palythoa guts coming out

ladyreefer1983 · May 9, 2013

ok....i have kept z and p's for quite a while and this very new to me...ive seen palys getting fungus,brown slime,white mush,cut off heads/polyps,inverted....but this that is happening on one of my mini colony is very new to me...the guts are coming out like the polyp burst open,,,all guts are protruding..not a good sight...my other palys are ok...
changes i made,i added a gfo reactor....
the mini colony is very close and touching a green birdsnest...

anyone encounter this problem? all polyps are close some half open and few polyps have all guts bursting out...the mini colony is encrusted in a rock so i have no way of dipping it....
im quite getting paranoid and thinking of just scraping all polyps that way it dont infect others but thought ill ask here if anyone have experience this happen to them....is it contagious?all other palys are very healthy...

any help is appreciated...

thanks

bucksfan1976 · May 9, 2013

I have been doing this for several years but never have heard of this, I wouldnt take a chance.

justgotwet · May 9, 2013

Maybe put them in a different tank and see what happens.

jservedio · May 9, 2013

By "Guts coming out" what do you mean - you certainly have me interested... Can you take a picture? Does it look like it is "Throwing Up" or "Pooping" because it could just be purging waste or zooxanthelle (that is if they aren't "exploded" or mangled).

ladyreefer1983 · May 9, 2013

it is not purging waste or pooping...its actually the guts that are out,like mouth is exploded with guts....i gave the polyps time to maybe the guts will turn back in but today its still same...couple polyps already slimed and look mushy....and im actually gonna just scrape those polyps that i know wont make it....i am going to take a picture...this is really new to me....i have no idea what is causing it....might be the birdsnest that is touching it....but still i am not convince it is...
all other palys are not showing signs of this...

kuansreef · May 9, 2013

It's a goner when you see gut out. It happens when water chemistry changes too drastically, like too much gfo, carbon, vodka dosing, biopellets. Take a look at your other zoas, they may not as fully open as they used to. Some may start melting.

ladyreefer1983 · May 9, 2013

yes the polyps are goner...all my z and p's are fine...no changes at all...all are open except for this mini colony which really puzzles me.

ladyreefer1983 · May 9, 2013

i only put 3/4 cup of gfo on my 90 gal tank..do u think thats too much?didnt see any other corals that are affected except a favia that is kind of bleaching a bit but everything else is fine.....

jservedio · May 10, 2013

When you lose only a single colony and din't screw something up massively, especially if they are split open like that, I would be worried about some kind of predator. Get your flashlight out and take a peek at the tank at night - because if it is a predator, you are going to be losing more. Some of them are easy to see basically any night (like spiders and nudis - the nudis are REALLY small though) and some a VERY hard to find - mainly asterinas that eat zoas. I am currently dealing with asterinas in one of my colonies - but it is taking it's sweet time and the colony is growing faster than it can eat.

Something being ripped open like that sounds like it could be something worse - keep your eyes peeled and pay attention.

Check your parameters often and don't make any big changes. Also, check to make sure none of your fish/inverts are picking at zoas/palys. Any fish that have ever been reported eating polyps?

joshporksandwich · May 10, 2013

They're very stressed. the same thing happens to anemones what i do is I put a few ice cubes on a small container of tank water and leave the coral there for 15-20. Cold water makes them bring their insides back. Most of the times they stay closed for a day or 2 but they come back. Of course I've had some never recover and melt.

ladyreefer1983 · May 17, 2013

sorry got a bit busy the few days...joshporksandwich,thats a great recommendation!never have any idea about that,,thanks!
so i cut up as much polyps as i can that are not lookig good,,,i can't get the colony out to dip so i just decided to get rid of affected polyps one by one...as im cutting it theres white goo coming out and milky(did not quite expect that) its like similar to a zoa pox,,i thought its going to be like brown goo...i siphon every milky stuff that comes out and suck everything as much as i could...after that im left with a 1/4 of the colony...today i dont see any polyps looking weird but they are still not all the way happy but they are starting to open...i can see that the polyps are looking clean and getting plumpy...we will see...i am just glad no other palys are affected but its still too early to tell...

melendezreef · May 19, 2013

do they like like this?

1mbrews8 · May 19, 2013

joshporksandwic said:
They're very stressed. the same thing happens to anemones what i do is I put a few ice cubes on a small container of tank water and leave the coral there for 15-20. Cold water makes them bring their insides back. Most of the times they stay closed for a day or 2 but they come back. Of course I've had some never recover and melt.

Ice cubes "around" the container of tank water, or "inside" the actual container with the tank water?

joshporksandwich · May 19, 2013

1mbrews8 said:
Ice cubes "around" the container of tank water, or "inside" the actual container with the tank water?

I've out directly into the container but my friends which are more careful use a ziplock for the ice.

Reefin247 · Oct 10, 2016

Resurrecting an old thread...any idea on how to fix this? Got 2 iteer chaos colonies doing this

Reefin247 · Oct 10, 2016

See pic

A. grandis · Oct 10, 2016

Params?
Light?
Temp?
Feeding?
GFO? GAC?
Any reactors?
Checked for predators already?
etc,etc,etc... Please.
Tell us all about the history of the system and when that started...
New additions to the tank?
Any changes before that happened?
The more info the better...
And a much better picture, if you would, with the whites on.
So people could try to help you.

Grandis.

Yeet.Reefing · Mar 11, 2021

old thread but I think I have the same problem... anyone know if they’re goners once something like this happens?

tsouth · May 8, 2021

Bump. Losing polyps incredibly fast due to this. Any insight? I had an alk swing and two corals in particular are hit hard

Yeet.Reefing · May 8, 2021

Honestly, good luck. Try dipping in iodine but beyond that most of the polyps just melt back. Sometimes they bounce back but most of the polyps in that pic died. I think only 3 or 4 were left.