GSP attack?

[Casie]

Before reusing some old rock from my former tank, I gave them 5 weeks of darkness in a trashcan with weekly water changes to clean them up good. They looked great when they came out and the water tested fine, so in the new tank they went!

Shortly after, I discovered a quarter size patch of green star polyp survived and somehow avoided my visual inspection of each rock before being placed. But it was in a corner and looking pretty pathetic from its weeks in a dark bucket... so I ignored it.

That was about a year ago, and now its creeping up on some stuff that I care about! (Anyone remember that pic of the 45 gallon tank of wall to wall gsp? Scary!)

Here's what my invading gsp looks like now.

Will it attack? Should it be immediately banished from the tank? Anyone keep it in thier tank with sps?

It'll be a pain to remove. But not impossible if I start right away.

 

[Blindmelonbob]

Yes, it will probably encroach. Just try peeling it back to remove it. I have a lot more GSP than I ever thought I'd have. I actually flipped a big rock the other day to keep it from growing any closer to my sps.

 

[Greg Hiller]

You can also kill it using a paste of calcium hydroxide. Stop all water flow, apply the paste with a pipet, leave for 10-15 minutes, then siphon away the paste before restarting the pumps.

 

[Casie]

Ok, cool. I'll peel what I can and kalk the rest. On the one hand, it makes such a nice colorful filler... moving nicely with the flow. On the other hand, it grows faster than caps and is always moving towards the best real eastate in the tank. =/

Thanks for the great tips to help me get it back under control!

 

[cheesner]

Can the GSP do damage? Or is your concern just that it can cover up corals. I have a patch that is trying to overrun a clam. I have thought of cutting the clam and then placing on top of the GSP mat.

 

[RichConley]

Just pull out what you can, trade it in at the LFS, and repeat in 6 months when its back. its free money, and you're not killing anything in your tank (which leads to decomposition, and nutrient issues)

 

[Justin/TiV]

Or just trim it back every so often...give away frags of it.

 

[wentreefgirl]

Ive had them erode the top skin on my caps when they are next to them. I wouldnt keep them too long. Could you grow them on a reef plug. So when they start to move off you can trim them?

 

[dvanacker]

Keep them on a rock in the sand bed ......dont let it grow out onto other rocks.

Then just take clippings from it for frags every once an while.

The are a beautiful weed thats true....but you have to protect the flowers (SPS).