Candy Cane Coral with Button Polyps

Totken · #1 09/11/2003, 09:36 PM

Hi everyone,
I have a candycane coral that has brown button polyps growing in between the candycane polyps. It doesn't look like they are bothering the coral right now, but I'm thinking they will when they get bigger. I am having trouble getting to them since they are in in the middle of the coral. I tried removing them once with tweezers and just pulled a few apart, causing me to have a bad allergic reaction. Any ideas of how to move/remove them?

EricHugo · #2 09/12/2003, 07:15 AM

Well, kind of depends on what these button polyps are - some may sting the candycane, some may overgrow it, and some might do nothing at all. Also, I'm curious what the allergic reaction was, too, prior to suggesting removal options.

Totken · #3 09/12/2003, 03:57 PM

Hmm... I guess I'll have to just keep watching to make sure they don't bother the candycane. They sure are multiplying quick. After I picked them last time, I got really groggy and fell asleep for about 30 and when I woke up I had a red rashy streak on my chest and a part of my leg started turning blue like a big bruise, the size of a soft ball and was really tender. Soes that sound like a normal reaction? When I realized what was happening, I took some Benadryll and by the next day it was pretty much gone. That's why I'm trying to find a better way to remove them, so I don't end up in the emergency room.

EricHugo · #4 09/12/2003, 09:25 PM

Totken, that is a very severe reaction! It is possible to have a hypersensitivoty reaction to coral nematocyst toxin or the palytoxin in zoanthids, and if this is the case, you really need to know for sure what it was because if its cnidarians in general, then you may have to either rethink having a tank or seriously use gloves *I'd do that in any case, given your description. You might want to see an allergist, because anaphylaxis sounds like a step away for you, and we don;t need any fatalities happening, ok? Keep an epi-pen or Primatene mist in the house.

Totken · #5 09/12/2003, 10:19 PM

Thanks Eric! Yep, I wear gloves now and I'm fine. Maybe someone will learn from my stupidity. I had read about them having toxins, but I didn't have an open cut and so I wasn't worried. I don't usually do such dumb things. Nothing else has caused a reaction like that, but I'm very hesitant about button polyps now. Anyways, I guess I'll just leave them alone until they cause my other corals problems. THanks again for the advice.