yellow polyps out of control

[t-byrd]

i have a rock that is completely covered with these things.
pretty sparse when i bought them.
now they are so thick, that they are trumpeting up to compete for light
since they are so thick they cover each other. some the stalks stretch
3/4 of an inch or more.
i dont want the colony to crash at once, should i be concerned about this or is it normal?
also i saw a link to a website here about "fragging" zooxanthids.
tried slowly peeling them off the rock and moving them to a couple other rocks, and it worked great. just put them in one of those plastic
fish holder things in the tank so they wouldnt get blown around by the current. now they attached themselves and our back in the main tank
doing great. they've only been on the new rocks for a week and are already reproducing.

 

[Anonymous]

don't think they crash from a space issue, like xenia can...

you should be ok...

 

[Tanger]

I also have a ton of them which are on pretty much all of my rockwork. I like how they look all over the tank. I actually have a Tomato Clown who took up shop in one batch recently and hasn't strayed too far from them. If you have as much as I do, I would not worry about them crashing any time soon.....

 

[wildbill]

I'm one who hates all polyps. In a healthy tank they will grow everywhere. If you plan on keeping a tank with stoney's and other sps's I'd be careful. I can't get rid of them, they kill everything they touch, the only coral I ever heard that they don't bother is galaxy and some hammer. In my case where my tank is about 8 years old and wall to wall coral its a issue.

Bill

 

[outerbank]

I really like yellow polyps. I have had them grow like crazy and then just die out. If they get in the way of other corals, you just have to pluck them out. All corals will compete for space.

SL

 

[danmhippo]

Of course, if anyone wants to get rid of them, all of them, all you have to do is to introduce a peppermint shrimp or 2............

 

[Newts]

My pepperment shrimp have never touched my yellow polyps.

 

[Newts]

My pepperment shrimp have never touched my yellow polyps.

 

[wildbill]

I have to disagree, I've tried peppershrimp's and never had any luck. Plucking them is very tough if you tank is as dense as mine. I have green poly's and various mushrooms that I've been battling for years. About 6 years ago I touch out half of my tank and clean all the the rock on the affected side. A few months latter they start coming back. They grow in area's I can't get to. The picture below is a recent view of my 120. I'm willing to try anything.

Bill

 

[pperez]

Kalk paste dissolves them instantly. I've tried it and it works. HTH

 

[wildbill]

How do you get the paste in the water without it starting to disolve? I've tried using a surringe's of kalk water. It never worked well.

Bill

 

[Anonymous]

Make a thick paste and use one of those dosing pipettes. Completely cover the polyp with the kalk paste. If they are in direct water flow turn off the pump(s) for a little while.

 

[wildbill]

I'll try you idea on the ones I can get to. In the past when I used kalk it wasn't a thick solution as you suggest. I'll try anything to slow them down, they really have a negitive effect on my sps's. Do you have any idea's on mushroom extractions? I've tried to to inject them with kalk but it doesn't normally kill them.

Bill

 

[Jeff Hood]

I had a tank with just mushrooms and a few polyps and I bought a Camel back shrimp and dropped him in. Immediatly he began tearing the mushrooms to shreads.

Don't know how they do with other kinds of corals but that might be something to try.

Jeff

 

[reefland]

Are you sure it was a camel shrimp? If there is any hope they will eat mushrooms I'd try them. I have a horrible mushroom and zoanthid problem overgrowing and killing my acro's.

 

[wildbill]

Rich,

I've been asking this question now for years, I've talked to countless experts on this and always get the same answer. Even if the kalk paste works alittle it won't be practical for me to erradicate all my polyps and mushrooms. I don't like putting my hands in my tank unless I have to.

Bill