Polyps Care

[Sidekick41]

Hey everyone,

I have had a Polyps in my tank for about 6 months now and it's did well until a few months back it acted if it didn't like the light it was getting so I moved it further down in the tank. The area was a little more shaded and it's been doing well since. Now it's having issues again. Part of it is turning white and I'm assuming it's dying. I then started thinking should I be feeding this something or move it back into the light? Any idea?

Thanks
Rob

 

[chichimom79]

What are your parameters and please post pics

 

[Sidekick41]

Her is what my water parameters are;
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrates 0.0
Phosphate 0.0
Salinity 1.025

I've also attached a pix, thanks

 

[Sakura2282]

This is a very interesting thread. So, the white part are the polyps too? That looks like some kind of creature trying to eat them. I have so much to learn about this hobby.

Wish you can save them from dying (if they are dying), you have some beautiful polyps there.

Good luck with them!

 

[Aquarian]

The white part is a sponge of some type. It's harmless and a good tank mate but the Zoas may not like it being there. IMO I would leave it be and see how it shakes out, but you could cut the sponge off the rock or try to frag the polyps that are in the center of it. If you move it back to brighter light the sponge may diminish. The polyps all seem to be open and have good color, so I would let it be.

 

[Sakura2282]

The white part is a sponge of some type. It's harmless and a good tank mate but the Zoas may not like it being there. IMO I would leave it be and see how it shakes out, but you could cut the sponge off the rock or try to frag the polyps that are in the center of it. If you move it back to brighter light the sponge may diminish. The polyps all seem to be open and have good color, so I would let it be.

Now, that makes more sense. So the white part is really a sponge. Could it be that when he changed the polyps to a more shaded place down in the tank the sponge thrived? and before it didn't because they were placed where they received more light. I meant that the sponge have been in the same rock with the polyps all the time.

I have some pineapple sponges in one of the rocks in my tank and I noticed that they're growing only where the light don't reach them. I'm just guessing, I have no idea what kind of light is good for the sponges or the polyps.

 

[Aquarian]

In my experience, the sponges that hitchhike in on LR tend to like the lower light and high nutrient water they will thrive until the nutrients are removed through water changes and good husbandry. I'm sure the sponge was always there and the polyps in the pic all look happy. So move it up and see what happens.

 

[Sakura2282]

1+ I think you should move it up. That sponge is growing too fast and it might cover them soon. It looks like some of the polyps were covered by it already.

 

[Sidekick41]

Wow, I never would have thought of that but it makes sense. I'm thinking I will move it up a little since I don't want to loose my polyps. Thanks everyone.

 

[ErinCahir]

You can also remove the sponge by hand. It should peel off pretty easily.

 

[RockStacker]

In small numbers, the sponges are not a problem.
However, in some cases they compete for real estate with the zoas.

In your case, I would recommend removing the sponges. You can use tweezers or just use a stick to rub the sponges out.
If the sponge frags attach somewhere else and survive, then it's all good since they can help filter the water to a certain degree.
If the sponges die out, no big loss.

 

[Sidekick41]

Thanks everyone, I removed as much of the sponge that I could (some dropped to a shaded place in the tank) and then I moved the Polyps up some. This seemed to work as the sponge is almost gone. Now to get the Polyp to start growing.

 

[RockStacker]

Just as a reminder, always use gloves and eye/face protection when handling zoanthids and palythoas - even when not fragging.
They can sometimes "spit", and depending on the species some can be very toxic.

$10.00 construction goggles and $0.05 plastic gloves can save you a $2000.00 dollar trip to the hospital.