Reef nutrition

Black Polyps growing fast—HELP!

Schmitty

Supporting Member
I hate to ask, but maybe you all know. I have these black small cloves/polyp growing like wild zoas, seem to be connected to a black sponge looking thing below the rocks... Any idea what it is, and how I can get rid, seems like it will take over coral zones that I dont want and its not very pleasing to the eyes, Ill try and get a photo when the lighting is on. Good news is I got rid of my aiptasia problem.
 
I have these or something similar. Constant battle for years. Don’t let it get ahead of you.

Take a pic so we can see for sure.
 
I had them on the edge of a chalice. I ended up using a razor blade and a bent paper clip to shred and grind a layer of rock off, rinsing it all the time.

Then dripped undiluted peroxide over it for a couple minutes, while pouring tank water on the coral tissue to prevent damage.

Hasn’t come back yet, but i wouldn’t be surprised :/
 
Btw fenbendazole might kill a lot of other octocorals, check safety first.

I eradicated by vigorous scraping and rinsing, and then peroxide where it used to be in case scraps are left
 
I had these and I had to throw away the rock after pulling it out of the tank and scrubbing with a hard bristle brush didn't work to kill them AT ALL.

There may have been another way but @Kensington Reefer scared me into just getting rid of it. Only a few zoas on that rock anyways.

Edit: hearing about his struggle with these polyps made me decide to do this, he's not telling ghost stories to anyone who will listen about evil mini polyps
 
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I had the brighter blue ones, but might be the same thing. One of the main reason, besides aiptasia and encrusting coral overgrowth, that I went to smaller individual rock structures rather than one big aquascape. Having things not touching each other is a big deal for me, and being able to remove a structure and replace with another of similar size as needed sure is nice. I would just put the new one in my sump for a week or two (or more) before throwing into the display and let the old one dry out.
 
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