are star polyps mat hard or soft to the touch?

Like my title is saying are the star polyps mat hard or soft when you touch it. I think that what I have it's purple and won't open i am trying to figure out if it'd dead or not?

 

soft.

 

It's between hard and soft. Kinda rubbery.
Give it the sniff test to see if it's alive or not. If it is dead, it will have an awe full smell.
How long have you had it?
They usually close up from time to time usually indicating that it's not getting enough water movement.

 

I doubt you killed it, I've scraped it off rocks with a razor blade and it still comes back.

 

Star Polyps are difficult to kill. Sometimes some species are slow to acclimate, but once they do, they are there to stay. If anything you need to be careful where you put them so they don't take over. I've even had them go UNDER THE SAND, rooting out to find the main rock I tried to keep them separate from.

Give them some time...

 

Not to worry, since you say it is "Purple" that is the key. I believe if were dying it fades and like someone said earlier, stinks. I just had an episode of my large colony (7"x10") hadn't stayed closed (except at night) for probably 2 years then one day after the lights were on it didn't open and stayed that way for about a month. It is now opening again every day. They, like many other coral, shut down/rest from time to time. I hope this eases any angst you may have.

 

It came on my cured rock and it's kind of hard I would love it if it makes it through my cycle. Thanks for your help

 

Are you sure its not coralline algea? Or did you see it open at some point to know its GSP?

 

Agree with this and sniff test. From experience: as long as it's purple it's still alive. If it's dead it'll smell dead and the purple will begin to turn black and disintegrate. A friend of mine and I did an experiment with his colony. He mailed me a roughly 4"x8" piece usps priority from WA to SD. It was padded with chaeto inside of a ziploc and very little water. That didn't kill it..the polyps didn't show themselves for over a month but survived and are now spreading quickly in my dt.
*edit* forgot to add that there was another box with just a piece in a ziploc and box insulated with newspaper that died. Got ahead of myself srry

 

so the smell test... I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm sure it does.

But anything that is in or out of a tank stinks to high heaven IMO... I can tell some things smell worse than others, but it all smells dead to me; so I can't perform this smell test with any confidence (I also can't tell good milk from bad milk just by smelling - they both smell terrible to me)...

Though, i think I am the anomaly here. Anyway, all I'm saying is don't expect live GSP to smell like flowers and rainbows


Also, a purple mat is a live GSP. A white mat can be live GSP (GSP that doesn't get a lot of light often has a white mat in that area) and I have seen GSP with a black mat that still had polyps... but dead GSP usually is black. Sometimes grey IME.


I've left GSP in a freshwater bucket (RO) for over an hour before (to kill sponge)... the GSP didn't open for a week, but it did open back... that stuff is insane.