other areas.

 

[346700984]

GSP is probably living in my sink drain. You have to work to kill it. Just don’t freak out over it. I’m sure everything is fine. Whatever you do don’t start changing stuff to fix the issue. Just wait. It will open.

I agree about having to work to kill it. A while back when I brought home my GSP frag and we were cutting the peg off the bottom before glueing in place on the rock that I wanted it to take over, the frag fell into the garbage can we were doing the cutting over and it landed in mac and cheese sauce. Note--best not to cut pegs off over the garbage.. so now we cut it over a plate lol, lesson learned there, but the GSP opened back up after placement after a few hours. They are tough! Ironically, my husband and I were discussing the same thing about maybe growing it on the back wall of the tank as well.

 

[JosephM]

I agree about having to work to kill it. A while back when I brought home my GSP frag and we were cutting the peg off the bottom before glueing in place on the rock that I wanted it to take over, the frag fell into the garbage can we were doing the cutting over and it landed in mac and cheese sauce. Note--best not to cut pegs off over the garbage.. so now we cut it over a plate lol, lesson learned there, but the GSP opened back up after placement after a few hours. They are tough! Ironically, my husband and I were discussing the same thing about maybe growing it on the back wall of the tank as well.

Yeah I’ve heard some crazy stories with them lol. I’ve seen some mature tanks with a full back wall of it and I think it looks amazing, I’d love to have that myself one day.