Green Star Polyps

[Alaunis]

Hello all,
So I just got my gsp frag delivered today. I'm new to soft corals, so if anyone can help out a noob that would be great

I was a little concerned about lighting and flow in my tank. I have a 15 gallon Eclipse tank with the original hood, so a 1x18" 15w fluorescent bulb. Is this enough for gsp? My frag is about halfway up the tank. There seems to be plenty of light where I placed it.

The other thing I want advice on is my flow. The only source of movement in my tank is from the return water pouring into the tank from the filter system in the hood. It aerates and moves the water pretty well. Where my gsp is, it seems to get a good amount of flow, as in the polyps (when they hopefully come out) will be moving but not so much that they are constantly pushed over, but then again not a lot. Should I get a nano powerhead for more power and control?

The polyps haven't extended yet, and I kind of expected that since I just got it today and I've heard some people's didn't come out for a week. I just want to be sure that I don't have a serious problem with my lighting and flow. All other parameters are fine.

 

[Rutrag]

I'm afraid your lighting is likely not intense enough for corals. Also, it looks as though you have a Cyanobacteria outbreak. You want to get that under control PDQ.

 

[Fish-guy]

I haven't heard of gsp not opening for a week. Every coral i ever put in my tank opens up after 2 - 4 hours. It is probable not enough light for your gsp. Try placing it as high possible on top of a rock.! And yes you have a cyano outbreak. (red slimy stuff on sand)

 

[Alaunis]

Thanks guys,
Well, the polyps opened up early this morning when my lights turned on and they look very bright and healthy. Yay! If they start to lose their color or anything I will probably upgrade my lighting. I've been researching lights and might get a t5 dual bulb 36w upgrade. Would that be enough wattage? My dad was a major in electronics, so he could probably upgrade the whole hood. (Its an eclipse)

Yeah, the cyanobacteria has been in my tank for the last 4 months and its actually gone down an impressive amount in the last few weeks. I increased the flow in that area and I might get a nano powerhead to help with that and get more flow to the gsp.

 

[Zer0]

What size is your tank? Would be great to have the exact dimensions, mainly the height. You might want to go with more then 36w in general, since you may want to add more high-light corals in the future.

 

[Alaunis]

I got a nano powerhead today, as well as some special cyano killing stuff, so that should help with the cyanobacteria.

I think its 20" x 18" x 10" so height is 20". But I'm not sure, I'll check when I get home. Do you think that 36w is good enough for gsp? that's probably the only type of coral I'm going to put in there. When I go to college and leave my tank at home, I don't want my parents to have to target feed them all the time. Gsp seemed great for me since they really only need whatever they can filter out of the water.

 

[Rutrag]

GSP should really never need to be fed, just light and flow.