Zoanthids have algae on them?

[Cubeguy11]

Hello, this is my first time getting corals and after waiting for a few hours for my corals to open up again I noticed that the zoa I got had some algae growing on it. Should I do something or should I wait for it to go away?

[Riona]

I can't see any in the picture.  Is it on the plug or the zoas themselves?  Usually if it's on the coral, it irritates them so they don't open ime.  If it's on the plug, you could use a soft toothbrush to see if you can dislodge it, maybe?  If it's the blue or the little red patches on the plug, see if a soft brush will get rid of it, otherwise assume it's coraline, maybe?

[Cubeguy11]

the picture isnt great but it looks to me like the brown stuff on the zoas are diatoms but im not sure anymore.

[patback]

26 minutes ago, Cubeguy11 said:

Hello, this is my first time getting corals and after waiting for a few hours for my corals to open up again I noticed that the zoa I got had some algae growing on it. Should I do something or should I wait for it to go away?

That is the color morph of the zoanthid. 

[patback]

BTW, it's used interchangeable but those are actually palythoa. Small grandis. They should grow larger and larger to about the diameter of a golf ball. 

[Cubeguy11]

2 hours ago, patback said:

That is the color morph of the zoanthid. 

Ok good to know, does that means that it’s changing colors or will it stay like that.

[patback]

1 hour ago, Cubeguy11 said:

Ok good to know, does that means that it’s changing colors or will it stay like that.

According to how they like your tank I've seen them get more or less brown, but  that is for the most part just what they look like. Nice pieces. 

[Cubeguy11]

30 minutes ago, patback said:

According to how they like your tank I've seen them get more or less brown, but  that is for the most part just what they look like. Nice pieces. 

Ok! Thanks, I was just a little worried about them but it’s good to know.

[Cubeguy11]

5 hours ago, patback said:

BTW, it's used interchangeable but those are actually palythoa. Small grandis. They should grow larger and larger to about the diameter of a golf ball. 

Interesting, are there any differences between the two types of corals?

[patback]

6 hours ago, Cubeguy11 said:

Interesting, are there any differences between the two types of corals?

Not really. Generally in the hobby, people use palythoa to describe larger faced polyps while they use zoanthids for small faces. True Palythoa incorporate sand into their stem structures, grow single stalks (opposed to zoanthids matting) and can have actual palytoxin (don't worry about it. )palythoa also have a different skirt formation, which you will notice when one is side by side to a zoanthid. Zoanthids tend to have more than one row to its skirt. Zoanthids very rarely have been found with palytoxin, and are also generally more colorful and ALOT more morphs. 

[Cubeguy11]

Interesting, I’m not sure weather it is or not because the guy at my LFS said it was just a large Zoa, they also divide the tank into sections for different corals and there was a section for palythoas but it may have been a mixup. Doesn’t really make a difference to me though as it looks cool anyway.

[Tired]

That's definitely a colorful P. grandis. Your guy may have been confused due to it having brighter colors than P. grandis usually has. I've seen this morph before, and they definitely get way bigger than zoas. 

 

Palythoa grandis are, I believe, one of the highly toxic ones. Never handle any corals or live rock bare-handed, but especially don't handle those ones bare-handed. If you have to do anything involving messing around with that coral out of the water, wear eye protection in case it squirts water- they do that sometimes. Don't scrub the actual coral surface with a toothbrush- too harsh and will spatter mucus everywhere.