Shipping Zoas

[winland]

I ordered 10 different frags of zoas/palys from a fellow reefer.
Total head count was about 100 polyps
He shipped them overnight USPS.
When they arrived, they were all in one small container of about 2 cups of water, 16oz.

I did a 1 minute fresh water dip on each frag and them placed them in my established 24g nano.

After 12 hours, none of the frags have opened up.

Should I be concerned, or give them until tomorrow to acclimate?

winland

 

[mikejrice]

Give them up to a week to get fully acclimated.

 

[RightCoastReef]

give them time. I actually talked to a distributer who recently had zoa's shipped like LR, just wrapped in wet newspaper. he said he ordered one box with water and one w/o and the survival rate was identical. some corals can be out of the water for long periods of time in the wild when the tides change and stuff.

 

[vegita51]

I've heard of people shipping them in just wet newspaper and they do just fine. I would give them a couple of weeks to open and just keep an eye on them for any deterioration.

 

[winland]

I also have heard of shipping various corals in wet newspaper. I guess that my main concern with the way these zoas were shipped is the various toxins from each of the different types of zoas and palys that may have been excreted into the small amount of water that they were shipped in. Thus harming each other permanently.

It has been 24 hours and still nothing has opened up except a colony of 20 + nuclear dragon eyes.

 

[mfinn]

Maybe next time float the bag in your tank water for 10 minutes or so to bring the temp up (or down) and then drip acclimate them to your tank water.

 

[winland]

The zoas were temperature acclimated to my tank water and even the freshwater was the same as my tank water. As for drip acclimating, I do not think this is usually done with zoas.

see this thread... http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=607902

 

[mfinn]

I have been keeping zoanthids for many years and I will always drip acclimate my new shipments, for 10 -15 minutes.

Did you ph match your freshwater with the saltwater?

 

[winland]

Please diagram for me your complete acclimation procedure of zoas that come to you from other reefers.

According to the link that I provided, most reefers do a temperature acclimation only.

If you want to do a temperature, pH, salinity, alk, slow drip, freshwater dip, lugol's solution dip, what order do you do this in and what time frame do you use?

I do agree, the more you acclimate, the better the zoas will be, but what is best and what is acceptable?

My main concern with the shipment I received, was that all 9 varieties of the zoas/paly were shipped in one small container.

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15454543#post15454543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mfinn
Maybe next time float the bag in your tank water for 10 minutes or so to bring the temp up (or down) and then drip acclimate them to your tank water.

I agree. Stabilizing the ph and temp is important. I have found that freshwater dipping corals does more harm then good. I think it shocks the corals and does absolutly nothing to rid the corals of pests. I use Tropic Marin's iodine based dip with good results.
Patience goes a very long way in this hobby.

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15456354#post15456354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by winland
According to the link that I provided, most reefers do a temperature acclimation only.

I dont think a single link can atest to what most reefers do. Years of reefkeeping trial and errors will educate you. Reading threads on reefkeeping on sites like this go a long way but keep in mind, there are many ways to skin a cat and what works for one person may not work for you.

 

[winland]

Jeff,
I ask you, if you do not do what " Most reefers do" then what is your procedure for acclimating zoas...

If you want to do a temperature, pH, salinity, alk, slow drip, freshwater dip, lugol's solution dip, what order do you do this in and what time frame do you use?

 

[justreefing]

i do a slow drip for about 10-15 min, never had a problem them not opening up, in fact the open up faster.

 

[mfinn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15456354#post15456354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by winland


According to the link that I provided, most reefers do a temperature acclimation only.

I hardly think that "most reefers" responded in that link.
In fact I counted 10-11 that didn't dip acclimate.

I don't know what to tell you other than I do a 10-15 minute dip acclimation and it works pretty good for me and has for a number of years.

You did 2 things I would not do. One toss them in without drip acclimation and do a freshwater dip without adjusting the ph.

How are they doing now?

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15456565#post15456565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by winland
Jeff,
I ask you, if you do not do what " Most reefers do" then what is your procedure for acclimating zoas...

If you want to do a temperature, pH, salinity, alk, slow drip, freshwater dip, lugol's solution dip, what order do you do this in and what time frame do you use?

The key is not to shock the corals more then they already were when shipped or moved from another tank. I drip for a few minutes after dipping in the Tropic Marin dip following their direction. I have found better luck doing it this way rather then any other way. Most corals open up faster for me this way.

 

[mfinn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15456354#post15456354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by winland


My main concern with the shipment I received, was that all 9 varieties of the zoas/paly were shipped in one small container.

That isn't the best way IMO to ship zoanthid frags. I would hope if I bought 10 frags, the person I bought from would take the time to put them in separate bags, if anything, just to keep them from smashing together.

 

[winland]

No one is answering my primary question.
Should you ship a variety of zoa and palys in the same container?
I had 10 different zoas/paly colonies shipped together in less than 2 cups of water.
Anyone that has tested "shipping water" will probably know that the PH will be in the low 7's or high 6's. That is why drip acclimation for 2 - 4 hours is required for live fish.
Drip acclimation is not required or recommended for most snail and corals, from what I have read.
I am not sure what good it would do to drip acclimate for 10 -20 minutes. The drip would have to be very fast and the "shock " would be just as bad.

Sorry, do not understand a quick drip to acclimate a zoa colony from of 7.0pH to 8.3pH in 10 minutes.

 

[mfinn]

I did answer your primary question

All I'm going to say is that I have very good success getting zoanthids from fellow reefers and from online stores and I do it with a drip acclimation that is only about 10-15 minutes.
I've been doing it for a number of years and it works for me.

You do it the way you want.
Good luck with the zoanthids you received.

 

[Nikee1404]

I ordered 10 zoas and they were shipped in 2 small baggies with water--5 in each bag. They're all doing fine. I drip acclimate mine as well, but I was informed this wasn't necessary. I don't see what it hurts taking extra measures to ensure the health of your livestock.