Button Polyps

Button Polyps Care Tips:

Category: Soft

Care Level: Easy

Diet: Mysis shrimp, Reef roids

Temperament: Semi-Aggressive

Tank Placement: Low to Middle

Lighting: Moderate

Water flow: Moderate

Colour: Green and Brown

Button Polyps are a green and brown type of Palythoa that is often referred to as “Button Polyps”. Button Polyps are a soft coral that are easy to take care of and have a semi-aggressive temperament. They can be placed anywhere in your tank and do well in moderate light settings and water flow.

Buttons Polyps do not require but will benefit from feedings including coral food (reef roids), brine shrimp, and or mysis shrimp. While they are similar to Zoanthids they are a different genus. Palythoa can be identified by a few different ways, first Palythoa are usually larger in diameter and have a duller coloring. The second way to tell is the length and thickness of the “lashes” or “fingers” on each head. Generally speaking, Palythoas will have skinnier and longer fingers. This is not a definite way to identify as there are some Palythoa species that have small and thick fingers similar to zoanthids. Another way to tell is to look at the skin of the Palythoa as sand will tend to get embedded in the stalks or mat near the base of the coral.

When Button Polyps are cut or exposed to heat while out of the water, they can release a palytoxin that can be harmful to humans. Care should be taken while handing them. Extra precautions that can be taken may include wearing gloves, wearing protective eye wear, handling them as little as possible once in your tank, checking your hands for cuts before fragging, keeping them submerged under water while fragging, and keeping them away from heat or hot water while out of water (Never soak rocks with button polyps in boiling water in order to clean the rock).

The severity of exposure dictates the outcome of toxicity. Mild poisonings can result in flu-like symptoms or skin irritations and can last 1-2 days, while severe poisonings can result in respiratory symptoms. If you ever experience difficulty breathing after handling Palythoa’s you should go to the emergency. Respiratory cases are extremely rare, but caution should still be taken.