Boxing in clove polyps...

[Fink]

So I made the age-old mistake of putting clove polyps on a rock that can't be removed without wrecking my aquascape… My question is, what coral are aggressive enough that they can stop the spread? They don't seem to encroach too much on my wildfire chalice, and I'm curious if there are any other things people know of that can naturally curb the spread of these monsters. I can't just outright remove them, because they are my wife's favorite non-euphyllia coral, and keeping her happy is integral to my continued participation in this hobby....

For reference they are the flame-tip or firework clove polyps, not the annoying carpet version.

 

[JCTReefer]

They’re pretty easy to pull off with tweezers if that’s easier!!! I have TSA firework cloves myself and ever so often I just thin them out with tweezers.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I have a small patch surrounded by montipora, mushrooms, and pavona. It’s been contained for over a year now without spreading, but again it’s just a small cluster. Not sure if that would work on a large patch.

 

[Fink]

Nice, I've got some monti, and a small frag of leptoceris that might work for what you've got going on. I'm always hesitant to move mushrooms, they never want to stay where I put them (mine aren't on plugs).

@JCTReefer I'll try just thinning them with tweezers if they start getting too far out of the zone where I want them.

 

[Kellie in CA]

I just go at them with long tweezers when they start to get out of hand. Grabbing them at the base, then twisting seems to work best. I just took mine back from 50 to about 10 polyps a couple weeks ago, and they are already making a comeback. Also, then they get too long and floppy I chop all the heads off. New "flowers" pop up in a week or two.