You got frightened when your green star polyp suddenly started showing certain symptoms, huh? It’s natural to assume they’re dying.
But fortunately for you, these corals tend to be very resilient!
How do you save green star polyps from dying?
Green star polyps show changes when they can’t adjust to certain living conditions. So, you need to check some components in your aquarium.
To do this, you need to check the pH, lighting, and trace element amounts. Furthermore, keeping the green star polyp isolated might also save them.
Also, if algae are infesting them, you should remove them.
We’ll give you step solutions so you can figure out the problem and solve it. So, read on!
Symptoms of a Dying Green Star Polyp
As mentioned before, these corals will show their declining condition by showing changes. So, you will be alerted by these symptoms if the green star polyp is dying.
Change in Colour
The base of a green star polyp is usually purple. But when it starts dying, it changes to white in some places too.
This change does not only happen in the case of these corals. In other creatures, Chaeto also starts showing white areas when dying.
If you see the edges of the coral turning deep purple, it’s another symptom.
Disintegration of Skin
Sometimes the purple part of its skin might start disintegrating. This is a severe symptom, and your green star polyp will need immediate attention.
However, these symptoms don’t indicate that they’ll surely die.
Taking appropriate measures can help them retain their health again. And we’re here to help you with that!
What Should Be Done to Save The Green Star Polyps Dying?
As we’ve mentioned before, you’re in luck! Because apart from being resilient, these corals have amazing recovery power too!
Here, we’ll tell you the reasons and procedures to successfully retain their health below too-
Reason 1 of 5: Removing Algae
First of all, what you need to do is make sure that no algae remain on top of the coral. Algae decline the health of green star polyps the most rapidly. Eventually, these corals die.
Small masses of green or brown algae can be seen accumulating on the green star polyp.
Solution
You can remove these small masses of algae with the help of a small toothbrush. To keep algae away permanently, place around 6-8 snails on the coral.
Placing the snail shells will stop algae from growing there. They can act as a decorative purpose for your aquarium tank too!
So, it’s killing two birds with one stone! These snail shells come in a big set at a small price too. Thus, grab your own set now!
For the most effective yet difficult measure, dip the coral inside a Hydrogen Peroxide solution.
Hydrogen Peroxide works as a wonderful disinfectant and algaecide. It has its uses in gardening as well!
When you first dip the green star polyps under it, the coral will react negatively. All the polyps will close.
But eventually, after around a week, the polyps will start opening again. So you have nothing to worry about.
Thus, keep the algae away!
Reason 2 of 5: Keeping It Isolated
After you’ve removed the algae, if there were any, move to the next step. That is, checking what your green star polyps have around them.
It is a very aggressive coral. It grows rapidly and spreads throughout other things. Keeping it around certain other corals, like the torch coral, can kill them.
Solution
To solve this, try to keep your green star polyps as far away from other corals and rocks as possible.
Don’t let them overtake everything else in the tank!
Reason 3 of 5: Providing Proper Lighting Conditions
After you’ve checked their position, consider the amount of light you’re giving.
It’s recommended to keep green star polyps under moderate to strong LED lights.
You must not give them a low amount of light at all because they use the power of light to photosynthesize and make nutrients.
Solution
Not giving enough light can kill these corals. That said, ensure you don’t place it too close to bright light. They might burn the coral instead.
And, if you just recently changed the bulb of your LED light, give them some time to adjust.
You can help them adjust by keeping the new bulb on for some time and turning it off later. Then, you can slowly increase the duration it’s turned on.
You can also opt for high-quality t5 lights as a lighting option!
Reason 4 of 5: Deficiency of Proper Nutrients
Next comes an important thing to ensure, that is the whole condition of the tank. To give good living conditions to these corals, you must provide proper nutrients.
Don’t worry; nutrients don’t necessarily mean food here! For the green star polyps, you need to add the correct amounts of trace elements to the tank.
Solution
Here, you need to provide its main nutrient, 420-500 ppm of Calcium. You also need 1200-1350 ppm Magnesium and 1-10 ppm Nitrate.
Ammonia is harmful to these corals, so make sure that their level in water is as low as possible.
You can test the nitrate levels in your tank by using a trusty nitrate test kit.
Reason 5 of 5: Imbalance of pH Level
After ensuring everything above, the condition of your coral will improve. But there’s one more thing to keep in mind. That is the pH level of the tank water.
Solution
Normally, it’s recommended to keep a pH of 7.8-8.4 in the water of the reef tank. But, even if your pH tends to be lower than 7.8, don’t try to increase it.
If you do, it will change the nutrient level in the water. And everything will be messed up.
So, make sure you don’t do more harm to your green star polyps than good!
FAQs
Question: Do green star polyps as high water flow?
Answer: Yes. It is recommended to keep green star polyps in moderate to high water flow. This is because detritus tends to set on top of them.
So, a high water flow keeps them away. Also, a high water flow stimulates their growth.
Question: How fast do green star polyps spread?
Answer: Green star polyps spread around 2 or more inches in a month. They first lay a purple mat over the rock.
Then, polyps start spreading and growing over the mat.
Question: How do you prune green star polyps?
Answer: When the polyps keep growing even beyond the rock, you need to prune them. Cutting off the edges with scissors or simply breaking their edges will do the trick.
You can use the pruned pieces by super-gluing them on other rocks.
Bottom Line
That’s about it! These are the ways you save your green star polyps from dying.
An extra tip from us: Usually, when you place green star polyps in a new environment, they take time to adjust.
Because these corals dislike being moved around. So, you’ll see that the polyps are closed at first. They’ll open again later, naturally, so don’t worry!