HELP! White fuzz taking over star polyps

[SBJim]

I have two colonies that are being slowly eaten away by white fuzz. I tried scrubbing and cutting, but it has come back on both. The one that was hit first (the gsp) seems to be stabilizing, but the second (pink star polyp) seems to be accelerating. Here are pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/SBjim/P1010381.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/SBjim/whitefuzz.jpg

I've read that iodine dips are a no-no for star polyps. My plan is to try topical application of Lugol's (with Q-tip) to the affected areas, followed by a sw rinse.

Thoughts?

[bertoni]

You could try the Lugol's. I'm not convinced it will help. You might be seeing a sponge or hydroid or some animal outcompeting the star polyps.

I'd probably hit the infected areas with lime paste to try to kill whatever it is. You might want to do that out of the tank, since the paste is quite destructive and will spike the tank's pH, alkalinity, and calcium. So I'd rinse well with some tank water before reinserting the rock into the water.

[SBJim]

Thanks. I think it's more likely an infection than a sponge or hydroid, b/c it does not live on in the area where it has killed the star polyp. I don't have lime paste, so I'll try a good scraping and scrubbing again, this time followed by Logol's, and a vigorous rinse.

Any other thoughts/advice are welcome. I do have Joe's juice that I could try applying topically as well.

[Cutiewitbooty]

i would just frag the good part off and toss the rest. GSP grow so fast that it will be back up to size in no time.

[SBJim]

I have thought of that, and have already fragged each one a couple of times. The issue is that, with the GSP, the rock it's on has 3 tubeworms that I like and want to keep around. And as for the psp, the frags have not grown quickly at all, or fully encrusted their rocks, so I'd love to save the big colony.