Clove Polyps Bothering Zoos

[FishyDP]

I just got some new frags in a couple weeks ago and noticed my utter chaos closing up today. Upon further inspection I noticed some clove polyps growing on the frag. I know they cannot sting, but neither can my zoos/palys. What has been your experience with clove polyps causing issues with zoos/palys? I have quite a bit of zoos and want to know if the cloves are going to cause problems. I like the way cloves look and wouldn't mind them growing in my tank, but like my zoos more.

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

I just got some new frags in a couple weeks ago and noticed my utter chaos closing up today. Upon further inspection I noticed some clove polyps growing on the frag. I know they cannot sting, but neither can my zoos/palys. What has been your experience with clove polyps causing issues with zoos/palys? I have quite a bit of zoos and want to know if the cloves are going to cause problems. I like the way cloves look and wouldn't mind them growing in my tank, but like my zoos more.

They are obviously harming the zoas. Get tweezers and rip them out !
My utter chaos’s just for kicks. One of my favorite palys!

 

[andrewkw]

I've lost many different zoas and palys to similar clove polyps over the years. They just eventually grow right over them. Even some sps get taken over by them. Only stingy LPS seem to be able to repel them in my experience. I would scrape them off good, which has already been suggested. Even if you do end up damaging a polyp it's still better then having these guys take over. While they certainly can be controlled. Eliminating them once they take hold is virtually impossible unless you don't care about other soft corals as any of the chemical methods to remove them effect quite a few other things.

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

I've lost many different zoas and palys to similar clove polyps over the years. They just eventually grow right over them. Even some sps get taken over by them. Only stingy LPS seem to be able to repel them in my experience. I would scrape them off good, which has already been suggested. Even if you do end up damaging a polyp it's still better then having these guys take over. While they certainly can be controlled. Eliminating them once they take hold is virtually impossible unless you don't care about other soft corals as any of the chemical methods to remove them effect quite a few other things.

+1

 

[FishyDP]

This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. While it is obvious that they are harming the palys, I wanted to hear related experiences. I was hoping to hear that zoas and palys are strong enough to out-compete them. It doesn't sound like this is the case. Out they go!

 

[andrewkw]

Here just took these real quick :

Plays will never grow past them. I peel them off periodically but we are basically at a stalemate. When I upgrade tanks I’ll make more of an effort to get them all off. I actually did 2+ years ago but they came back anyway.

If you look at picture 2 real close you can see they grew over a Favia that had a really weak sting. The blastomussa and mini carpet anemone are able to repel them and the blasts has grown over some. I also have a Micromussa growing over them.

 

[FishyDP]

They look pretty nice in the 2nd pic, too bad they can cover other corals. Looks like I am going to have to get these out asap..they have been in the tank for a couple weeks hopefully they have not had a chance to seed elsewhere. Just rid my tank of aptasia, now this! It is a pain because I have a heavy canopy on my tank, and the tank is 27" deep..next tank will be shallow and open top. Great info

 

[KJ Coral shop]

Looks more like Sarcothelia, search this site on them. They are not clove polyps and yes they are bad.

 

[FishyDP]

So..the frag has opened back up today. I did some research on Sarcothelia, and saw that a fw dip with 10% peroxide may work. Thanks for the tip on Sarcothelia. I would try the tweezers but IME it is hard to get little critters like these out, and I dont want to miss any. Will update.