Pruning green star polyps

[mrdc]

I purchased a frag of green star polyps yesterday because they were a very nice bright green. I did some more searching on them last night to see where would be the best place to put them in the tank and I read that they can grow quickly and sometimes can become a nuisance. It was suggested to prune them so that they don’t take over. How do you prune them? Is there an ideal place they can be placed in the tank to help control where they grow? One guy posted that he leaned his on the back glass and it grew up the glass.

 

[ryancw01]

It is not easy to prune them when they start taking over a rock. Their base just kind of rolls over it like lava and forms a thin coat over the rock. They have started to take over my tank and I am losing the battle. I was able to tear off one chunk that was not attached to a rock and take back to the LFS, but am at a loss as to how to stop it from spreading over all my rock int he tank.

 

[mrdc]

That’s not good to hear. I guess I will sit the frag on some loose rock that I can easily remove if it starts spreading too much.

 

[95harley]

Will they grow up the overflows and/or back of glass? Or only on rocks.

 

[mrdc]

I've read that they can grown on everything. They can slow encroach on stoney corals. About half my frag is open now. I will let it be for now and decide tomorrow if I want to move it. I have a marine order coming in tomorrow so I plan to do some rearranging anyway.

 

[saxman]

GSP isn't all that tuff to control. the key is if you only want it on a certain rock, make sure nothing else is touching that rock. the GSP will indeed cover the rock and stop because it has nowhere to go. i kept a single GSP-covered rock for years when i was doing the reef thing, and we actually still have the original GSP-covered rock in one of our scorp tanx.
if you need to prune it or want to frag it, just get your fingernails up under the edge of the purple mat that the stolons protrude from and pry it off. it comes off in a sheet.
HTH

 

[scopus tang]

^+1; I keep my GSP as an island on a small rock. When it over grows the rock and starts growing out over the sandbed, I "prune" it using scissors or simply break the edges off. These "pruned" pieces can then be superglued onto other rocks and sold or traded to the LFS for credit or cash, or sometimes other reefers. GSP will grow onto glass, plastic, rock, sand, etc. However when growing vertically on glass, its own weight will sometimes cause it to peel off and fall.

 

[95harley]

So if you have a tower rock in the middle of the tank and you sit a GSP rock on top will it around the bottom and grow down toward the base?
Or does it only grow towards the light?
I'm considering a stand alone giant green tower covered with GSP's from top to bottom.