Help with a Green Starburst Coral colony - please

[chris_crawford]

I have a colony of Green Starburst Coral that have all pulled into their little tubes and will not come out.

One day I noticed that not all of them came out when the lights came on. Less came out the next day, until finally none are comming out.

Is this a normal reaction for the coral? I have a few other green starburst in another part of the tank that are doing ok.

By the way, I found some white sponge growing on the edge of the colony, but I don't think that would hurt the whole colony, would it?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

-chris
http://www.chriscrawford.com/reef/

 

[Mike02]

How long have you had them? i had trouble with mine the first month or so. They wouldnt all come out and then come out at night. i kinda think that they didnt like the lighting. They would be fully open in the morning b4 the lights came on and then after the lights came on they'd curl up and cringe. i dont have that problem anymore. they are fully open in the day and closed at least some of the night. and they're growing really fast now. I've had this tank for a little over 3 months and the GSP for almost as long.

 

[Rube]

Does this coral also go by the name "green star polyps"? If so, I had a rock full of them that died much like that. Sorry if that's the case.

 

[monkeyboy]

Sounds like green star polyps, pachyclavularia sp. , but we'll need more info than that to figure out what's going on. Post your water parameters and your lighting (wether its new, changed lamps, blah blah), water movement, and how long the tank's been up for.

 

[Mike02]

green star and green starburst are the same thing. some places call it green starburst, but most call it green star.

 

[Mike02]

i read somewhere online that GSP is sensitive to PH. it requires a PH somewhere around 8.2 - 8.5 i think. also about the white sponge. that wont hurt GSP.

 

[davelin315]

If you have others in the same tank doing well, somebody is probably just picking at those particular colonies. I wouldn't worry too much, I have some star polyps that take turns not coming out, but they always make it back, and they are growing well.