Should I remove these Palys now?

[Jeves360]

I purchased two Paly Frags a few months ago and they are growing quick. I've been reading posts the past two days on their toxicity and how they can crash a system. I had no idea if not I would not have purchased them. I also placed them on a rock part of the main rock work with the intention of letting them take over it. Not the case anymore. I have no issues with having them in the tank still, I can Isolate them to a smaller rock not attached to the rockwork.

I have a TSA Green Implosion Paly and a CB Mind Blowing Paly. The Mind Blowing Paly is easier to remove from the looks of it, all polyps are on the frag itself. The Green Implosion has about half its polyps on the rock work. What is the safest and easiest way to remove the ones on the rockwork?

I do have a stocked tank with other Frags and fish. I can and will run carbon and take all precautions to protect myself. I can not remove the rock that they are on either. Is it safe to slice between the polyps so that I can remove the frag they are on the worry about the other 6 or so heads that are attached to the rockwork? I've attached some pictures as well as a standalone rock to move by them too.

 

[Tired]

Slicing between the polyps is fine. Use a sharp exacto knife, gently annoy them closed first so it's easy to see where to cut, and wear gloves. I did the same with some Captain Jerks, which are one of the nasty-toxic ones, and nothing in my (pico) tank was harmed. You just want to make it a few quick, clean cuts, so as to annoy them the least possible. A little slime in the water shouldn't hurt anything.

To remove the ones on the rockwork, I suggest getting some of those bone cutters that people use to frag SPS. Just clip the bits of rockwork they're attached to off your rock. It'll pretty quickly encrust with algae and look fine again. You could try to peel them off, but the cutters would probably be easier.

If/when you frag them in future, be sure to put them in a timeout bin. After you're done fragging them, put the whole thing they're on in a container of tank water, and leave them in it for at least half an hour. When you're ready to put them back i the tank, lift them out of the water, and gently pour some new tank water (as in, not the stuff they were sitting in) over them to help remove slime. Dispose of the timeout water immediately.

 

[lmm1967]

experiences with Palys is all over the place.

I have a couple species - at least one of which I've been told "dont' touch those with your bare hands" (Grande Paly).

I have quite a few of the ones that have a green color to them in your photos - and I have had zero issues with them.

Not sure if I'm lucky, the exception or typical - but I'd say don't panic or do anything extreme.

I would never "cook" them - or be too crazy with cutting them carelessly (but I try not to do that with anything in my tanks) but I don't think you are automatically going to have a problem with them in your tank.

 

[Tired]

There are a few that you shouldn't touch bare-handed, yeah. Not because they'll kill you just from touching, but because they can cause some skin irritation and possibly heart palpitations. Not in everyone- there's a guy at my LFS who picks every coral out of the sale tank bare-handed to bag it up, and he's never had any issues. I still think he shouldn't do that, but some people are just more tolerant of toxic substances.

Grandes are one of the really strong ones. Another is a species that has long tentacles and a sort of ridging to it- the duller ones are called "button palys" sometimes, and there are a couple pretty ones. Many "palythoas" are actually just big zoanthids, which tend to be less toxic, or not at all. As a general rule, don't touch palythoas-shaped things. Not just for yourself, but because it can be not great for the coral. Also because there are sharp edges and stinging things in reef rock.

And then on the other end of the scale, ricordea mushrooms make a crazy amount of slime, but are completely nontoxic.

 

[Jeves360]

Slicing between the polyps is fine. Use a sharp exacto knife, gently annoy them closed first so it's easy to see where to cut, and wear gloves. I did the same with some Captain Jerks, which are one of the nasty-toxic ones, and nothing in my (pico) tank was harmed. You just want to make it a few quick, clean cuts, so as to annoy them the least possible. A little slime in the water shouldn't hurt anything.

To remove the ones on the rockwork, I suggest getting some of those bone cutters that people use to frag SPS. Just clip the bits of rockwork they're attached to off your rock. It'll pretty quickly encrust with algae and look fine again. You could try to peel them off, but the cutters would probably be easier.

If/when you frag them in future, be sure to put them in a timeout bin. After you're done fragging them, put the whole thing they're on in a container of tank water, and leave them in it for at least half an hour. When you're ready to put them back i the tank, lift them out of the water, and gently pour some new tank water (as in, not the stuff they were sitting in) over them to help remove slime. Dispose of the timeout water immediately.

That's what I was figuring with the ones on the rock work as far as slicing. I will take your advice and put them in a small timeout bin for a bit before putting them back in. I do have some bone cutters and will try that first. Want to avoid doing any scraping if possible. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Jeves360]

There are a few that you shouldn't touch bare-handed, yeah. Not because they'll kill you just from touching, but because they can cause some skin irritation and possibly heart palpitations. Not in everyone- there's a guy at my LFS who picks every coral out of the sale tank bare-handed to bag it up, and he's never had any issues. I still think he shouldn't do that, but some people are just more tolerant of toxic substances.

Grandes are one of the really strong ones. Another is a species that has long tentacles and a sort of ridging to it- the duller ones are called "button palys" sometimes, and there are a couple pretty ones. Many "palythoas" are actually just big zoanthids, which tend to be less toxic, or not at all. As a general rule, don't touch palythoas-shaped things. Not just for yourself, but because it can be not great for the coral. Also because there are sharp edges and stinging things in reef rock.

And then on the other end of the scale, ricordea mushrooms make a crazy amount of slime, but are completely nontoxic.

I like these and the way they are growing, didn't realize they can be as toxic as I've read. Also don't want them tot ake over rock real estate. So I'll isolate them to an
Standalone rock.

 

[Jeves360]

experiences with Palys is all over the place.

I have a couple species - at least one of which I've been told "dont' touch those with your bare hands" (Grande Paly).

I have quite a few of the ones that have a green color to them in your photos - and I have had zero issues with them.

Not sure if I'm lucky, the exception or typical - but I'd say don't panic or do anything extreme.

I would never "cook" them - or be too crazy with cutting them carelessly (but I try not to do that with anything in my tanks) but I don't think you are automatically going to have a problem with them in your tank.

Definitely not cooking them. Once removed I will place them on an isolated rock.

 

[pocketreef]

just trash the rock, I wouldnt scrap this thing. The risk is more to you and your family than your tank.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Those green ones are called green button polyps. Most people can't give them away. They grow fast and sting non-palythoa corals. The rare few that I know who had a reaction to palytoxin, it was related to the green/brown button polyps. IMO they can be grown isolated to all other rock structures. Any rock they touch they will infested. They are VERY easy to grow, like aiptasia. Personally I consider them a pest.

 

[Cell]

Not sure I've ever heard of a paly nuking a tank, but palytoxin is a real thing. Caution is always warranted when handling zoas/palythoas, however, I don't think anyone needs to really fear them.

 

[92Miata]

just trash the rock, I wouldnt scrap this thing. The risk is more to you and your family than your tank.

There's significantly more risk in a reef tank from vibrio and mycotoxins than there are from palythoas.

Yes, palytoxin can kill you - so be careful, but most aren't a problem.

 

[Jeves360]

Not sure I've ever heard of a paly nuking a tank, but palytoxin is a real thing. Caution is always warranted when handling zoas/palythoas, however, I don't think anyone needs to really fear them.

I was watching a BRSTV video yesterday regarding carbon and gfo and they mentioned one of them introduced a green Paly into their tank and nuked it. Started researching and saw quite a few people with issues. Rather isolate them just to help control their growth to a single rock as I don't mind them and not too worried about them nuking a tank aside from during the removal process.

 

[Jeves360]

just trash the rock, I wouldnt scrap this thing. The risk is more to you and your family than your tank.

Wish it was that simple. It's a base rock to a bigger structure and glued together. I rather do it now that's just a few before it gets out of control.

 

[Jeves360]

Those green ones are called green button polyps. Most people can't give them away. They grow fast and sting non-palythoa corals. The rare few that I know who had a reaction to palytoxin, it was related to the green/brown button polyps. IMO they can be grown isolated to all other rock structures. Any rock they touch they will infested. They are VERY easy to grow, like aiptasia. Personally I consider them a pest.

Yea that's the goal is to isolate them on a single rock that I have. Was planning on using that rock for something else eventually. But I guess it'll house these guys instead.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a jungle of them and just leave them. As long as their base is not near any neighboring rock, they will grow like mine below

 

[snowhite]

Tide Pods danger reported on everywhere.
All kinds of other OMG save your family from XYZ scares reported on everywhere.

I feel fairly confident that if Palys/Zoas were a real danger from simply being around there would be organized efforts to strip them from the hobby.

Just how I look at it.

 

[Tired]

If they were really such a problem, people wouldn't keep them. Like how people don't keep hawkfish with shrimp, because hawkfish inevitably keep shrimp.

The only way palys in your tank are going to seriously harm you is if you basically try to make them harm you. Boiling a rock to get them off, cutting the palys and then accidentally cutting yourself, scrubbing them off a rock with steel wool and also scrubbing your fingers. That sort of thing. That news story that claims a whole family got sick just from having them in the tank, that's nonsense- either somebody boiled them and doesn't want to admit it, or they had a gas leak.

Tide Pods aren't a bad comparison, really. Keep your pods in a container that small children can't get into, because it will be bad if a small child eats one. Don't rub a palythoas on your arm, because that will be bad for you.

I would be very skeptical that just putting a green paly into someone's tank nuked it. Maybe if they had a huge amount of palys that all started dying at once. Or maybe something else happened and the paly got blamed.

 

[Luis1992]

Use aptasia x and feed it into there mouth. I kill a couple polyps at a time to control overcrowding

 

[whitasm]

I'm having this same dilemma with the same palys!! what did youend up doing?