How can you get rid of Paly's? I'm being over run...

[deputydog95]

I am being over run with gray Paly's. They're reeking havoc in my tank as they're crowding SPS and killing the bases.

Every time I try to scrape some away, it always causes some of my more sensitive SPS (monti caps) to bleach and lose a ton of color. I'm guessing its the poisons in them.

Suggestions?

Is there something that eats them??? I'd be happy to turn whatever that is loose on my tank.

My tank is fairly old and has a somewhat delicate aquascape with lots of SPS so taking rocks etc out and boiling them isn't an option.

[cloak]

Instead of scraping them away, have you tried using some scissors and cutting them as close to the base as you can? Once this is done, you can use some epoxy and smother the remaining tissue.
Pick & choose your battles though. Sometimes the polyps will be in a position where there real easy to cut, other times not so much. Also, if you are going to try this it would be best to do right before a water change. GL.

[deputydog95]

Unfortunately it would be really difficult to get in there with scissors. These are some pretty tight spaces and the tank is about 24" deep. Not to mention there are hundreds of them...

I've always scraped and then done a water change. Sometimes I get away with it... Sometimes (like yesterday) and I don't. My orange monti's look like hell. They always bounce back but I don't like putting them through all that.

What about a majano wand?

[cloak]

That might work, but I think these Palythoas have more consistency to them as opposed to the Majanos. They won't go away so easily.
Maybe instead of cutting the polyps first, you could try using the epoxy and just encapsulate the polyps. The edges would have to be in contact with the rock, but from there you just kind of loosely cover them with the epoxy. Just flatten it up and lay it over them like a blanket, over and over again.

[deputydog95]

That's not a bad idea. However, will I still be at risk for them dying and release the toxins back into the water? I don't know enough about them and how they work.

The majano want supposedly destroys the living matter so that's why I thought if it completely neutralized the living tissue, it may neutralize the toxins. I have nothing scientific to back that up though.

[organism]

Do you have any other palys or zoanthids in the tank? If not or if you can remove them for a while then adding some zoa eating nudis in there will clear up your palys within a few months, they won't even leave a trace of them. Plus you can find them at most LFS on old browned out zoa colonies they have in clearance bins.

[cloak]

That's not a bad idea. However, will I still be at risk for them dying and release the toxins back into the water? I don't know enough about them and how they work.

I'm not really sure if they'll release the toxins going the epoxy route. When your cutting or scraping them it should be a given, but this way your basically just blocking out the light. It would be no different than a polyp detaching on it's own and coming to rest somewhere in the shadows. It should just wither away and die under the canopy.

Unfortunately I don't know too much about those Majano wands, but perhaps these links will shed a little light on the subject. GL.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2519200&highlight=majano+wand

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526588&highlight=majano+wand

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526585&highlight=majano+wand

[deputydog95]

Do you have any other palys or zoanthids in the tank? If not or if you can remove them for a while then adding some zoa eating nudis in there will clear up your palys within a few months, they won't even leave a trace of them. Plus you can find them at most LFS on old browned out zoa colonies they have in clearance bins.

I do have some paly's I'd like to keep, but I'd give them up in a min to get rid of this pest.

Any idea what the nudi's are called?
Do you have to kill the flow in the tank?

[deputydog95]

I'm not really sure if they'll release the toxins going the epoxy route. When your cutting or scraping them it should be a given, but this way your basically just blocking out the light. It would be no different than a polyp detaching on it's own and coming to rest somewhere in the shadows. It should just wither away and die under the canopy.

Unfortunately I don't know too much about those Majano wands, but perhaps these links will shed a little light on the subject. GL.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2519200&highlight=majano+wand

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526588&highlight=majano+wand

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526585&highlight=majano+wand

Based on those threads, despite being designed for aptasia, it seems like it works better on paly's :)

I ordered one. What the hell.... If it works I'll rent it out lol

[Dkuhlmann]

Why not just sell the rock with them on it to someone who wants them and get a new rock?

[cloak]

My tank is fairly old and has a somewhat delicate aquascape with lots of SPS so taking rocks etc out and boiling them isn't an option.

:)

[deputydog95]

Why not just sell the rock with them on it to someone who wants them and get a new rock?

Like I said above, it's an old tank with an intricate rock structure. A lot of the SPS have encrusted. Pulling rocks out would be almost impossible at this point as they're too well stacked. I'd likely damage a lot of the older SPS corals. Not to mention some of the SPS are so well encrusted that it would be impossible to separate them from the rocks and the palys are piling up around their bases.

So essentially I have to treat all of this, in tank.

[Dkuhlmann]

Ok, now all of that said you need to show us a FTS. Full tank shot :D

[shiftline]

I use a scalpel to try and scrape them off. Works well and generally saves them enough to throw them on frag disks

[organism]

I do have some paly's I'd like to keep, but I'd give them up in a min to get rid of this pest.

Any idea what the nudi's are called?
Do you have to kill the flow in the tank?

Yeah they're called Zoanthid eating nudibranch and are really common, it's pretty much a guarantee that a LFS near you has some on at least a couple zoa rocks. Look for ones that have been there a while and especially if they have a lot of closed up polyps. If you look really close you should be able to spot them.

The best thing about nudis is they'll eat the palys and slowly die out after which means none of the gunk from inside the palys is getting into your tank. Scraping them off or other manual stuff inevitably ends up with dead coral stuff in your tank which ends up with mini nutrient spikes and algae issues. The nudis you just add and forget, they'll turn into a plague in a month or so. If you put them on the palys that are choking your SPS they'll deal with those first and spread from there :)

Here's a great example of what they look like.

http://www.melevsreef.com/sites/default/files/jon-rubino2.jpg

[deputydog95]

I use a scalpel to try and scrape them off. Works well and generally saves them enough to throw them on frag disks

Interesting idea... But we are talking about hundreds of them. And they're spread all over.

How do you grab them after you cut? Seems like they would just float away on you if you weren't quick enough to grab it after the cut.

[deputydog95]

Yeah they're called Zoanthid eating nudibranch and are really common, it's pretty much a guarantee that a LFS near you has some on at least a couple zoa rocks. Look for ones that have been there a while and especially if they have a lot of closed up polyps. If you look really close you should be able to spot them.

The best thing about nudis is they'll eat the palys and slowly die out after which means none of the gunk from inside the palys is getting into your tank. Scraping them off or other manual stuff inevitably ends up with dead coral stuff in your tank which ends up with mini nutrient spikes and algae issues. The nudis you just add and forget, they'll turn into a plague in a month or so. If you put them on the palys that are choking your SPS they'll deal with those first and spread from there :)

Here's a great example of what they look like.

http://www.melevsreef.com/sites/default/files/jon-rubino2.jpg

I've got pretty high flow going on. Will they cope?

What happens when they run out of paly's? Do they just starve off? I had that happen to a harlequin shrimp I bought to get rid of asterinas. I just couldn't keep up with the feeding once he ran out of asterinas. My LFS didn't have a steady supply of starfish. Felt terrible about that...

[organism]

I've got pretty high flow going on. Will they cope?

What happens when they run out of paly's? Do they just starve off? I had that happen to a harlequin shrimp I bought to get rid of asterinas. I just couldn't keep up with the feeding once he ran out of asterinas. My LFS didn't have a steady supply of starfish. Felt terrible about that...

Yeah they'll be fine in any flow but will reproduce faster in lower flow. After they're done eating they die out, but they're a pest like Aiptasia not to be confused with a tank inhabitant like a shrimp. Basically they're the easiest and most effective solution to your problem, no paly left behind.

[jayball]

My tank is fairly old and has a somewhat delicate aquascape with lots of SPS so taking rocks etc out and boiling them isn't an option.

I just want to point out that boiling a rock covered in paly's is a good way to send yourself to the hospital.

There has been reports of people doing this and winding up with dead dogs and multi-month recovery times.

[shiftline]

Interesting idea... But we are talking about hundreds of them. And they're spread all over.



How do you grab them after you cut? Seems like they would just float away on you if you weren't quick enough to grab it after the cut.


I turn off the flow when I do this (usually happens during a water change)

They are generally pretty easy to grab. If I'm motivated I turn them into frags

Speaking of here is some I cut off did last water change :)

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/07/085b15c2bce30566cf8d284dc2020b9f.jpg

[shyerdj]

can you just sell off the rocks they are on and buy new dry rock?

[deputydog95]

can you just sell off the rocks they are on and buy new dry rock?

I wish I could but the the SPS is pretty well encrusted on to the rocks at this point. Not sure how it could all be split apart without doing damage.

I tried the majano wand. Didn't work. Sigh... Shriveled them up into a blob and then days later they totally recovered. Like cockroaches.

[trueperc]

Would those nudi's eat brown button polyps?

[deputydog95]

I've asked my LSF and the nudibranch's are hard to come by. I wish I could buy 20 or 30 and set them loose.

[jayball]

I've asked my LSF and the nudibranch's are hard to come by. I wish I could buy 20 or 30 and set them loose.


A LFS will not be able to get them in, there is no supply chain for coral eating pests. Do you have a local club or Facebook group you can reach out to? I bet someone who is battling them would be happy to capture a few in exchange for a frag or two. You should not need a lot, it only takes two to find each other and lay eggs.

[deputydog95]

A LFS will not be able to get them in, there is no supply chain for coral eating pests. Do you have a local club or Facebook group you can reach out to? I bet someone who is battling them would be happy to capture a few in exchange for a frag or two. You should not need a lot, it only takes two to find each other and lay eggs.

I've been toying with that idea.

Question though.... How do you determine the correct species? What I'm getting at.... Is when their done with the paly's how do you know they won't move on to your acros?

In a perfect world, they would be introduced, eat all the paly's, and then die off.

I hate to trade one big problem for a worse problem.

[jayball]

I've been toying with that idea.



Question though.... How do you determine the correct species? What I'm getting at.... Is when their done with the paly's how do you know they won't move on to your acros?



In a perfect world, they would be introduced, eat all the paly's, and then die off.



I hate to trade one big problem for a worse problem.


While I can not 100 percent guarantee it , in general nudi's are obligate feeders to whatever they specify unlike something like a crab that is an opportunist feeder that can easily switch food sources. I personally would not have an issue doing this to my tank if I was in your shoes. (But I like my zoa's)

Hopefully someone with more formal knowledge in this will chime in.