Control Zoa

Derek Clifford · Mar 28, 2018

Firstly, I am not sure on the IDs so I will reference them by color.
The larger green Zoa on the right is growing fairly quickly and taking over the rock it is on. It is overtaking the smaller brigter green zoa.
How can I control the larger one? The rick can't be removed. I have tried to pull it from the rock with a tweezers but it just goes squiggy and I cant pull it away.
Any ideas?

Plunker05@gmail · Mar 28, 2018

I believe those are green Palys and they will cover everything. I'm about to remove half of my structure to try to get rid of them. be careful they are probably very toxic and will hurt you and your tank creatures. Try to remove them somehow and use plenty of carbon in your filtration to remove the toxins.

Plunker05@gmail · Mar 28, 2018

Also wear protective gear, gloves, goggles etc. if you pull the rock out to remove them. and do it outside not in the house.

Tahoe61 · Mar 28, 2018

Yup Green Palys, and they are indeed very toxic. Even removing them underwater manually can be problematic and is not an endeavor I would take on.

Davy Jones · Mar 28, 2018

Toss any rock those are on. be extremely careful as this type of paly releases paly toxin which can kill. If agitated enough it will become airborne and potentially harm family members and even pets. DO NOT try and boil or scrub the rock as that will absolutely cause them to release their toxins.

Derek Clifford · Mar 28, 2018

thanks for the replies. They are replies that I thought I would get but feared I would get them.
I can try to remove the rock, but I think it will mean I will have to disturb a lot of other rocks. Its a pity.

Plunker05@gmail · Mar 28, 2018

I feel your pain. I have let mine get out of hand and will tearing up a bunch of my setup to get rid of them.

Davy Jones · Mar 28, 2018

Derek Clifford said:
thanks for the replies. They are replies that I thought I would get but feared I would get them.
I can try to remove the rock, but I think it will mean I will have to disturb a lot of other rocks. Its a pity.

Better to disturb it now and toss a couple rocks then let it take over the entire rock scape

jeffp1 · Mar 28, 2018

I control mine with a laser. Some have said it might harm tank, but after about a month of doing this, no problems. I did have tingling in hands and arms when I used to remove them with tweezers. Have had hands in tank after burning them with no issues.

amonk · Mar 28, 2018

kalkwasser paste will do it. I finally got mine under control by making a Dr Seuss style tree for them to live on so they cannot spread anywhere else. =] you can see it in the background.

danschoenherr · Mar 28, 2018

Hate to say it, but get those out of your tank. They WILL overgrow just about everything. I've been through that with those and Pink and Golds. Remove the rocks affected and if possible, have some new live rock pieces the replace them. Look at it as an oppurtunity to modify you scape. I had a bucket of water that I placed them in immediately after removing from the tank and then directly outside. (these are most likely a palyotoxin risk) A year in the sun and they were ready to acid clean and bleach to reuse some day.

petemichelle · Mar 29, 2018

apraxia X from red sea will also kill them..

Derek Clifford · Mar 29, 2018

petemichelle said:
apraxia X from red sea will also kill them..

I tried aptasia x previously and it didn't do anything. I had used it on GSP wih great succes.

Derek Clifford · Mar 29, 2018

I pulled out the rock today. Came out pretty easily. I got some of the good green Zoas off and onto a frag plug.

There is now a larger sand area that I need to fill

Thanks for the replies. LFS said they will take the rock if I want to give it to them.

Jesus · Mar 29, 2018

I had a similar problem but a little bigger the rock in my 300 gal was completely covered with them and the way I removed them was simple it did take some time but ai got rid of them this is what I did I removed a few pcs of rock at a time and placed them outside in the sun, when they were dried I scraped them of with a scalpel then I put those rocks back in the tank and took some more out until I did about 300 lbs of rock Occasionally I see one or two and I put some aptasia x on them and that's the way I got rid of them hope it helps you