Dying Zoa Help

[chilake08]

So I'm out of ideas and it may be too late but I figured I would ask here. I got a single polyp zoa and it was doing fine for a while but then it accidentally got ripped off its plug by a snail. I managed to get it and re-glue it. It seemed to be opening up for a while and its base was growing, but then part of the polyp started to discolor to white and not open up. Even though the base seemed to continue to grow. Currently it is not opening up at all, and even though it looks like a small new polyp is trying to develop I don't know if its going to make it before the main single polyp completely dies.

Other than needing re-gluing the tank did go through a day of drastic temp fluctuations from 83-72 across a single day period (computer failure). I also did dip the coral in the starting stages to eliminate the possibility of a parasite.

Its in a 28g Nano Cube with the LED hood (Lumens are 120im). Parameters were all fairly normal 2 days ago when I last checked:
Temp - 78.9
pH - 8.02
Ca - 420
Alk - 11.8 dKH
Mg - 1290
PO4 - 0
NO3 - 0
Salinity 1.0255

I know the Alk is a little high. Doing a water change today to help things along. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks. Forgot to say that I also dose vitamin C.

 

[CrazyZoa]

Well this is a classic case of "reason not to buy single polyp frags". Sorry to hear you are fighting with a problem though. Can I ask as to what this is a polyp of? I would think if it's a single is must be a named polyp. I wouldn't be to worried about your temp swing you had once. Mother nature is a cruel b!$ch and I am sure she tosses bigger issues at zoas/palys in the wild. But stack everything this little lone polyp has been through and it's stressed beyond measure I am sure. Add the temp issue with being gragged all alone, being ripped off it's plug, being super glued back on, man handle etc. I know I would be ****ed off and beat up too. You state that it is closed up but seems to be spreading at it's base. This is a good thing. It may be going through a "do or die" stage. The mature polyp is using all of it's last energy to push out it's base and form new polyps . It may live or it may die only time will tell at this point. Just do all you can to leave it alone and don't induce anymore stress on it.

 

[chilake08]

Yea every day i'm getting less and less optimistic, but at this point I don't think there is anything else I can do. The base hasn't discolored yet, but it looks like the mature polyp is definitely receding and continuing to turn white. I don't know if this thing can survive without an actively open polyp, but I guess all I can do now is wait and see. Unfortunately this single polyp is/was a red hornet. Rather frustrating, but then again I just red a thread by a local reefer that lost his entire SPS tank to a failed chiller, so in the grand scheme of things it could always be a lot worse. I plan on continuing to put in VC, and keep up on my water changes and hope for the best.

 

[CrazyZoa]

How long have you had this polyp? I wish I could see how far along the base has grown/spread from the single polyp. It would kind of give me an idea of the chances they will become new polyps if the mature one dies. No doubt you paid a pretty penny for this thing...maybe in the hood' of $200 with shipping and I hate that you are fighting to keep this poor little guy alive. Good news is there is an importer on the west coast that has thousands if not tens of thousands of Red Hornets that will be hitting the retail market soon and hopefully making the bottom drop out on their price so we all can aford Red Hornets.

 

[chilake08]

So I know its not the worlds best photo but my camera isn't the worlds best camera either. Plus the front edge of the tank is curved which makes it a little more challenging shooting at a downward angle. Anyways, hopefully you can see the large amount of glue with the polyp in the middle. Essentially when I re-attached the polyp to the plug it was just the polyp. The purple region to the left, and the larger purple bulge to the right have all grown post re-attachment. As of yesterday the polyp has been in the tank 1 month. About one week after being placed in the tank it got torn from the original glue. You can see the white area on the top of the mature polyp, but more concerning is the algae like discoloration forming to the right of that. Ultimately I hope it makes it, but it is what it is. I got the polyp not because its "exclusive" but because I love the coloration and what it adds to my tank. If this one dies I will spend the money again and try it all over because I love how it looks. The news about more being put out on the market is exciting, I would love to see this zoa be more accessible to people.

 

[CrazyZoa]

Oh heck that doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. I would dare to say in a couple of days you will have a new polyp open on the right hand side. Looks like it's pushing hard to the left too! Just let the frag be...try not to mess with it if you can. After alot of stress like your polyp has been through they are known to close up and not open for a lenght of time...spreading the whole time! Case in point, I broke the front glass on my 5.5 AIO. I had to stick all my live stock into a bucket while I ran out bought a new tank, reglued my intank refugume etc...etc. Most all of my zoas/palys stayed closed for almost 3 weeks some stayed closed tight like yours looks. In this time though their mat grew and you clearly could see new polyps forming. Then just like someone flipped a switch they all started to open and within a couple of days it was like nothing had happened. Except for a big growth spurt! I wish the same for your Red Hornet!!!

Good luck!

 

[chilake08]

So I really haven't moved it or bothered it at all. And I can't say it has gotten to look too much worse. Varies day to day it seems, but the base still has a strong purple color which is good. But now the plug along with the glue and zoa is starting to develop a thin layer of algae on it. Usually if things are alive they can keep the algae off of it, but this concerns me. I'm not sure if I should leave it as is, or if I need to dip it again.

 

[CrazyZoa]

No...just leave it be....