How long will zoa's survive out of water?

[steevareno2002]

I have a small colony of bam bam zoas attached to a small rock that has bubble algae on it. I'd like to take it out of the tank and pop them and don'twant to pollute my tank with more bubble algea...Any advice? Thx!

 

[hansmatt]

I've seen zoos in tide pools that are out of water for hours (though still wet). I take mine out when fragging all the time, so 5 minutes won't be an issue. Suggestion for you...use a blunt tip pick (like one of those dentist scrapers, or a thin wooden/plastic dowel to carefully remove the bubble algae...easier, and probably more effective in the long term...rinse it in a bowl of tank water. Also, wear eye protection and don't rub/touch the polyps with your hands...if they are damaged (even not) they can release an irritating toxin.

 

[Friday Night]

They sometimes get shipped just in wet newspaper for days

Im sure your good for a short window to remove the BA.

 

[steevareno2002]

Good idea! Thx guys

 

[A. Grandis]

Remove the colony from the tank.
Avoid to pop the bubble algae.
Scrape the bubbles sideways with a tool (razor blade, knife or tweezers), removing the algae from the polyps without hurting the polyps.
Quick dip (1/2 min. will do) the colony in a 20% peroxide/80% tank water or fresh water.
Dip again in a bowl with tank water.
Return the colony to the system and relax.

You don't need to worry about how long the colony will be exposed to the air, but do a clean job removing the algae. The less time exposed to the air, the less the stress for the polyps.

The algae is in your system. Try to get a Sailfin Tang, Purple Tang, or other helper.

Grandis.

 

[letoan]

There's one time I took a colony of ph out to frag and left out for a couple hours and it's fine. I would worry more about the bubble than the zoos. Have you tried emerald crab, mine ate every single bit of it.

 

[steevareno2002]

That's great advice, TY! Yes i have an emerald crab but it hasn't munched on it yet

 

[letoan]

That's great advice, TY! Yes i have an emerald crab but it hasn't munched on it yet

If he's new, give him time. If your tank big enough and no fish chow them, add a couple more.

 

[sunshinereefer]

I have had zoas out of water for more than an hour..and they have survived. Wont say that is true with all of them but some are much hardy than others. 10-15 mins is very common and if you are fragging them..a intermediate dip in the tank water for a few seconds if you are taking a long time to frag would help them, mostly if you are using tools like dremel that generate heat.

 

[sps_reefer]

i have seen zoas getting rained on for hours because they are exposed everyday at low tide

 

[OKCchief]

Remove the colony from the tank.
Avoid to pop the bubble algae.
Scrape the bubbles sideways with a tool (razor blade, knife or tweezers), removing the algae from the polyps without hurting the polyps.
Quick dip (1/2 min. will do) the colony in a 20% peroxide/80% tank water or fresh water.
Dip again in a bowl with tank water.
Return the colony to the system and relax.

You don't need to worry about how long the colony will be exposed to the air, but do a clean job removing the algae. The less time exposed to the air, the less the stress for the polyps.

The algae is in your system. Try to get a Sailfin Tang, Purple Tang, or other helper.

Grandis.

+1
Scrape the bubbles sideways with a tool (razor blade)

 

[A. Grandis]

The polyps CAN stay long without water.
Yep they can survive with some rain too.
Other corals, even Acropora spp., can stay out of the water for a good while during low tide in very sunny tropical weather.
Yes, hour, hour and a half during low tide...
But they don't need that type of " test" in our tanks.
The less the better. :thumbsup:

Sorry, I kinda concentrated my message more on the algae problem, not the title of the thread.

Grandis.

 

[heckfire]

The polyps CAN stay long without water.
Yep they can survive with some rain too.
Other corals, even Acropora spp., can stay out of the water for a good while during low tide in very sunny tropical weather.
Yes, hour, hour and a half during low tide...
But they don't need that type of " test" in our tanks.
The less the better. :thumbsup:

Sorry, I kinda concentrated my message more on the algae problem, not the title of the thread.

Grandis.

and may i add they can take 40 degree wind for hours during low tide when exposed.. there tough

 

[steevareno2002]

Wow!

 

[miamiaquarium]

i have had my polyps out for 15min when i frag so don't worry to much on time just make sure there wet

 

[Southsid_reefer]

ive left my tubbs blues colony out of the water for about 5 hours. because i forgot about them on top of my tank. thank god no polyps were lost, and by the next day all polyps were open. not saying they all can be out ther water for this long, but im sure they can be out for atleast 30 min no problem

 

[Snowman31]

They can go a very long time out of water. In fact they get shipped around the world just wrapped in wet newspaper.