Reef nutrition

Free Zoanthidae

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keithschon

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Anybody want these guys? I think they are protopalys. I've had this rock forever, but at this point I'd like to remove them from my tank. Basically unkillable, but it does tend to spread aggressively (as you can see here). Green in white light, does not fluoresce.

Warning: I've had a skin reaction to something in my tank, and I suspect it's these guys. Don't want to make them sound scary--I think of them as a beginner coral--but do handle them carefully.


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Those look exactly like palythoa that have been shown to have palytoxin and send people to the hospital. Of course you can’t tell by a pic alone, but there certainly are types that have the toxin and types that don’t, and these look like a type that do. My unsolicited advice is to remove them all from your tank and be very careful doing so. And not give them to anyone. Certainly not to beginners.

I’m definitely not in the all-palys-are-bad camp, or overly cautious about proven-safe paly’s. But the second I saw this pic I had a negative visceral reaction of recognition.
 
Follow up: Threw out the main rock. They had spread to a larger rock, which I removed and is now soaking in bleach. Hopefully I can clean it and reuse it at some point. But for now, I actually like the effect of lowering the rock above it to give those corals more room to grow.
 
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