Strange white polyps appearing on live rock..any ideas?

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Dionysus

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May 30, 2007
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Ive had my 20g nano reef running for 1 year now, doing quite well, coralline finally taken off. Recently, i noticed 2 separate colonys of polyps appearing on my live rock. 1 col at top of the reef, the other near bottom.
Its always nice to find new growth, but the polyps aren't very attractive. They are mainly whitish, kinda pale. No bright colors like my other colonys. They have more wispy outer edges then my zoas. Thinking of removing dem, but thought id see what they were 1st. Want to make sure they aren't gonna take over, or cause problems.
Could u guys take a look @ the pics i took (was hard to get good shot of some cause of location) and see if u recognize them? Any info would b great, cause ive tried researching and found squat. Have u had/seen them b4? Are they zoas, etc.?
Anything u got would b appreciated:1zhelp:

white polyp1.jpg Un ID polyp1.jpg
 

GuppyGirl1230

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Jul 14, 2010
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I am not a saltie by any means but aren't those aiptasia?
I think you are right petluvr. Most reef keepers kill those with something- they are not considered desirable. right?
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Not aptasia. Some type of paly/button polyp. I have a cluster in the back of my tank. I am not a fan of mine either but mine have not grown very fast so I leave them alone. If I could remove the rock mine are on I would but the rock is all the way on the bottom in the back of the tank. If you rock(s) can be removed easily you can just chip the LR under them and take them to your LFS for some credit. A heavy kalk past or something like Joe's Juice should take them out but you may need to treat them twice.

BTW, that crab has some guns on him!
 

Dionysus

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May 30, 2007
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Yeah, they def not aiptasia, i guess just some ugly button polyps. Maybe will leave them and if they start spreading to fast, then get rid of.
Nice comment on my crab. I used to get hermits, but those lil *******s would knock everything over and destroy the reef. I switch to emerald crabs and have no complaints. They sure do look cool and tough @ the same time, and man do they ever clean up the reef well.
 

RiVerfishgirl

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Jan 15, 2007
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Yup, they are a type of button polyp.

I had brown ones come in on my rock, and they spread extremely slow, so not all species will become pesty. They generally won't spread like aptaisia either way and will be easier to get rid of, so generally not something to worry about.

They will actually eat small meaty foods if you want to try and feed them and watch. I fed mine very small pieces of shrimp.
 

wkuehler

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Feb 13, 2010
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We have a very similar inhabitant of our tank that has been there for about 6 months. He is brown and not very nice to look at (at least that is what i am told; i think he is cool looking). Recently, he 'sprouted' a couple of buddies around his base. One night my wife and i decided to use a light to look at the tank at night. We tried a red lens and started noticing some nocturnal creatures. It was when we tried a blue lens that we noticed that our ugly brown 'venus flytrap' turned various colors, including a bright yellow around his mouth.

My understanding is that this type is fairly harmless. It was recommended to me that we should kill them before they spread because they can be dangerous if handled because they can secrete some type of neurotoxin when touched. Thankfully, I never take him out of the tank to play with him so I think we will leave him alone. ;-)
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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Yup, they are Protopalythoa. Some palys contain palytoxins that can be deadly if you get some in an open wound, but last I read only about 10% of them contain any of it.. but it is alway wise to wear gloves and face protection if your fragging zoas/palys/etc. Also don't crush them with your fingers if you move the rocks around.. otherwise they are pretty safe.

They are the ones I have in my tank
 

Cerianthus

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Jul 9, 2008
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I would leave them alone as Colors can change depending on its environment.

Is that an emerald crab on 1st pic?

Good point on Palytoxin as it is true, not just paly but other softies as well.

Make a habit of Cleaning your hand well before and after messing with reef tanks.

Glove, I will leave it to each individual but I feel glove is a Must if you have severe allergy to whatever the allergens may be. I do know of one guy who ended up in hospital for few days with chest pains, numbness, rash, swelling, etc after messing with uncured rock without glove. He never found out what the exact causes were.
 
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