customanimalart
Member
I just fragged my GSP (first timer here). The colony is on one rock and was growing "off" the edges (as in not attached to) of the rock. The polyps had been closed for a few days and I noticed that it had some algae and debris/detritus on it. Itook it out of the tank and scrubbed it with a toothbrush and gave it a 5-10 min SW "reef dip" (that is the name of the product). I then fragged from it (made 5 frags) and put it back into the tank.
This was about 5 days ago. 4 of the 5 frags were put into my 55g frag tank. (They are the 1st additions yippee!) They have all opened up and are doing well. Now the 1 frag and the GSB ccolony were placed back into the main tank and haven't even thought about opening. When I fragged these the main colony felt rubbery but now it seems brittle in areas andd is lifted off the rock all around the edgess where I had fragged from..
Today I still noticed "crud" in and on the GSB colony. So I held it in front of a powerhead to blow out whatever I could, which was alot of sand and debris.. I then scrubbbed it down again, this time while it was in the tank under the lighting so I could see what i was doing. So now it is very clean and bright purple, and the polyps seem to be smaller than usual.
My question is why is it brittle in areas (some of the mat just broke off in teeny pieces from the edges as I scrubbed it) and do you think that this frag and colony will perk back up? I have read that you could scrub them and that they are pretty durable..
Any thoughs on this> Help? I don't want my first fragging experience ending up in a dead colony.
BTW...params are 83 temp, pH 8.4-8.5, 1.025 salinity, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, po4 -0.00-0.25, ammonia 0, ca 460-480 (a bit high), alk 6.14 dKH (a tad low). I am slowly balancing out the ca and alk.
IO salt, RODI water, lighting is Nova extreme t5's. Any unput/help here is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks!:rollface:
This was about 5 days ago. 4 of the 5 frags were put into my 55g frag tank. (They are the 1st additions yippee!) They have all opened up and are doing well. Now the 1 frag and the GSB ccolony were placed back into the main tank and haven't even thought about opening. When I fragged these the main colony felt rubbery but now it seems brittle in areas andd is lifted off the rock all around the edgess where I had fragged from..
Today I still noticed "crud" in and on the GSB colony. So I held it in front of a powerhead to blow out whatever I could, which was alot of sand and debris.. I then scrubbbed it down again, this time while it was in the tank under the lighting so I could see what i was doing. So now it is very clean and bright purple, and the polyps seem to be smaller than usual.
My question is why is it brittle in areas (some of the mat just broke off in teeny pieces from the edges as I scrubbed it) and do you think that this frag and colony will perk back up? I have read that you could scrub them and that they are pretty durable..
Any thoughs on this> Help? I don't want my first fragging experience ending up in a dead colony.
BTW...params are 83 temp, pH 8.4-8.5, 1.025 salinity, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, po4 -0.00-0.25, ammonia 0, ca 460-480 (a bit high), alk 6.14 dKH (a tad low). I am slowly balancing out the ca and alk.
IO salt, RODI water, lighting is Nova extreme t5's. Any unput/help here is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks!:rollface:
