Getting Rid of Paly From Rock

[Snow_Phoenix]

I bought some palys, mistaking them as zoas. They've grown like weeds, are brownish with pink skirts and one of them has even attached itself to my base rock and began to spread. I want to remove all the palys - which is no issue since most of them are still attached to a piece of rubble glued to a frag plug. My concern is getting rid of that one miserable paly polyp that has anchored itself to my LR. Can I just peel it off using my fingers, or will these unleash some sort of palytoxin into the tank?

 

I'll wear gloves for protection, but at the same time I don't want 'bits' of Paly to be left behind when I get rid of the polyp? Is there a safe way to remove the whole polyp in one piece? I can't remove the LR because this is my base rock, weighs several kg and has several corals attached to it. It also houses my wrasse when he sleeps at night. So I can't physically lift/move this particular rock. Any suggestions, please?

 

P.S. This stupid polyp is already splitting and trying to grow two new tiny heads. Need to get rid of it ASAP! 

[OPtasia]

Chisel it off. 

 

Palytoxin is very real and i'm surprised at how nonchalant some aquarists are about fragging them. If they're the only palys/zoas in the tank, you might consider adding something that will eat them (some dwarf angels, rabbitfish, certain shrimps, etc.). If that's not an option, i'd probably do my best to cut off all the pumps and cut, scrape and/or chisel them off the rock. You'll want to protect yourself with long arm gloves, safety goggles and a paper mask. You should be able to find all of those items at a big box hardware store in the paint sprayer section. After you remove the palys, get them in their own sealed trash bags and outside of your home as fast as possible. Do a large volume water change afterwards and run heavy carbon for about a week, then toss out that carbon completely. I'd also turn off any skimmers to prevent foaming the palytoxin into the surrounding air and let the carbon do the work. Wash your tools and hands/arms/anything wet thoroughly afterwards and dry off with paper towels that can be tossed out (not washed in your washer/dryer). 

 

Adequate safety might seem like overkill, but when dealing with an unknown incurable neurotoxin.... better safe than sorry. Use your brain. Be careful. You'll be fine.

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, OPtasia said:

Chisel it off. 

 

Palytoxin is very real and i'm surprised at how nonchalant some aquarists are about fragging them. If they're the only palys/zoas in the tank, you might consider adding something that will eat them (some dwarf angels, rabbitfish, certain shrimps, etc.). If that's not an option, i'd probably do my best to cut off all the pumps and cut, scrape and/or chisel them off the rock. You'll want to protect yourself with long arm gloves, safety goggles and a paper mask. You should be able to find all of those items at a big box hardware store in the paint sprayer section. After you remove the palys, get them in their own sealed trash bags and outside of your home as fast as possible. Do a large volume water change afterwards and run heavy carbon for about a week, then toss out that carbon completely. I'd also turn off any skimmers to prevent foaming the palytoxin into the surrounding air and let the carbon do the work. Wash your tools and hands/arms/anything wet thoroughly afterwards and dry off with paper towels that can be tossed out (not washed in your washer/dryer). 

 

Adequate safety might seem like overkill, but when dealing with an unknown incurable neurotoxin.... better safe than sorry. Use your brain. Be careful. You'll be fine.

I wasn't being nonchalant. I was genuinely wondering how to get rid of them without causing any ill-effects to my tank or myself. I'm not willing to add anymore livestock to this tank - it's heavily overstocked as it is. Thank you though, for the tips and advice. I'll be extra careful and 'use my brain'. 

[OPtasia]

No no. I didn't mean you were being nonchalant. I meant i've seen so many reefers that won't use protective gear when dealing with removing or fragging zoa/palys. I'm sure you'll do fine. 🙂

[Snow_Phoenix]

16 minutes ago, OPtasia said:

No no. I didn't mean you were being nonchalant. I meant i've seen so many reefers that won't use protective gear when dealing with removing or fragging zoa/palys. I'm sure you'll do fine. 🙂

Sorry, OPtasia. Didn't mean to come off snippy. It's just been a mess of a day on my end and looks like it's leaching out onto the forums as well (which isn't good). I'll retire early for the night. 

 

Thanks though, for the advice. I do appreciate it. 

[specore]

Could you just super glue over the thing and call it a day?

[OPtasia]

@specore..... that's too easy. I'm so dumb. Durr. 

[WV Reefer]

12 minutes ago, specore said:

Could you just super glue over the thing and call it a day?

That’s what I was thinking.

 

Just chisel off what you can and then superglue that little shit. 

[HarryPotter]

19 minutes ago, specore said:

Could you just super glue over the thing and call it a day?

 

I am thinking of mixing then rolling out a big thin sheet of epoxy + superglue and covering an area of palys 😂. It will look VERY funky but might work! 

[RayWhisperer]

I had some pesky, ugly palys in an old tank. I just used aptasia-x. Some of the polyps that were hard to reach took several treatments. The bulk of them were gone after 2 treatments, though.

[Snow_Phoenix]

29 minutes ago, specore said:

Could you just super glue over the thing and call it a day?

 

16 minutes ago, OPtasia said:

@specore..... that's too easy. I'm so dumb. Durr. 

 

16 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

That’s what I was thinking.

 

Just chisel off what you can and then superglue that little shit. 

 

10 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

 

I am thinking of mixing then rolling out a big thin sheet of epoxy + superglue and covering an area of palys 😂. It will look VERY funky but might work! 

Argh, the little twerp is right at the front of my tank - if I epoxy/glue the crap over it, I'll just have this odd, giant white blob in the middle of my rock. Maybe if I squint sideways, I could pretend it was a cool-looking sponge or something.

 

But I ship this idea (the gluing over part). Seems the easiest way.

[vegasgundog]

If you don't need that rock, chuck it into the back yard until spring. Or cover in epoxy sheet like suggested for a few months.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

I had some pesky, ugly palys in an old tank. I just used aptasia-x. Some of the polyps that were hard to reach took several treatments. The bulk of them were gone after 2 treatments, though.

Aiptasia-X - that's an interesting idea I haven't considered. Problem would be getting the Aiptasia-X. My LFS doesn't carry any, to the best of my knowledge. If the glue-over fails, I'll try to order it online somehow. Thanks for the tip!

2 minutes ago, vegasgundog said:

If you don't need that rock, chuck it into the back yard until spring. Or cover in epoxy sheet like suggested for a few months.

I need that rock, unfortunately. It's the major base rock and has my weeping willow toadstool and another zoa attached to it. 😞

 

[HarryPotter]

35 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

 

 

 

Argh, the little twerp is right at the front of my tank - if I epoxy/glue the crap over it, I'll just have this odd, giant white blob in the middle of my rock. Maybe if I squint sideways, I could pretend it was a cool-looking sponge or something.

 

But I ship this idea (the gluing over part). Seems the easiest way.

 

When I epoxy rocks together, I press tiny pieces of rubble into the joint to hide the epoxy. Works pretty darn well- I wonder if you can try something similar? Or you can put in a texture with a piece of rock as well and then wait for coralline to cover it. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

 

When I epoxy rocks together, I press tiny pieces of rubble into the joint to hide the epoxy. Works pretty darn well- I wonder if you can try something similar? Or you can put in a texture with a piece of rock as well and then wait for coralline to cover it. 

So basically, I squish the palys to death using epoxy? And close it up with a small piece of rubble? Is that what you mean, Harry?

[specore]

1 minute ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

So basically, I squish the palys to death using epoxy? And close it up with a small piece of rubble? Is that what you mean, Harry?

Just smother them with glue/epoxy.  Sand would also work for hiding the epoxy, just sprinkle it on before the glue starts to cure. 

[HarryPotter]

55 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

So basically, I squish the palys to death using epoxy? And close it up with a small piece of rubble? Is that what you mean, Harry?

 

I mean after smothering the Palys, the epoxy will still be soft and you can attach rock rubble to disguise the epoxy. So it won’t look as bad: 

[A Little Blue]

Cured SuperGlue is very easy to get off the rock. I would go with SG (smother it while poly is retracted. Maybe at night...) wait a week or two and pry it off with wire cutter, sharp nose pliers or similar. 

It shouldn’t be all that difficult. 

 

Good thing that your are being proactive and getting rid of it while it is still manageable. 

[Clown79]

I tried gluing a rock on top of my polyps but they lived through that and started popping out of the rock.

 

 

I have successfully smothered paly's and mushrooms with aiptasia x and it works. Sometimes a few applications are needed.

 

But it does kill them.

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Cured SuperGlue is very easy to get off the rock. I would go with SG (smother it while poly is retracted. Maybe at night...) wait a week or two and pry it off with wire cutter, sharp nose pliers or similar. 

It shouldn’t be all that difficult. 

 

Good thing that your are being proactive and getting rid of it while it is still manageable. 

Yes, I thought it was best to get rid of them before they take over my whole tank. 

8 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I tried gluing a rock on top of my polyps but they lived through that and started popping out of the rock.

 

 

I have successfully smothered paly's and mushrooms with aiptasia x and it works. Sometimes a few applications are needed.

 

But it does kill them.

Aiptasia-X is something that I don't have on hand right now, but I do have super glue. I'll try smothering them as everyone suggested. If they live through that, I'll get some Aiptasia-X and treat it. 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! 

[Graver]

Shotgun?

[HarryPotter]

On 10/12/2018 at 1:10 PM, Clown79 said:

I tried gluing a rock on top of my polyps but they lived through that and started popping out of the rock.

 

 

I have successfully smothered paly's and mushrooms with aiptasia x and it works. Sometimes a few applications are needed.

  

But it does kill them.

 

Hmm, think aptasia-x would work on larger scale (20 polyp +) paly removal? I would be concerned about the effect of that amount of aptasia on the tank . 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I got rid of them yesterday. The polyps on the frag plug came off easily after I detached the frag plug itself, but the one polyp (with two tiny upcoming heads) which anchored itself to my base rock was problematic. I smothered it with several blobs of super glue. Despite taking all the precautions OPtasia had listed, I developed dizziness, nausea, mild running nose and a killer headache within an hour. 

 

My father is a doctor - so I told him there was a slight chance I *might have been poisoned somehow. He seemed surprised I would keep anything in the tank which was 'deadly'. Gave me some meds, and I slept off for 11 hours straight. Headache/nausea/dizziness is gone now. No running nose now either. Feeling much better - but I ran a lot of carbon in the tank and I did a headcount - everyone is ok and all corals are alright except my blue digi, which is STNing, but that particular piece has been looking like shit for a couple of days, so I don't attribute it to this incident. The only fish I haven't spotted yet is my wrasse, but he's a late-riser and I haven't turned on the lights for the morning yet. I hope I didn't bury/squish him by accident while moving the base rock around - he buries himself in the sandbed when he's scared, and until today, I don't know which part of the sandbed he dives into in my nano. 😞

 

So yep, palytoxin - nasty stuff, will rethink every 'zoa' I purchase from now on, and stick to the usual common zoas like eagle eyes and radioactive greens etc. Sigh. 

[Clown79]

On 10/14/2018 at 5:50 PM, HarryPotter said:

 

Hmm, think aptasia-x would work on larger scale (20 polyp +) paly removal? I would be concerned about the effect of that amount of aptasia on the tank . 

I didn't use it on more than 2 at a time. I only had about 6 paly's so I did 2 before each waterchange.

 

Its definitely not a quick solution.

 

 

[Clown79]

On 10/14/2018 at 10:04 PM, Snow_Phoenix said:

I got rid of them yesterday. The polyps on the frag plug came off easily after I detached the frag plug itself, but the one polyp (with two tiny upcoming heads) which anchored itself to my base rock was problematic. I smothered it with several blobs of super glue. Despite taking all the precautions OPtasia had listed, I developed dizziness, nausea, mild running nose and a killer headache within an hour. 

 

My father is a doctor - so I told him there was a slight chance I *might have been poisoned somehow. He seemed surprised I would keep anything in the tank which was 'deadly'. Gave me some meds, and I slept off for 11 hours straight. Headache/nausea/dizziness is gone now. No running nose now either. Feeling much better - but I ran a lot of carbon in the tank and I did a headcount - everyone is ok and all corals are alright except my blue digi, which is STNing, but that particular piece has been looking like shit for a couple of days, so I don't attribute it to this incident. The only fish I haven't spotted yet is my wrasse, but he's a late-riser and I haven't turned on the lights for the morning yet. I hope I didn't bury/squish him by accident while moving the base rock around - he buries himself in the sandbed when he's scared, and until today, I don't know which part of the sandbed he dives into in my nano. 😞

 

So yep, palytoxin - nasty stuff, will rethink every 'zoa' I purchase from now on, and stick to the usual common zoas like eagle eyes and radioactive greens etc. Sigh. 

Glad to hear you are ok.