will GSP grown down through holes in rock?

[roblox84]

I really like my GSP coral and would hate to kill it but I was wondering if I am able to contain it? It’s on a piece on live rock by itself at the top and the rock is porous and very jagged as you can see.

Will the GSP mainly stay at the top of the rock where I can see where it’s spreading or can it grown downwards through holes and underneath the rock where the light may shine through? I’m just worried that it may start growing where I can’t see it before it’s too late and may spread onto the overlapping live rock on the sides of the tank.

I was thinking of putting putty on the bottom of the GSP rock and covering all the holes but I really would prefer not to if it’s not necessary.

 

[Mrod]

GSP spread like a mat and thus will go over things (live rock, glass, etc)

Most people find it very difficult to control and may say it starts slow but once they take off it goes fast.

Not sure the putty idea will work unless I’m just not understanding the idea?

 

[reef lover]

Gsp is very invasive if it likes your tank it will grow over that rock and whatever epoxy is there and on to the next....I would suggest isolating it to an island or allowing it to grow crazy on the back wall....

 

[reef lover]

Silly phone...double post...

 

[roblox84]

GSP spread like a mat and thus will go over things (live rock, glass, etc)

Most people find it very difficult to control and may say it starts slow but once they take off it goes fast.

Not sure the putty idea will work unless I’m just not understanding the idea?

I know it’s confusing what I stated but I’ll try to explain a bit better. What I am afraid of is that instead of the GSP spreading out on the top and growing out until it hits the edges of the rock that it will take a short cut and instead grow down a hole and attach itself where I can’t see it on the rock below.

So the putty idea was to plug up the holes in the rock it’s currently on so that it would only be able to grow towards the edges and not through the rock, if that makes any more sense at all.

 

[roblox84]

Here is what I’m talking about. Basically I’m wondering if it’ll try to squeeze the mat through these holes underneath to attach to the rock that this one is sitting on?

If it

 

[jayball]

Generally it will grow laterally and up toward light and flow. I would not worry about it. It will drop small plates that can attach to stuff if you are not careful, it will require trimming every 2 months or so to avoid this.

 

[roblox84]

Generally it will grow laterally and up toward light and flow. I would not worry about it. It will drop small plates that can attach to stuff if you are not careful, it will require trimming every 2 months or so to avoid this.

Awesome so now it will start dropping stuff and spreading like a mushroom ? It couldn’t make it easy, lol. Sounds like I should pull the rock and just kalk paste the whole thing before it starts spreading pieces all over my tank if it hasn’t already.

 

[reef lover]

Lol I like gsp and have it myself you just have to keep it contained....

 

[Mrod]

Depends how much you like then, lol.

Xenia, clove polys and gps are three very difficult corals to “contain” and yes you might want to eradicate early as a legitimate concern.

I have green polyps that I can’t totally eradicate but they are easy to peel fortunately to keep somewhat controlled. Gsp are more challenging from my experience and seen to spread faster.

 

[roblox84]

Depends how much you like then, lol.

Xenia, clove polys and gps are three very difficult corals to “contain” and yes you might want to eradicate early as a legitimate concern.

I have green polyps that I can’t totally eradicate but they are easy to peel fortunately to keep somewhat controlled. Gsp are more challenging from my experience and seen to spread faster.

It would be easy to contain if it stays on that rock since I can just take it out and either peel it off when it’s getting close to the edges or just kalk paste the edges. I obviously won’t be able to contain it if pieces start blowing around everywhere though.

But when do they usually start dropping polyps? I haven’t heard of this before with gsp. My experience throughout the years was that it just keeps matting until it hits something solid.

 

[Mrod]

You might be ok then if easy to take in and out to work with. You still need to keep an eye out as they can spread fast but my experience is they spread more like encrusting montis.

Jay ball may have had a different experience or maybe I just never noticed.

They may or may not spread downward they the holes. Probably not buy again sounds like your ok since an easy to remove isolated rock.

Good luck if you decide to try and show some pics in a few months and let us know how it goes.

 

[roblox84]

Yeah it’s definitely easy to take the rock out. I just laid it up top where I just pluck it out without disturbing any other rock. I did that specifically for that GSP. I will definitely be keeping my eye on it, if it gets too close to the edges I will prune it. As long as it stays on top of that rock it should be easy for me to see where it’s growing.

 

[Gahngoo]

I really like my GSP coral and would hate to kill it but......I'm just worried that it may start growing where I can’t see it before it’s too late and may spread onto the overlapping live rock on the sides of the tank.

GSP will grow in a toilet. Just sayin'.

 

[roblox84]

Generally it will grow laterally and up toward light and flow.

GSP will grow in a toilet. Just sayin'.

Oh yeah for sure. I’ve been fragging this same piece of GSP from a frag I got over 10 years ago. I liked it so much that in between upgrading/downgrading aquariums over the years I’d sell everything else but cut a piece of my GSP and I’d let the small frag live in a bucket of water in the basement for weeks at a time with no light, filter or heat. It has been through alot, lol.

This one was never a fast grower for me though. I don’t know if was because I’ve always kept it on an island in the substrate and didn’t get much light or whether it was because I don’t have many nutrients in my tanks. The piece you see in my pics is about 7 months old and grew from a 1/2” frag approx.