Advice on Fragging Palythoas?

[Tellie-Vision]

Looking for advice on how I can cut down some of my large palythoa colony (mainly bc I want to diversify the rock with more than just one type of paly, but also bc it’s like… building on itself to bridge the gap to TWO completely separate rocks I do NOT want them on).

I know most people say to take the rock outside, however it is freezing temps outside (I live in WI) so I figure that wouldn’t be a good idea… is there a safe way to do it indoors? In any case I would definitely have them underwater for the act but I am also curious if the fragging process could potentially effect the other corals I have on this rock (kenya trees, those are attached so can’t move them elsewhere) if the palys release toxin?

I have also seen people suggest using aiptasia-x/kalk paste to kill some of them off a bit at a time, but I worry about potentially harming my livestock if they release toxins in the process; I know I could run carbon but I am unsure how to know if I’m using enough/when I need to switch it out in this scenario. I like this method the least only because of how long it would take.

I can take a picture of my colony in the morning when the lights come on if that would help; I appreciate any thoughts in the meantime!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

very carefully....

 

[KrisReef]

Well I don’t have experience fragging in low temperature but you made me think about it.

I think I might do a water change and put the old water in so it covered the parts of the rock and Palys I want to keep and then take the bucket outside and scrape up a nice snow ball to set onto the palys I want to remove.

Leave the snow in place for 5-10 minutes and then take it off and dump the salt water on the driveway as I head back into the house.

I wonder if that would work? If it was cold enough outside I would expect that removing the snow might work like a bikini wax procedure?

I’m not planning on being in the colder climate and so I’m hoping that you can give this a try?

Whenever you’re working with palys gloves and goggles to keep you away from harm are always a good healthy practice.

 

[Sam7]

I have drizzled F aptasia or similar on them to kill off or clear back offender. It does work for me. I have used this method on lot different coral. Sometimes i just turn the rock upside down depends on rock placement and no light kills it eventually. You can always run some carbon after dosing aiptasia-x/kalk paste some palys inside your tank. You do you im talking about what i do.

 

[JoJosReef]

Looking for advice on how I can cut down some of my large palythoa colony (mainly bc I want to diversify the rock with more than just one type of paly, but also bc it’s like… building on itself to bridge the gap to TWO completely separate rocks I do NOT want them on).

I know most people say to take the rock outside, however it is freezing temps outside (I live in WI) so I figure that wouldn’t be a good idea… is there a safe way to do it indoors? In any case I would definitely have them underwater for the act but I am also curious if the fragging process could potentially effect the other corals I have on this rock (kenya trees, those are attached so can’t move them elsewhere) if the palys release toxin?

I have also seen people suggest using aiptasia-x/kalk paste to kill some of them off a bit at a time, but I worry about potentially harming my livestock if they release toxins in the process; I know I could run carbon but I am unsure how to know if I’m using enough/when I need to switch it out in this scenario. I like this method the least only because of how long it would take.

I can take a picture of my colony in the morning when the lights come on if that would help; I appreciate any thoughts in the meantime!

What kind of palys are they? Green palys (nuclear death palys, captain jerks, etc) seem to be worse for palytoxin. I wouldn't trust pandoras either.

Here is how I would do it, and how I was planning to do it, but was too lazy to actually do it:

1. Buy large metal boba straws:

2. Buy tubing that the straw fits into--I was planning to use the same tubes I have for siphoning water for water changes:

3. Get some thick rubber bands

4. Wrap thick rubber bands around one end of metal straw until you can push the metal straw into the vacuum tube and make a tight seal.

5. Get a large bucket, preferably 5 gallon or more

6. Preferably have a lid to the bucket, although not necessary

7. Preferably drill a vacuum tube-sized hole in the top of the lid

8. Get some fresh baggies of carbon in the tank.

9. Insert vacuum tube into bucket by the exit side, not the metal straw side. If using the lid, run the tube through the hole in the lid.

10. Insert the metal straw side in the tank and start a siphon, preferably with a hand pump and not your mouth. If using the lid, start the siphon and then close the lid.

11. Wearing gloves, take the end of the metal straw and scrape it against the surface of the rock where the palys are attached--you can start by getting each paly polyp inside the straw before scraping to capture any palytoxin it decides to release.

12. Continue scraping and pulling up the palys that get sucked into the bucket by the siphon until desired area is clear of polyps.

13. Replace volume of water remove with new saltwater.

14. Start pump and get those carbon baggies working on soaking up any remaining toxin in the display.

15. Go straight to the emergency room if you begin to have sudden chills, body aches, fever, or otherwise feel horrendous within 8 hours.

 

[slingfox]

What kind of palys are they? Green palys (nuclear death palys, captain jerks, etc) seem to be worse for palytoxin. I wouldn't trust pandoras either.

Here is how I would do it, and how I was planning to do it, but was too lazy to actually do it:

1. Buy large metal boba straws:

2. Buy tubing that the straw fits into--I was planning to use the same tubes I have for siphoning water for water changes:

3. Get some thick rubber bands

4. Wrap thick rubber bands around one end of metal straw until you can push the metal straw into the vacuum tube and make a tight seal.

5. Get a large bucket, preferably 5 gallon or more

6. Preferably have a lid to the bucket, although not necessary

7. Preferably drill a vacuum tube-sized hole in the top of the lid

8. Get some fresh baggies of carbon in the tank.

9. Insert vacuum tube into bucket by the exit side, not the metal straw side. If using the lid, run the tube through the hole in the lid.

10. Insert the metal straw side in the tank and start a siphon, preferably with a hand pump and not your mouth. If using the lid, start the siphon and then close the lid.

11. Wearing gloves, take the end of the metal straw and scrape it against the surface of the rock where the palys are attached--you can start by getting each paly polyp inside the straw before scraping to capture any palytoxin it decides to release.

12. Continue scraping and pulling up the palys that get sucked into the bucket by the siphon until desired area is clear of polyps.

13. Replace volume of water remove with new saltwater.

14. Start pump and get those carbon baggies working on soaking up any remaining toxin in the display.

15. Go straight to the emergency room if you begin to have sudden chills, body aches, fever, or otherwise feel horrendous within 8 hours.

Excellent procedure! Very well thought out! This reinforces my decision to not have palys in my tank

 

[JoJosReef]

Excellent procedure! Very well thought out! This reinforces my decision to not have palys in my tank

If I could go back and never introduce green death palys or Pandoras... Some palys are fine IMO. Love my cinnamon grandis palys. Love my daisy dukes, rainbow infusions--when they are on their own little island. Basically just keep them confined and they're alright!

 

[IPT]

I keep all of mine confined to separate rocks. Most I can take out and scrape if I need too. For those pesky one that bridge the gap, or just grow to fast and take over I just nuke them with Kalk. I will 'spray" it on them, but I also do so with a hypodermic needle. Once they close I literally inject some of the Kalk paste into the body/stalk. I don't do tons and tons at one time and I've never ran carbon or anything else and I've never had an issue doing this with toxins that affected me or the tank (Mixed tank that is definitely SPS dominated). Maybe I've just been lucky. It's also a 120Gal tank, not a small 20 gallon one so there is some water volume to disperse whatever toxin might be released.

 

[exnisstech]

Always wear PPE. I use forceps and just rip them off the rocks and have a small container of water to swish the forceps in to remove them from the forceps and repeat. They don't seem to spread like aiptasia would do if you try to kill them with this method.
But TBO I would sacrifice the other coral or cut them off to relocate then remove the rock and be done with them. I added some 7 or 8 years ago and they still show up once in a while on an old piece of rock. Being stored in a dark brute with no heat doesn't kill them, they just go dormant. I've had them appear on rock that has been stored over a year.

 

[TX_REEF]

Looking for advice on how I can cut down some of my large palythoa colony (mainly bc I want to diversify the rock with more than just one type of paly, but also bc it’s like… building on itself to bridge the gap to TWO completely separate rocks I do NOT want them on).

I know most people say to take the rock outside, however it is freezing temps outside (I live in WI) so I figure that wouldn’t be a good idea… is there a safe way to do it indoors? In any case I would definitely have them underwater for the act but I am also curious if the fragging process could potentially effect the other corals I have on this rock (kenya trees, those are attached so can’t move them elsewhere) if the palys release toxin?

I have also seen people suggest using aiptasia-x/kalk paste to kill some of them off a bit at a time, but I worry about potentially harming my livestock if they release toxins in the process; I know I could run carbon but I am unsure how to know if I’m using enough/when I need to switch it out in this scenario. I like this method the least only because of how long it would take.

I can take a picture of my colony in the morning when the lights come on if that would help; I appreciate any thoughts in the meantime!

What kind of palys are they? Green palys (nuclear death palys, captain jerks, etc) seem to be worse for palytoxin. I wouldn't trust pandoras either.

Here is how I would do it, and how I was planning to do it, but was too lazy to actually do it:

1. Buy large metal boba straws:

2. Buy tubing that the straw fits into--I was planning to use the same tubes I have for siphoning water for water changes:

3. Get some thick rubber bands

4. Wrap thick rubber bands around one end of metal straw until you can push the metal straw into the vacuum tube and make a tight seal.

5. Get a large bucket, preferably 5 gallon or more

6. Preferably have a lid to the bucket, although not necessary

7. Preferably drill a vacuum tube-sized hole in the top of the lid

8. Get some fresh baggies of carbon in the tank.

9. Insert vacuum tube into bucket by the exit side, not the metal straw side. If using the lid, run the tube through the hole in the lid.

10. Insert the metal straw side in the tank and start a siphon, preferably with a hand pump and not your mouth. If using the lid, start the siphon and then close the lid.

11. Wearing gloves, take the end of the metal straw and scrape it against the surface of the rock where the palys are attached--you can start by getting each paly polyp inside the straw before scraping to capture any palytoxin it decides to release.

12. Continue scraping and pulling up the palys that get sucked into the bucket by the siphon until desired area is clear of polyps.

13. Replace volume of water remove with new saltwater.

14. Start pump and get those carbon baggies working on soaking up any remaining toxin in the display.

15. Go straight to the emergency room if you begin to have sudden chills, body aches, fever, or otherwise feel horrendous within 8 hours.

Awesome guide, deserves its own post!

 

[IPT]

What kind of palys are they? Green palys (nuclear death palys, captain jerks, etc) seem to be worse for palytoxin. I wouldn't trust pandoras either.

Here is how I would do it, and how I was planning to do it, but was too lazy to actually do it:

1. Buy large metal boba straws:

2. Buy tubing that the straw fits into--I was planning to use the same tubes I have for siphoning water for water changes:

3. Get some thick rubber bands

4. Wrap thick rubber bands around one end of metal straw until you can push the metal straw into the vacuum tube and make a tight seal.

5. Get a large bucket, preferably 5 gallon or more

6. Preferably have a lid to the bucket, although not necessary

7. Preferably drill a vacuum tube-sized hole in the top of the lid

8. Get some fresh baggies of carbon in the tank.

9. Insert vacuum tube into bucket by the exit side, not the metal straw side. If using the lid, run the tube through the hole in the lid.

10. Insert the metal straw side in the tank and start a siphon, preferably with a hand pump and not your mouth. If using the lid, start the siphon and then close the lid.

11. Wearing gloves, take the end of the metal straw and scrape it against the surface of the rock where the palys are attached--you can start by getting each paly polyp inside the straw before scraping to capture any palytoxin it decides to release.

12. Continue scraping and pulling up the palys that get sucked into the bucket by the siphon until desired area is clear of polyps.

13. Replace volume of water remove with new saltwater.

14. Start pump and get those carbon baggies working on soaking up any remaining toxin in the display.

15. Go straight to the emergency room if you begin to have sudden chills, body aches, fever, or otherwise feel horrendous within 8 hours.

This reminds me of what I used to do for Velonia. I got some rigid plastic tubing and cut one end on an angle so it was sharp and pointed. I stuck the other end into some plastic tubing. Start the siphon one end on the tank and one into a bucket and scrape away. Make the tube long enough so the end curls into the bucket and you don;t have to worry about it popping out of the bucket that way you can use hand to pinch off the tube (slow or stop flow while your changing the rock your scraping and/or just ti control the flow allowing you more scraping time).

I'd just do it when I did a WC so I could siphon out 5+ gallons at a time (for ease).

 

[BoaConservationist]

Looking for advice on how I can cut down some of my large palythoa colony (mainly bc I want to diversify the rock with more than just one type of paly, but also bc it’s like… building on itself to bridge the gap to TWO completely separate rocks I do NOT want them on).

I know most people say to take the rock outside, however it is freezing temps outside (I live in WI) so I figure that wouldn’t be a good idea… is there a safe way to do it indoors? In any case I would definitely have them underwater for the act but I am also curious if the fragging process could potentially effect the other corals I have on this rock (kenya trees, those are attached so can’t move them elsewhere) if the palys release toxin?

I have also seen people suggest using aiptasia-x/kalk paste to kill some of them off a bit at a time, but I worry about potentially harming my livestock if they release toxins in the process; I know I could run carbon but I am unsure how to know if I’m using enough/when I need to switch it out in this scenario. I like this method the least only because of how long it would take.

I can take a picture of my colony in the morning when the lights come on if that would help; I appreciate any thoughts in the meantime!

you can take a turkey baster and "aggro" them into closing up/ emitting, and then working with them is simple, try to keep them in water the whole time and your toxin risk is greatly reduced, i also place a carbon insert in my working bin to further reduce risk. Glasses, respirator, thick kitchen latex gloves long and safe -----proper=safe

Bear in mind, moving them at all is going to release some into the column , be prepared by running carbon