How to trim polyps..?

salty420

salty420

this fish was coming on to me
Mar 8, 2007
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Sugar Grove, IL
ok so i'm totally new to reef keeping and need to do some trimming on my green poylps. It is getting huge and starting to get pretty close to my leather toadstool...
greenpolyps.jpg


i don't need the frags or anything, just need to cut it down. can i just take a razor to the stalk? i feel bad wasting it but it is so much bigger than it was in that pic which was taken just a few weeks ago.

ALSO, i ordered lights for my 37 and would like to grow a bit of this in that tank. i put one of the rocks from the 37 next to it hoping it would start growing on it but if it doesn't how do i frag it? do i have to break the rock or can i pluck a polyp off and stick it onto my rock? sorry if these are dumb questions but i really have no idea (obviously)
THANKS
 
Niko posted some fragging demo videos in the propagation forum. You might check that out. And psst, take the frags to your LFS for credit or try to trade them with another local reefer. No point in letting them go to waste.
 
Placing a rock next to the main colony should result in them jumping over onto it. This is by far the safest and easiest way to help control a population of colony polyps like those.

If you really need to remove a significant portion of the zoas / polyps quickly, you could always break off a part of the rock with some of them on it (hammer and chisel can prove to be very sucessful if you are very careful of flying debris). This may or may not be a good option, depending on how much you like the shape of the rock they are on and how easily that rock can be removed from your tank.

With a razor blade, you could scrape or just cut off individual polyps as needed. If done carefully, the polyps you remove can be transplanted onto another rock (using some type of mesh material and a rubberband to hold them in place until they take hold). If you're going to do any cutting of polyps, I'd recommend doing so in some tank water outside of your tank. Cutting zoas / palys / colony polyps can release some toxins into the water, and you wouldn't want any large amount of those to be released in your tank. People can also be sensitive to those toxins, so if you decide to cut or scrape polyps, please be very careful.
 
along with that great advise I would also recomend having a frag tank. something simple like a 10G where the newly cut frags/cprals can recover nicely, also you dont want fish and inverts picking at it while its healing.

Ps. you can send some of those golden polyps may way if you are going to trim em. For some odd reason something ate them now I only have one. :(
 
thanks for the replies. i really don't want to cut the rock so would rather just cut em off. i do hope some -jump.? - on to the other rock. do they literally move to the rock or do new ones grow on it?

SHK_ATK said:
Ps. you can send some of those golden polyps may way if you are going to trim em. For some odd reason something ate them now I only have one. :(
Click to expand...

take em there's like a hundred of them! they are on another rock too, they guy i got the tank from said the rock had been next to them and some jumped over and are spreading like weeds on it too...
 
sweet throw in some xenia as well :D:headbang2: :grinyes:
 
really then what is that top left coral in the pic? I thought it was Xenia..
 
SHK_ATK said:
really then what is that top left coral in the pic? I thought it was Xenia..
Click to expand...

nope. toadstool.

whenever tryign to cut or frag any zooanthids, especialy protopaly thoas (what you have there) and ESPECIALY palythoas, please wear gloves. eye protection as well. not only can some people be sensitive to these toxins (palytoxins) but if enough of it (it doesnt take a lot) gets into your system, it would be enough to kill you. paly toxins are one of the most deadly in the ocean. they are most comon in some strains of palythoas. however, since there are so many types and morphs or "zoos", you cannot always be sure that the polyps you are cutting up is safe or not.
a member in my club's wife was fragging some once, and got a little bit on her or in a cut or something. anyways, long story short, she had to go to the hospital. needless to say, if they want any zoos fragged, the husbandis always the one to do it, and ive seen him, he has heavy duty gloves, and apron, and eye protection. it looks silly and may be overthe top, especialy if the zoos you have dont have any toxins, but i supose he doesnt want to risk it.
ive also read reports of people getting heart attacks and other serious issues while fragging these things.

that being said, the ones you have there arent likely to contain a serious toxin, but it woudl be enough to irritate your skin and tick off your corals if you do it out of the tank. just be careful :)
 
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