How Long...

[GreyhoundTrish]

...should I expect it to take for all my corals to settle in and spend more time open? The majority of my corals were gotten last week. The large Zoa colony that I got a couple weeks before is doing well. It came from KR. My zoas aren't spending as much time open as I see in other tanks, and sometimes some polyps open and some stay closed. I think I've seen everything open at some point, just don't have a nice "everything is open" look yet.

Checked ammonia last night and 0.

 

[Zann]

zoas can take up to a week or two to open all the way untill they get used to your tank and lighting.

 

[GreyhoundTrish]

Ok, then I'm still ok. They aren't dying, turning brown or anything, just picky about when they open. That's for the reassurance.

 

[sperry]

I've had zoa that were settled in and open suddenly close for a couple of weeks and then open back up. Nothing had changed that I know of.

 

[Doris M]

I think it also makes a big difference whether or not your one of these people that always wants to be messing with your tank, moving things around, changing things. If you have alot of critters crawling around on them that will make them close up for awhile too.

 

[willember]

I have a chunk of live rock in my sump with a bunch of zoanthids on it. Needless to say, they are closed, but they are alive. The thing is, they have been down there for close to half a year. Zoanthids are pretty resiliant critters, when they aren't melting.

 

[GreyhoundTrish]

Thanks guys. I'm relaxed now that I know they just do this. And nope, I don't put my hands in there unless I'm placing a coral.

 

[Zann]

remember to wash your hands good after you put htem in to a tank of zoas
they put out a polytoxin one of the most deadly things on earth. not all do but there are some that do .
i seen a thread where a guy was putting some zoas in a holding tank he had them in a container and his dog drank some of the water. the dog died. so make sure you have no cuts on your hands when putting them into your tank.

 

[GreyhoundTrish]

Yep, I knew about the toxicity, and wear gloves when working in the tank, as well as wash well after. Definitely an important lesson for everyone to be aware of.

 

[Siffy]

This thread is a good read.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1154238

Just make sure to read it all before you freak out. Like has been said previously in this thread, sometimes zoanthids just take time (manner of weeks) to acclimate and sometimes just close up for a while because they want to. Even when they've been in a tank happily for a long time. I'd highly suspect crabs and snails like was previously mentioned as well. Maybe they're chewing...

 

[GreyhoundTrish]

THANKS!!!! I also read it was ok to freshwater dip zoas. True? ETA: I found that answer in the link you gave me, so Went ahead and dipped my large colony and will see how it does. I've got another colony that's not glued on, that I can get out to dip as well.

 

[Siffy]

Yep. Zoas can be dipped pretty much any way any coral can. But remember FW dips are stressful and used seldom with caution. I recommend a short 5-10 minute iodine dip afterwards before placing them back in the tank. It helps jumpstart any healing process they may need.

The FW dip is mostly for nudibranches. It'll kill the adult ones by causing them to burst, but it doesn't effect their egg sacks. They look like small white spheres. Those have to be found and picked off. Dental tools or maybe tweezers work well for that.

Also, remember to buffer the pH of the RO/DI and bring the temp up to tank level before placing the zoas in.

 

[GreyhoundTrish]

Thanks so much for the help everyone.