Dead zoanthids?

[Hzuiel]

I got 3 frag plugs with zoanthids on them from a local guy who frags and transferred them to my aquarium, and there were several that were closed up, that looked kind of like a withered up plant. I thought it was impossible for a coral to actually out and out die, during a 20 minute car drive, so I figured they would open back up eventually.

No such luck they are still brown and closed, and if i'm not mistaken, another one near the dead ones has closed up as well and appears dead now. Should I pull the plug off the rock and snip the dead ones off and then glue the plug back in place?

 

[zoafarm]

Can you take a picture? Normally, they would melt away if they were dead. When you move them to a new tank, it is not uncommon for them to close up for a while. But they're not dead. I've had some in the past that stayed closed for nearly two weeks.

Don't cut anything yet...please try to get a picture

 

[darkiss]

yes i also think that you should wait until after your lights come on in the morning.

I typically buy new zoas, almost weekly, and some open up right away under the new lights and others take a day or two.

However, I have never experienced any zoa that closed up for two weeks, with lights coming on in the day.

 

[ibtigr33]

Were they closed when you saw them? I will not buy anything that I can't see right then and there. If they are closed they could be harboring pests or disease or simply dying. I still would wait to cut anything. It could be the stress of moving them into a new system. BTW, how did you acclimate them into your system? I have learned that time can be your best friend when it comes to zoas so unless you see them melting away, i would leave them be. You could try dipping them in some Coral RX too.

 

[Hzuiel]

Were they closed when you saw them? I will not buy anything that I can't see right then and there. If they are closed they could be harboring pests or disease or simply dying. I still would wait to cut anything. It could be the stress of moving them into a new system. BTW, how did you acclimate them into your system? I have learned that time can be your best friend when it comes to zoas so unless you see them melting away, i would leave them be. You could try dipping them in some Coral RX too.

Every one of them was open when i picked them and they were pulled out of the frag tank at the guy's house. All the stinging corals were put in their own separate containers, and i had all the zoanthids in one container together. the plugs rolled around in there a little more than i wanted.



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Best pic i can get with the camera phone, and I don't own a decent camera...1200 dollars worth of camera went with my ex >.>

 

[kevin32]

Give it a few days and see how it do. It's normal for them to close for a short period of time.

 

[organism]

Just make sure they're getting some water movement and don't put them under too much light, they should open up eventually...

 

[greg1786]

when I first decided to go from FOWLR to a reef tank back in may I chose zoas to be my first coral because of their hardiness in the ability to acclimate to almost all lighting and water params. I purchase a "zoas beginners pack" from an online dealer and split it with my brother. of the five colonies I got, 4 of them were opened within a week or so. I did hoever have one colony that refused to open. being new to the coral world I had virtually no experience on how to understand why the wouldn't open. After doing a lot of research I learned about coral dips and all the types of pests that could bother them. I decided to take them out of the tank amd do a little disecting with tweezers in a small bowl. I ended up finding about four of these little "spider eating zoas". after removing them I replaced the zoas and waited patiently but two weeks later still tightly closed. I stuck w them and every two weeks I moved them to try new flow and lighting. well needless to say MONTHS later they opened. they actually just began to all consistently open and stay open 3 weeks ago!! it was so odd to me because I have several sps, softies, and an RBTA thriving in the tank. anyway the moral of the story is try and be patient, and check for pests. I'm sure they'll come around eventually. good luck


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[ncalireef]

They may just be in shock for a couple of days. Give them some time in low lighting with medium flow.