Them's Trash PalysLooks like a nasty infestation of incredibly dangerous and deadly brown/green paly's. Almost impossible to get rid of, they will likely kill off that wonderful white sponge colony you had going there.
This should almost be on our front page here. So many people have plays in the tank:
Palytoxin (1) is an extremely poisonous substance associated with marine coelenterates (zoanthids) of the genus Palythoa(7). Its intravenous lethality (LD50), which ranges from 0.025 µg/kg in the rabbit to 0.45 µg/kg in the mouse (2), is exceeded only by certain proteins and polypeptides (3). The toxicity of Palythoa, was probably noticed for the first time by the Hawaiians who used exudates of a rare, but very toxic species, P. toxica(4), to poison spear tips for warfare. Investigators at the University of Hawaii were led to P. toxicawhen they followed up the lead provided by the entry limu-make-o-Hana(the deadly seaweed of Hana) in the Hawaiian-English Dictionary (5). Japanese researchers, on the other hand, were led to P. tuberculosawhen they traced the dietary origin of a water-soluble toxin that had been found in the digestive tract of some toxic filefish, Alutera scripta(6,7).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palytoxin
In other words, the palys you have in your tank there are seriously lethal threats to mammalian life forms, of which you are one.
Just trying to understand it. I always though this palytoxin was only released when they are cut. Also cant all zoanthids release this palytoxin.
@Luke. @Salty Cracker I was not trying to be rude or anything. I know you guys are just looking out for my best interest. Is the best way to get rid of these palys just by leaving the rock out of the water for a period of time but at the same time I don't want to lose the sponge either. I actually bought a rock of these guys because I liked the look. The ones on this rock came with the set-up when I bought it. The paly's are in a very limited area.
Agree...they are "fairly" safe in the tank, the problem is, they breed like zombie rabbits, and suddenly you have 50000 of them, and that multiplies the risk...Keep in mind that palytoxin is toxic, but when in your tank, you should have next to nothing to worry about. Especially if you use gloves. When it is diluted in 30 gallons of water, even an open cut on you hand would typically go unharmed. There is a lot in our tanks that can hospitalize us. It also helps to not lick them.