thinning zoas

[bobt2]

in areas of my tank zoas and brown polyps are taking over. any way to thin them out? don't want to frag them just cut them back.

 

[ros_sco]

I use a seal picking tool (Like an ice pick with a 90 degree bend at the end) and try to just pry off a tiny bit of rock along with the zoa. Some times you just have to scrape them off if the rock is too dense. Afterward you can superglue the rock chips to a larger rock and frag the pieces that are good and toss the causalties. Then I clean the residue up with a pair of tweezers. To keep them from growing back again, try placing a smaller rock where the colony is spreading. When they grow onto that you can cut it loose and trade it.