OMG did I buy a Zoanthid or Palythoa?

[Hahmlet]

Hi guys, I'm new to the hobby and just bought these 3 corals as my first. Can someone help me ID if they are Zoanthid or Palythoas?
I have seen the big flower type Zoanthids and Palythoas in the LFS and avoided them as I want my tank to be as safe as possible, without the fear of the water splashing in my eyes etc.
These in the picture below that I purchased had tiny flower heads and hence I didn't think they were Zoanthids or Palythoas. But after a lot of research I'm starting to think that they might be.

 

[shakacuz]

they’re all zoas.

 

[Hahmlet]

they’re all zoas.

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

 

[shakacuz]

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

i disagree with getting rid of them. zoas and even paly’s can be contained. with proper precaution you can avoid all of the horror stories. but i could understand being more safe than sorry altogether and not having either in your tank

 

[mfinn]

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

There is really no reason to be paranoid of zoanthids. Many people around the world keep zoanthids in reef tanks. Some even keep dedicated tanks for just zoanthids.

 

[Hahmlet]

Thanks for the input. I'll be keeping an octopus, so I wanted to avoid any toxic or aggressive stinging corals. I read that they don't do well with aggressive stinging corals, and just erring to the side of caution with zoas as well. But do let me know if you have any idea if octopus might do well with them, thanks!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

Did you think palythoa are more safe than zoanthids?

 

[Hahmlet]

Did you think palythoa are more safe than zoanthids?

No, I'm not keeping either. I'm pretty sure palythoa are more deadly from what I've read.

 

[Crustaceon]

In all honesty, you’re 99.9999% fine unless you try to remove a zoa-covered rock and do something silly like try to boil it or frag a zoa colony in open air with your eyeball half an inch away. It’s astronomically rare to have zoas in your tank and have toxicity issues just by being near it and sniffing salty air. We hear stories but considering the number of people who have zero issues with literal “zoa systems”, It’s an extremely low risk to take under normal reef keeping circumstances. This is my experience after nearly two decades of putting my hand in tanks full of zoas and palys without gloves and sometimes even touching them while cleaning the panels. You know what’s in my LFS’s frag tanks that thousands of people put their face over every year? Zoas. Tons of them.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No, I'm not keeping either. I'm pretty sure palythoa are more deadly from what I've read.

Neither are going to sting an octopus.

 

[Tamberav]

I wouldn't be worried about your octopus, people keep zoa's with fish and inverts all the time.. and sometimes something like a foxface/angel/hippo tang even eats them

 

[62518161]

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Did you think palythoa are more safe than zoanthids?

It's your tank, you do what you want, but do some additional research to educate yourself on Safely keeping them which is not hard at all. The are no more dangerous to you, than a car you get in every single day.

 

[Hahmlet]

Wow ok, I'm getting persuaded. haha
I thought they could kill other fish and invertebrates with their palytoxins. If fish can even eat them and octopus are not affected by it, I guess I could make a zoanthid/palythoa section around my pulsing xenia to stop them from spreading too well.

 

[Crustaceon]

Wow ok, I'm getting persuaded. haha
I thought they could kill other fish and invertebrates with their palytoxins. If fish can even eat them and octopus are not affected by it, I guess I could make a zoanthid/palythoa section around my pulsing xenia to stop them from spreading too well.

It’s so rare that i’d probably just say no and wouldn’t worry about that. I mean I guess if you had a large angelfish, but you wouldn’t keep that in a zoa tank anyways because it’s well known they generally don’t mix.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Thanks for confirming. Gonna have to get rid of them then.

lol….are you afraid that you can’t resist the temptation of eating them or something?
If not, they just…sit there and do nothing. Basically no risk what so ever.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Wow ok, I'm getting persuaded. haha
I thought they could kill other fish and invertebrates with their palytoxins. If fish can even eat them and octopus are not affected by it, I guess I could make a zoanthid/palythoa section around my pulsing xenia to stop them from spreading too well.

I added a clam 6 months ago and he came with an unexpected surprise.
Doesn't bother the clam and doesn't bother me.
I wouldn't toss a Zoa or a Paly.

 

[Hahmlet]

Ok that's it! I'm keeping them.