Help removing Palys

[Shells4]

I have a large elkhorn coral skeleton that I thought would look nice with several different types of zoas growing on it. (it is approximately 18"X15"). Unfortunately I added some nuclear green palys that I glued on the skeleton and I do not like the way they look in my tank. The are brown, ugly, and growing like a wild fire. I'm afraid if I let them get out of hand they will take over the whole skeleton and kill all of the other zoas. I'm not sure the of the best way to remove them from the skeleton while keeping the other zoas/palys intact. I was thinking of filling a large rubbermaid cont. with saltwater that I could submerge and rinse the piece in then pulling each paly off with hemastats and then scrubbing the area with a brush to remove any residual. Do you think the palys will release a toxin that could kill the other zoas in the water I am rinsing them in? I have no idea if they are toxic but I have read several horror stories of toxic palys. I plan on using gloves, eye protection, and a mask. Anyone have a better suggestion?

 

[sps_reefer]

that sounds like a pretty good plan. i think it will be fine. you don't have to get all of them at once, you can do it in stages to be safe.

 

[MHG]

So nuclear green are "ugly and brown"? sorry I am getting off topic...

 

[Shells4]

So nuclear green are "ugly and brown"? sorry I am getting off topic...

They don't get very good light in the area of the tank they are in. So yes, they are brown. I have some in another area that are green and I like them there. There are just way to many of them and they seem to spread quicker in the lower light area.

 

[drparker]

as you're squeezing and pulling the polyps make sure you have glasses or goggles on, you don't want to be squirted in the eye.

 

[FragIt Dan]

A big YES on the toxins. From Wikipedia:

"Palytoxin is a very dangerous toxin; it is considered to be one of the most toxic non-peptide substances known... The onset of symptoms in a palytoxin poisoning is rapid, and death usually follows quickly."

I think they are referring to oral consumption, which is not a concern in your case. I had one friend move a rock with them in it with bare hands, washed his hands, touched his eye a bit later and he described it like his eye was glued shut for a couple of hours. Another friend scrapped them off the glass with his thumbnail and ended up passing out for a couple of hours. He said he was too ill to call an ambulance. After this I read a journal article on Palytoxins in the reef aquarium industry and they found the levels vary largely but are present in sufficient levels in palys in each of the store samples to warrant warnings to the consumers. I have handled mine with bare hands numerous times, but perhaps mine have lower levels of Palytoxin. Dan

 

[FragIt Dan]

The reference for the article I was referring to: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0018235

 

[kobelka]

glasses for sure

 

[Shells4]

Thanks for the info. That is an interesting article.

Well, it took about 2 hours but the job is complete. Hopefully there won't be any popping back up! I will need to keep a close eye for any trying to grow back. As far as I know there was only one casualty, a tiny black suncoral. It was growing on the edge of the palys. It was being overtaken by the palys and probably would have died from them but still frustrating. I have baby yellow and orange suncorals showing up randomly around my tank, so far I've only found 2 baby black suncorals and there was no way to see it when it closed up inside of the paly forest. Guess it is a small price to pay.

I used gloves and eye shields. Even though I didn't use boiling water on them, they did have a distinct odor when I was pulling them off the skeleton. As soon as I noticed the smell I put a mask on. Better safe than sorry.

 

[solracju]

the majano wand might help if this occurs next time