| Difficulty | Very easy |
| Time Required | 10 minutes |
| Healing Time | About 1 week |
| Best Method | Cut and peel a strip of mat |
| Coral Type | Encrusting soft coral (purple mat) |
Overview
GSP grows as a purple rubber mat that carpets anything in its path, which makes fragging trivially easy: cut the mat, peel a strip, glue it down. The real skill with GSP is containment — most reefers eventually frag it to stop it. Grown on an isolated island rock or the back wall it is spectacular; loose in your rockwork it is a green lawn you will be mowing forever.
What You’ll Need
- Scalpel or sharp scissors
- Frag plugs, discs or an isolated rock
- Gel super glue
Step-by-Step
- Find a mat edge (or lift one by sliding the scalpel underneath) and cut a strip roughly an inch long.
- Peel the strip off the rock — the purple mat comes away cleanly like sticker vinyl.
- Dab the underside dry and glue it flat to the plug. Edges down; it re-adheres fast.
- Return both to moderate light and flow. Done — this is the whole job.
Aftercare & Healing
Polyps reopen within a day or two, and the mat edge starts creeping within a week — GSP can double in months. Trim the parent’s advancing edge whenever it approaches something you care about; those trimmings are free frags for the swap box.
What Can Go Wrong
Polyps closed for days: GSP sulks after handling but almost always reopens; check for algae smothering the mat. It is taking over the tank: the classic GSP problem — keep it on an island, and peel invading mat off rocks completely (any purple left behind regrows).
Related Care Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I frag green star polyps?
GSP grows as an encrusting purple mat, so peel or cut a section of mat off the rock and glue or rubber-band it onto a new plug or rock. It is one of the easiest corals to frag.
Is GSP easy to grow?
Very. It is a fast, hardy beginner coral. That is also its downside: it spreads aggressively and can overgrow neighbors, so many people keep it on an isolated island rock.
Why will my GSP not open?
Newly moved GSP can sulk for days to weeks before the mat re-establishes and polyps extend. Give it stable moderate flow and light; a film-algae layer or being disturbed will also keep it closed.