Star Polyps are dying help!!!

[ocgirlygrl]

The other day I was trying to clean the moss and algea off of my star polyps and I ran them under warm water. Now, they won't come back out. Are they dead? Did the warm water kill them? Is there any chance of saving them?

 

[murph145]

i dont think running them under warm water might have been the best idea....
but im not gonna go on about that
however some of my GSP's will close up for a couple days then reopen.... scared me at first but then i seen what they were doin now im use to it... i would give them some time hopefully the water was not too warm that they did die....
i guess all you can do for right now is leave them be and see if they will reopen....

 

[bigarn]

If it was tap water, not a good thing to do. I guess it would depend on how long you had them under the tap. It doesn't sound good, but you never know. Good luck.

 

[ocgirlygrl]

The water wasn't too hot, just warm, but it was fresh water....I figured if they would be okay since they werent out anyway. They were only under the water for maybe 1 minute....but, if they do come back, will the algea growing on them hurt them, or will they be ok? if I need to take the algea off, how can I do that without killing them?

 

[stuckinfla]

Stars can stay closed for quite a while.....what type of algea?

 

[murph145]

as long as the algae isnt a hair type or suffacating them they should be fine.... i noticed some of mine have a lil red algae growing on them not much but they seem to be fine....
tap water for a minute hmmm...
only time will tell

 

[ocgirlygrl]

There might be another reason for the star polyp being closed...I just bought a Valentini Puffer and I told the guy my tank was a reef, and he said it would be fine. Could that also be the reason? Should I take back the Puffer?

 

[dragonboy]

I dunno if the puffer would be okay in a reef but as for as the star polyp you shock the coral with the water and plus its fresh too. The star are pretty senstive corals too so for them to come back you just have to see and gamble with it. What kind of star do you have? I have lots of star polyps they grow pretty fast. So u in OC same as me.

 

[murph145]

puffer generally arent good in reefs but not exactly sure on that one let me look...... my fish bible say its not recommended for a reef tank system..... i just had to get rid of my one spot fox face becuz it was nippin at my table coral and it wouldnt stop.... just luck of the draw ....
so u and dragon boy live in oc ... i live more north in ventura county simi valley to be exact

 

[bdhough]

Who told you to run them under tap water? Fresh water coral baths can be done but usually that involves dipping them into a preset tub and not for a minute but a few seconds i think. I also think its not to be done with algae but certain coral diseases. What kind of algae was it? To keep algae from building place a bit of currrent over the polyps. They should sway. If they don't sway then try and move them to a spot where they will. They grow best with some current on them.
The puffer is somewhat reef safe. Reef safe is just a general term. There are varying degrees of reef safe ie invert and coral safe. Thats what you should ask. He will eat shrimp and other inverts. He does not mess with corals so he's not keeping your GSP closed.
GSP notoriously stay closed for days be patient. if the purple mat deteriorates or turns white then the colony is dying and the dead spots need to be turkey basted out/eaten by inverts or it will pollute your tank.
I would suggest figuring out what you like then asking if you can keep and what it does before buying it and then finding out what it needs or does. Try and purchase some fish/coral books, Scott W. Michael has Marine Fishes, and Eric Borneman has great coral books....