Suggestions for moving a polyp colony?

[beanejar]

I have a piece of LR which is mostly covered with green star polyps and in the center there _was_ a small colony of what I think to be Figi Button Polyps (Palythoa sp.).

(Picture is example of the polyp, not from my tank.)
The problem is that this colony of Palythoa is in the process of over-running a couple of barnacles and on the way to running into some stars. This colony was two polyps, now about 14 approximately one month after getting into the tank. So, their rate of expansion is worrisome.
Any ideas on how to move this colony? The barncle is within the LR and the stars totally cover this rock with the exception of the 2" x 2" area with the Palythoa and barnacles. The colony is now "comma" shaped and about 1" by 1.5".
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jaret

 

[reeferkeeper]

My suggestion would be to keep them "thinned" by cutting away the polyps that are going the wrong direction..train them..so to speak. I am not sure if that is what your avoiding or if your actually wanting to move the whole colony. I am not sure if you can actually cut and re-attach. What I have done with polys is to tuck a small piece of LR next to the colony and the polys have just covered the rock, then I just moved the rock to where I wanted the colony to flourish. This might be a good option since they are growing so quickly...if you dont get any other suggestions. HTH