Zoa ID (or play)

[Benny9]

My first coral. Always just had FOWLR. I bought these guys from the lfs a couple months ago. I asked for something tolerant to so-so lighting and somewhat hardy. He recommended mushrooms or zoas. He has this plug with just 4 polyps on it for $10 and I figured at that price if screwed then up at least I wasn't out a lot of money. I split the plug into 4 pieces and glued them down in a couple different areas in hopes they would spread. So far so good. But a recent video has me questioning if they're even zoas... They have long tentacles and are fairly active feeders. Plus that big one is almost the size of a quarter now. Can anyone ID for me?

Edit: tile should say (or paly) lol.

 

[cloak]

Protopalythoas.

 

[Benny9]

Protopalythoas.

Thanks. Was hoping they weren't. I'm a little concerned about toxins. Guess I need to consider getting rid of them before they spread to far too easily remove.

 

[cloak]

As long as you keep them isolated on a small rock of their own you shouldn't have any problems. They can grow fast, especially if fed, but they're not really known to detach and spread throughout the tank on their own. At least not in my experience.
Also, if you're worried about toxins just wear protective gloves when you handle them. I never have, but everybody is different. GL.

 

[Benny9]

As long as you keep them isolated on a small rock of their own you shouldn't have any problems. They can grow fast, especially if fed, but they're not really known to detach and spread throughout the tank on their own. At least not in my experience.
Also, if you're worried about toxins just wear protective gloves when you handle them. I never have, but everybody is different. GL.

I have severe lung damage (long story) so anything that causes respiratory distress could kill me. I'm already on oxygen 24/7. But maybe you're right, if I can isolate them to one nice piece of thin flat live rock I have in there then I'll be able to just handle them that way if needed. Gloves for sure. They're really cool and it's hate to just get rid of them now. Seems like no matter how much I steel myself in advance I always end up making uneducated rash decisions at the lfs. Lol

 

[encrustingacro]

Palythoa cf mutuki

Protopalythoas.

Protopalythoa were synonymized with Palythoa a long time ago.