proper way to remove these zoas

[TonyNPS]

I am not crazy about these zoas ( at least thats what i think they are )
They are ugly to me and they are blocking the light from the bubble coral below..

I've heard they are toxic and to be careful when handling/removing them.
The rock they are on is all one piece and cannot be removed in pieces.

Should I remove the entire rock from the tank and scrap them off?
Can they be removed directly in the tank?

Looking for the best/proper way to do this.

Thank you in advance

Tony

 

[nothing_fancy]

You can remove them while in the tank although I would do that just before a water change and try to get rid of a portion at a time, might take a couple sessions. I have the neon green variety of these, had reason to believe mine were paly. I got rid of probably half of them a month or so back using forceps while still in the tank as I have other corals on the same rock. Line a bucket with a doubled up plastic bag for disposal. *Main thing this is you gotta wear gloves and I would suggest getting a pack of the long arm length disposable gloves and double them up. There are some horror stories on the internet about this sort of thing but it's all related to complete lack of concern for potential toxicity of the zoas.

 

[TonyNPS]

Thank you.. do i try to scrape the zoas off the rock completely....or can i just slice as close to the rock as possible and that is sufficient?

 

[shakacuz]

i'd pull/cut them off outside the tank to the toxins don't stay inside(reduces the amount of carbon you can run to mitigate this). use gloves, and eye protection.

 

[jda]

If the rock is not a huge part of your ecosystem, then I freeze the rock in a bag for a few days and then cut the rock off beneath them. Gloves, mask and eye protection if they are know palytoxin polyps.

The freeze gets any parts that you are sure to leave behind.

If the rock is huge, then you can kill a few of them at a time with kalk paste - it will likely take a few applications since the are really tough. Some kalk and a bit of water to make a paste and use a Salifert or some other plastic syringe to cover them up. Don't use too much kalk at once. Turn the flow pumps off for a few hours so that the kalk stays put.

 

[nothing_fancy]

Thank you.. do i try to scrape the zoas off the rock completely....or can i just slice as close to the rock as possible and that is sufficient?

If you can get some forceps you would pluck them off entirely some of them will sort of get destroyed and spew out some gunk but so long as you do this prior to a water change, you could also add a fresh bag of carbon afterward, it will be fine. If any are left in pieces on the rocks you could hit them with aiptasia x. Based on your photo it’s my opinion that you don’t have so many to cause concern in regards to creating a toxic event in your system..