Hollywood stunner vs. Zoas/palys?

[steallife904]

Ok so maybe a bit of a strange post or question. I have some greens zoas/palys (pretty sure they are actually zoas) in my tank that i cannot get rid of. When i broke tank down 2 years ago to move i trashed rocks and broke off the small sections to get rid of them. Well wouldn't you know they popped back up again and are trying to take over an area. i have some on overflow as well..... I am afraid to get in there and scrape or cut them because of fear of paly toxin and the spot they are taking over is at the bottom of my rock scape in my 150g. Near impossible or tons of work to break down to remove the rock. SOOOOOooo i started thinking about back when i had a hollywood stunner chalice and how it went to war and won with any other coral it got close to. My thinking and question is, if i put a good size frag of hollywood stunner (or some other coral?) next to them, would it kill the zoas back and take care of them for me? Anything dangerous that could happen? Could this release toxins in the water?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Do they look like this? https://vividaquariums.com/products/green-button-palys

If so, those things are the devil. They are called nuclear green paly's, I am guessing because a nuclear strike will not eradicate them. They spread like the plague and always survive.

Perhaps kalk paste? I think I have tried kalk paste in the past. They laughed and asked for more. If I had stuck with it, and repeated the treatment every few days, I probably would have managed to kill one. Then it would have been, 1 down, 500 more to go.

Dennis

 

[steallife904]

no not those. Just a green looking Zoa with a green dot in the center. I tried to cover them with putty one time but don't think i did it good enough, they just grew around it and now on top.

 

[VR28man]

From what I've heard, the palytoxin problem exists, but is overrated.

Re: the zoas/palys @Dennis Cartier mentioned (Palythoa mutuki), i have them at home, got them as frag from the fellow reefer, and put them on a rock in my sandbed. They've covered the rock but haven't spread elsewhere because of hte sand. I've taken them out and scrubbed algae off the rock dozens of times and have not had any paly poisoning to date.

As far as your problem @steallife904 , I think the hollywood stunner method, even if it worked, would cause more problems than it would solve. Taking the rock out is really likely the best bet to control this. Getting a fish that eats palys is another possibility, though that has its own problems. All IMO.

 

[Fishy212]

The palys version of coral warfare is purely outgrowing whatever it’s competition is. I have a pretty large Duncan frag that had 2/3 green polyps on it. After 2 months of owning this frag the Duncan’s did grow about 5-10 percent but now there are 6-7 palys growing around the frag base. They are survivors and My plan is to have the palys grow on the frag rock then scrape / cut them off and maybe use superglue to make sure.

 

[ZoWhat]

Zoas dont grow like wildfire....Palys do

I've had a zoa/paly dominated tank for 5yrs.
DO NOT SCRUB these palys as I did.

I recommend making a thick paste from Kalk and lay it down onto of the palys via a syringe in the water; like frosting a cake covering all the palys; may have to do this several times.

WEAR GLOVES and take a shower immediately afterward applying Kalk paste

Excerpt from July 18th 2018 post;

I can tell you from personal experience that 6 weeks ago there were a bunch of pale green palys I didn't like.

Not thinking it thru I threw my ungloved right arm in the tank (like a total idiot) with a toothbrush and scrubbed a whole section off a rock into nothingness underwater. Smthg about it all being underwater made it seem ok to me. I'm an idiot

All that toxin absorbed into my skin and I awoke the next day with major flu-like symptoms:

* very very tired, walking up steps felt like a major stress, extremely lethargic

* heavy chested breathing coughing,

*major headache,

* absolutely zero appetite,

* dizziness upon standing

*No fever, but slight elevated heartrate (90s) but not in any danger zone,

*i also did feel like my blood pressure was up slightly but not like I had to go to the ER.

First 3 days were the worst as I felt like total c.r.a.p. .....I think I ate 2 meals in 3 days. No vomiting, just ZERO appetite. Dizzy and majorly lethargic....

By days 4-7.....felt 50% better. By day 10 I felt pretty healthy again. Lord knows what I did to my liver and kidneys.

I thought about going to the Dr but we have a high $8k deductible.

Dr prob would have only put two bags of saline in me anyways and charged me $1,000 for the 6hr visit

I know NEVER to do that again.

Palytoxin is a REAL danger and closer to getting it into your bloodstream than you ever realized

I feel like a total idiot from the Dumb and Dumber movies....but I wanted to tell my story just how dangerous and real this toxin is....

 

[steallife904]

Try to post a couple pics of them, maybe you guys can confirm what they are and better plan of attack.

 

[steallife904]

Bump

 

[steallife904]

well I got a Hollywood stunner and placed it right next to the palys. Also got a chalice that had long sweepers and put near it as well. Doesn't look like it even phases the palys. LOL. The sweepers are out at night but I don't see any dramatic die back or anything at all. These palys are strong!

Thinking my next plan of attach is to completely cover them with putty. What do you think?

 

[Steve_Skullsplitter0]

Try that stuff from Redsea aiptasia X. I accidentally killed some zoas with it.

 

[kritquilt]

Can they peeled off by twisting like someone suggested for Xenia's?

 

[steallife904]

afraid to mess with them to much by hand because of paly toxin

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Don't think the hollywood stunner will do anything significant.

Me personally... I know this is going to be frowned upon... I'd turn off all water flow/powerhead and use about 5ml of 35% h2o2 directly on them twice a day. Would take some time, but I bet they'd melt off and PS will pick up the mess.

Another method, syringe of kalkpaste directly in the mouth will make them shrivel and die, but going to take some time.

 

[bam123]

I have a similar problem. I have tried the mojo wand with NO success. Aptasia X and Joe's juice to no avail.
F-aptasia worked miricales on aptasia in my tank. It forms a hard kalk paste that lasts a week. Going to try it on a few every few days on some mohawk palys and see how it goes.

 

[steallife904]

still haven't solved my problem.

 

[VR28man]

People say various fish like dwarf angels will eat zoas. Maybe you could find one of those?

Or maybe, buy/borrow a problem dwarf angel from a local reefer.

 

[Auquanut]

Be careful with your eradication efforts. Unhappy zoa and paly polyps WILL bail, and tumble around the tank until they find a new spot to attach. If you're planning on a mass extermination, you're going to have to handle them or risk fouling your tank anyway. The use of gloves and/or hand washing can reduce the likelihood of palytoxin poisoning to nearly nothing.
I would either go slow using something like F-Aptasia and be prepared for some to possibly bail or just go for hand to hand combat. Just a personal opinion.

 

[Daddy-o]

People say various fish like dwarf angels will eat zoas. Maybe you could find one of those?

Or maybe, buy/borrow a problem dwarf angel from a local reefer.

My 2 Dwarf Angels dont eat zoas