Star Polyps

[md fishes]

Best way to eradicate them? They are spreading everywhere in my tank.

[Nagle]

Peel the mat off from the rock

[Capt_Cully]

second that. manual pruning. don't forget to save it and sell it back to your LFS, someone's always looking for GSPs.

[md fishes]

Its so hard to manually peel that off. Have you guys had success pulling these off of a porous rock?

[Toddrtrex]

I could never completely get them off the rocks that they were on --- sold the rocks.

[md fishes]

Thats what I thought would happen. I was thinking of using a steel bristle brush to scrape them off. Anyone have any luck with that?

[woodiecrafts]

I haven't ever tried the wire brush. I used Toddrtrex method and sold the rock on the ones I couldn't get it all off of. Now I just make sure the rocks that have the polyps on them never touch anything else other than the sand bed.

[md fishes]

Kinda stinks b/c I have one rock that is full of a bunch of different types of rare zoos, a clam, and those darn polyps.

I was thinking about trying the wire brush method first. then maybe I'll have to sell the rock before it spreads everywhere.

Any other ideas?

[klepto]

im sorry to hear your polyps got out of hand..
newb here- but i will offer a suggestion- while it sounds rather drastic, you could break out a chisel and hammer (or ideally a dremel) and try to break/cut off the polyps around your zoas and clam rather than trying to tear or scrub them off. That way you could follow Todd's suit and sell the rock w/ star polyps while still keeping your other animals.

Granted- there is no surety with a chisel and parts of the rock will look crappy until it covers over w/ coralline etc...

good luck!

[md fishes]

I was thinking about that too. Does a dremel cut through rock with out breaking it? That isn't a bad idea at all.

Its funny when I initially got these things about 5 years ago I thought they were so cool. Now that I am primarily doing sps, zoos, and sps I can't get these things to stop spreading.

Thanks for all the ideas. Keep them coming.

[reefergeorge]

I would break off a couple of the corals you want. Then remove the rock, or put it somewhere where it isn't touching any other rock.
I have a large flat rock in the center of my tank that looks like carpet from pink, and green star polyps.

[xJake]

I would try manual removal first if possible.

If you have access to calcium hydroxide and a hypodermic needle then I would suggest the following:

1. Mix 1 part Ca(OH)2 to 2 parts water
2. Fill the syringe with the solution.
3. Inject the GSP tissue with the solution about 5 times per square inch.

This requires some technique in that you cannot penetrate directly down into (perpendicular to) the flesh, but instead you should attempt to penetrate at an angle very close to being parallel with the tissues. This will allow you to inject the flesh directly with the solution and not just underneath it into the rock.

The solution will essentially burn and kill the GSP tissue and cause it to begin sloughing off. You should do this slowly enough to allow your skimmer to handle the die-off, or you can do it all at once and then do a series of water changes.

[klepto]

i dont have one myself- but my lfs owner uses one regularly to frag stuff. All of the dremel cut frags I have purchased were very clean cuts and have recovered well.
Im guessing it depends on the quality of your dremel and the cutting bit used.

The nasty part is the garbage the dremel blasts into the air (a mask and eye protection - both a must imo)

[Gdevine]

Drop a couple of Fluke Tabs into the tank; they will be all gone in just a few days. Fluke Tabs will eradicate GSP and Xenia both very invasive corals.

[PaulieWalnuts]

antipasta X works a little...inject it right on top of them

[PaulieWalnuts]

oh you still have to pull it off then but it seems to make it easier...i just cut it whenever it sends out feelers or whatever and re sell.

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13936441#post13936441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xJake
I would try manual removal first if possible.

If you have access to calcium hydroxide and a hypodermic needle then I would suggest the following:

1. Mix 1 part Ca(OH)2 to 2 parts water
2. Fill the syringe with the solution.
3. Inject the GSP tissue with the solution about 5 times per square inch.

This requires some technique in that you cannot penetrate directly down into (perpendicular to) the flesh, but instead you should attempt to penetrate at an angle very close to being parallel with the tissues. This will allow you to inject the flesh directly with the solution and not just underneath it into the rock.

The solution will essentially burn and kill the GSP tissue and cause it to begin sloughing off. You should do this slowly enough to allow your skimmer to handle the die-off, or you can do it all at once and then do a series of water changes.

Could you maybe do this in another temporary tank? I would be worried to do this in the display. Sounds like it would work though.

[Capt Crabtabulous]

Ive also got some GSP I'd like to get rid of. I've never heard of using "Fluk Tabs". Has anyone else tried this? Does it hurt sps corals? Anyone know how it works?

[dbartkow]

I used fluke tabs on my Xenia problem. See thread here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1513249

I used 1/3 of the recommended dose for flukes. I dissolved it in some water and then poured it into my tank. I let it work its magic for about 30 minutes and then I put carbon in to start cleaning it out. After a couple of days, I did large water changes every other day to minimize the effects of the die off. It took about a week, but everything was gone after that!

I would highly recommend this for anyone that is trying to rid their system of Xenia or GSP. Just cut out as much as you can beforehand and then do a lot of water changes after a couple of days of treatment.

Dave

[downhillbiker]

i would peel them off, then scrub, like you planned, then put kalk paste on the area. the kalk has really helped me control mine. they kindof melt away.

[xJake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13937679#post13937679 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
Could you maybe do this in another temporary tank? I would be worried to do this in the display. Sounds like it would work though.

You definitely could do this in another tank; however, the point of doing this is so that you DON'T have to pull the rock out of the tank. If you're going to take the rock out anyway then you might as well just scrub it all off with a wire brush.

[crvz]

Some people use a blow torch. Take the rock out and torch the area the GSP are on. A bit more challenging if other things are on the rock, but they won't come back.

[md fishes]

The blow torch sounds fun. I'm going to fire it up this week and I'll let everyone know how it goes.

[miniwhinny]

I have the same problem with some encrusting gorgonians which are electric green like some GSP. They grow a little differently than GSP but removing them is similar. I removed the rock from the tank and carved them off with a razor blade...worked really well except for one small bunch but I'll get them next time I'm feeling like doing it again.