Tank devastated by paly toxins (and my stupidity)

Hi Guys, I know this is an old thread but it seems like a common and useful topic to discuss. Is there a "safe" way to remove these brown polyps ? I need to do this in my tank - with the additional complication that I can't remove the offending rock.
 
Nothing wrong with reviving an old thread if more information is needed.

The best way I found (after obvious trial and error ...) was to first wear rubber gloves. Because these nasty buggers squirt, I would also suggest eye wear for protection.

Mine used to grow out of control and I used to just pinch them off in the tank. However, along with almost killing me, the toxin affects the other corals too, so this isn't a good idea.

Instead, I would plan to remove them AFTER I did a water change. I would have two separate buckets of old salt water. After prying off however many polyps I wanted gone, I would rinse in one bucket, then the other. Usually this kept the toxins from getting back into the tank and causing problems.

After you are done, please make sure all utensils are washed in hot soapy water, and as a precaution, I'd soak them in vinegar and/or bleach afterwards. I would suggest using paper towels so you can throw them away when done. Be sure not to wipe your face with the used paper towels. Wash your hands in hot soapy water, and maybe rinse in vinegar.

Palythoa toxins are not something to mess with. It didn't bother me for years and then suddenly ... boom ... toxicity build up is bad kids, mkay?

Be careful. o.O

Nasty little polypses .... :twitch:
 
WHenever you work on any softie coral it's a good idea to run carbon for a few days. An old GFO reactor can do it quite well; so can just a bag in the downflow. Also, if you note something really bad going on, it's a gamble --- but moving specimens to a bucket with clean water, fast as you can equalize temperature and salinity, can help. And moving a 'worked-on' specimen or unhappy specimen to a qt temporarily is a good safety measure. When they're on the main rockwork, not so easy, unhappily.

So sorry for the situation: all of us who've done this any number of years can absolutely sympathize. Sometimes you can point to a likely cause; sometimes you have to do detective work. But it happens to all of us.
 
Thanks for telling us.

I will be more careful about doing this.

But the point about the diatom filter is also worthy of thought.

A diatom filter coated with ac powder is a very able chemical filter, but whether it would have helped is unclear.
 
That is so awful and I am so sorry, but thank you for sharing because I could see myself doing this. Your story will probably save a lot of tanks out there.
 
Got the Brown Paly infestation too.....thousands, mostly on removable rock....Thank you to all those that posted it will be helpful..

started last knight with throwing out rock I didn't want to keep.

Anyone ever tried suiting up in a water proof hazmat suit and pressure washing infested rock.
 
Water changes and carbon. Do 30% day one, 20% day 3, 20% day 5, and run new carbon (after washing.) If you have PolyFilter, that would not be a bad move either.
 
I have enough tanks around that I could set up a separate quarantine / post wash quarantine system..then lots of water changes.....thought that might be a good idea rather than just put it back into display right away
 
Canada ... just be sure to wear gloves and eye protection. As a secondary precaution, wash the clothes you wore after you are done. Also echo doing a water change and running carbon.

Probably should completely shower once you are done. That toxin is no joking matter at all.
 
Yes safety First...only thing I'm not sure about because of conflicting threads is removing the offensive Paly from a rock that also has a huge leather coral attached to it. Do I just right-off the leather or try to save it. Still looking for information on what works for selectively removal of the offensive Paly. Any work will be done within a heavily filtered quarantine system. Followed with a decent quarantined cure time. For selective removal is it mechanical, chemical removal - question for the community is what works best?
 
Steve, I'm a noob, haven't even gotten my first tank up and running yet. I am so sorry to hear about the loss you've had. Thank you for sharing it with the community so people like me can learn from it. The effort is truly appreciated.

Your tank was beautiful and I'm sure will come back even more so. Best of luck!

Cindy
 
I use stinging corals to stop palys from growing like mad. Frogspawn or hammer is a good choice. Put these corals at the vicinity of your palys, it (palys) will never grow beyond the stinger reachable point. I use the same methodology to control GSP from taking over my tank. A bag of GAC in a sump will take care of toxins being released in this war :D
 
I scraped a few palys off a rock and saw some slime coming off after returning the rock to the tank. Realizing my mistake I immediately ran some fresh GAC in a reactor for a few days. Luckily no damage done. It's a good idea to keep some GAC on hand for this kind of mistake.
 
really old thread but still timely. be very, very careful when dealing with this issue.

bartmalave said:
i scrap the rock then i boil it in the microwave to kill every thing.
Click to expand...

and never, ever, ever, ever, EVER do this ^!!!!!! and never, ever, ever, ever, EVER boil rocks from your tank on your kitchen stove. these are good ways to not only kill yourself but your entire family!
 
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