What should I do with this Green Slimer?

[Jimbo327]

Funny story, this green slimer frag refuses to grow for me. I got it as a freebie from @Dorado when I first started my tank, and it was one of those tester frags. Green slimers are known to be fast grower.

Well, it's been in the same spot for over 2 years. It might have grown a bit thicker and that's about it.

The Merlin's Staff in front of it was placed there after the green slimer, and it has already fully encrusted and probably going to grow into it.

Should I clip the green slimer tip and try to encourage new growth? Or just leave it alone? I mean, I have waited for 2 years for it to do something.

 

[mescobar]

Do you know what PAR its sitting at?

I'd consider breaking off a piece and placing elsewhere in your tank to see if there's a better place it likes. Maybe it wants more flow or more light. The polyp extension looks pretty good.

I went through something similar with my slimmer, I had a slimmer frag that I couldn't get break the peg off the plug. So I broke off a piece from slimmer itself. I put the new fresh frag on a tonga rock and it hasn't done anything except encrust. However, the original slimmer on the existing plug, was left on the frag rack (higher flow and light) and it has grown upwards and is now taller than when I originally acquired the coral.

 

[bakbay]

Super weird - if it’s more than 2 years, then you should give it to me to try out? lol

Have you considered to relocate to another location?

 

[Jimbo327]

If I have to guess, it is probably somewhere between 200-250 PAR.

 

[Discotu]

I think its one of the great mysteries of reefing. I have frags that have also been siiting for well over a year with barely any growth. That said, 200par seems a tad low....agree with others move it higher or frag.

 

[Jimbo327]

I’m going to snip the tip 1/4” and see how it heals.

Bump up my lighting 10%. It’s already in a high spot, just off to the side corner so PAR drops off. But what’s weird is that other SPS is growing well all around it. I didn’t think green slimmer require that much lighting.

 

[drexel]

I would take a slightly larger piece, at least a 1/2" or more and create a frag. These guys like high flow and light, mine was growing out of the water and was being pounded by flow and light. I would find a spot with at least 300-350 micromoles.

 

[Jimbo327]

I went ahead and cut the tip, slimed up pretty good. I’ll update when it heals, and then if it does anything.

 

[thresher]

Neon Highlighter green! Out of curiosity, I had what was called a green slimer back in the days however it was chewbacca hairy. Im assuming their are a few assortment of "green slimers" going around the hobby?

 

[thresher]

View attachment 132071

Squint your eyes people. What does it look like now?

Ban me now

 

[Jimbo327]

I’m sure there are a few variants of green slimer. This one is hairy too. It is the OG Bali green slimer for sure. It’s one of those SPS that is classic. I think every tank should have one. Great under both white and blue.

 

[Jimbo327]

I found a photo of the frag in March 2024. You can see the Merlin’s Staff is still a small frag, now it has encrusted and shot many branches. Yet the green slimer is just a bit bigger. I see other people grow huge colonies of green slimer. Maybe it hates that spot, but that’s where I want it.

 

[bakbay]

Unless that’s one OG Green Slimer that’s part of your family heirloom, just get another one man. Certain frags are duds. You have more patience than me. I would have moved / tossed it in the corner after a year.

 

[thresher]

I think you got the runt of the litter. That merlin is taking off though.

 

[Jimbo327]

It's more of a fascination now on why this starter frag won't grow. I tried waiting it out...but I think even my patience has run out. LOL.

So let's see what happens when I snip the tip. Is it just going to heal up and do nothing? Or is it going to actually shoot up some tips? Or is it going to STN from the tip? How quickly can a cut tip heal on a slimer?

I guess we will see. Will keep this thread updated on its progress.

 

[bakbay]

I’ve done this before on other frags - nada, it healed but didn’t shoot up like you’ll expect. Perhaps your luck is better than mine.

 

[mchain275]

Cut tips should heal rapidly on a healthy piece. Often spurs omni-directional growth

 

[drexel]

I actually had to cut the tips off of mine as they grew out of the water and started to grow cyano on them. This was about a month or before I had to cut back. At the surface it was getting 700+ micromoles, if not more. So give them everything you got.


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[mchain275]

Same for me, it's happy to take as much light as you can push

View attachment IMG_7341.jpeg

 

[thresher]

I actually had to cut the tips off of mine as they grew out of the water and started to grow cyano on them. This was about a month or before I had to cut back. At the surface it was getting 700+ micromoles, if not more. So give them everything you got.


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Them are some happy fellas. Look at that extension!