Large brown palys taking over my reef

[Noel devlin]

I have a 500ltr mostly hard coral reef but one piece of rock had some large brown palys on it !! Now they are taking over my tank spreading to the sandbed ant the rocks around it !! My problem is my aquascape is all glued in place so i can't take the rocks out and clean them !! My last attempt to remove some ended up with me in bed for 2 days with palytoxin poisoning and all my montys dead !! Is there a way to either kill them in the tank or remove them without killing myself and everything in the tank !! Help !!!!

 

[Reefing Madness]

Use rubber gloves when you go back in to rip them out.

 

[3mm3]

Maybe borrow someone's rabbit fish? I realize risky but may work.

 

[mfinn]

What I have done in the past to get rid of trash polyps and button polyps that get out of control is to mix up kalk powder ( I use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime) into a paste.
I use 5-6 tablespoons to a couple teaspoons of tap water and nuke it for 30-40 seconds. You may have to adjust the individual amounts accordingly to get a paste.
Turn off all flow in the tank. Return pump and powerheads.
I use a plastic 5 mil syringe without any tip on it and use it to carefully spread the kalk paste over a small section of the polyps you want gone. Be very careful to not get it on any coral. Make sure there isn't a prized coral directly below a area you are using this on.
Leave it on for 20-25 minutes. ( I've even shut the lights off to force the fish to take cover so they don't stir up the water).
Then I use a suction hose ( my python hose) to remove all of the kalk paste from the area. Some of the polyps will have dissolved and you want that material to go out too.
I usually do this on a water change day so I can really suction off the area.
I've had some of the kalk paste float into the water column, but really haven't seen any lasting damage.
Don't try and do too much at one time. Keep it to a small area and you should have reasonable success.
I've done this with several different types of polyps and even mushrooms.

 

[Noel devlin]

Last time i disturbed them in the tank the mucas they released into the water killed everything it landed on !!!

 

[Noel devlin]

The kalk trick sounds good !! I might give that a try over the weekend !!

 

[Noel devlin]

Just a quick update !! I now have no large brown palys the kalk trick worked perfect with no side affects !! As mfinn says only do a small portion at a time and it works a treat !! Thanks mfinn !!!.....

 

[mfinn]

Just a quick update !! I now have no large brown palys the kalk trick worked perfect with no side affects !! As mfinn says only do a small portion at a time and it works a treat !! Thanks mfinn !!!.....

You're welcome.

Keep a eye on the area. Sometimes they sneak back.
Catch em early and it's a smaller job.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I have a 500ltr mostly hard coral reef but one piece of rock had some large brown palys on it !! Now they are taking over my tank spreading to the sandbed ant the rocks around it !! My problem is my aquascape is all glued in place so i can't take the rocks out and clean them !! My last attempt to remove some ended up with me in bed for 2 days with palytoxin poisoning and all my montys dead !! Is there a way to either kill them in the tank or remove them without killing myself and everything in the tank !! Help !!!!

Lazer zap

 

[WannaBSpaghetti]

Lazer zap

Does that actually work?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Does that actually work?

Check out

 

[Jared.matson.065]

Just a quick update !! I now have no large brown palys the kalk trick worked perfect with no side affects !! As mfinn says only do a small portion at a time and it works a treat !! Thanks mfinn !!!.....

Just a quick update !! I now have no large brown palys the kalk trick worked perfect with no side affects !! As mfinn says only do a small portion at a time and it works a treat !! Thanks mfinn !!!.....

What kalk did you use? Does it matter?

 

[i cant think]

I have a 500ltr mostly hard coral reef but one piece of rock had some large brown palys on it !! Now they are taking over my tank spreading to the sandbed ant the rocks around it !! My problem is my aquascape is all glued in place so i can't take the rocks out and clean them !! My last attempt to remove some ended up with me in bed for 2 days with palytoxin poisoning and all my montys dead !! Is there a way to either kill them in the tank or remove them without killing myself and everything in the tank !! Help !!!!

It’s in these situations that a coral eating specimen (Foxface, Angel, Butterfly ect.) doesn’t seem too bad…

 

[mfinn]

What kalk did you use? Does it matter?

I use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime

 

[Jared.matson.065]

Would this work?

What I have done in the past to get rid of trash polyps and button polyps that get out of control is to mix up kalk powder ( I use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime) into a paste.
I use 5-6 tablespoons to a couple teaspoons of tap water and nuke it for 30-40 seconds. You may have to adjust the individual amounts accordingly to get a paste.
Turn off all flow in the tank. Return pump and powerheads.
I use a plastic 5 mil syringe without any tip on it and use it to carefully spread the kalk paste over a small section of the polyps you want gone. Be very careful to not get it on any coral. Make sure there isn't a prized coral directly below a area you are using this on.
Leave it on for 20-25 minutes. ( I've even shut the lights off to force the fish to take cover so they don't stir up the water).
Then I use a suction hose ( my python hose) to remove all of the kalk paste from the area. Some of the polyps will have dissolved and you want that material to go out too.
I usually do this on a water change day so I can really suction off the area.
I've had some of the kalk paste float into the water column, but really haven't seen any lasting damage.
Don't try and do too much at one time. Keep it to a small area and you should have reasonable success.
I've done this with several different types of polyps and even mushrooms.