Half of my Zoa colony will not open.

[JJ650]

I got my hands on a 100 head + zoa colony about 2 weeks ago. Had a bit of a panic when getting them due to a cut in the bag they were in. I don't know how long part of the colony was not in water, but they weren't fully submersed and they weren't against anything that would have retained water for them. There was no time for acclimation and I had to put them in my tank ASAP.

Within a few minutes, roughly half of the colony opened. The other half kinda let out their tentacles, but never fully opened. Fast forward to today, it's the same ones that never fully opened that haven't opened at all. They are alive. A couple of heads did die and the hermits took care of the dead ones. The rest are just shriveled.

The odd thing is, it's nearly all the same type or coloration of Zoas that won't open. The others that were also out of water for an untold amount of time are open and appear healthy.

The tank is almost 5 months old now. Water parameters are good. Constant temps, regular feeding every couple of days for the rest of the tank, decent flow and lighting.

Is there anything I can do? Perhaps there is something I have over looked or haven't clued into.

Cal: 450ppm
NH3/4:0
No2:0
No3: Negligible
Light: Par 30
Flow: Wp10 constant current
mag: N/A
Salinity: between 1.024 and 1.025

 

[Mael]

It can happen, it will depend on how much stress each polyp went through, I have had a colony stay half closed for weeks after being ****ed off. While they won't die from short exposures to air it can make them a bit upset

 

[JJ650]

Thanks. I guess I'll play the "wait-and-see" game.

 

[Mael]

Yah 2 weeks isn't unheard of, I think I had a frag go 2 and a half before it fully opened recently.