Should I frag polyps which aren't getting light

[Revision17]

Tank details:
10 gallon
28 watt 50/50 CF lighting
SG 1.025
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate = 0
2 192 gph power heads (1 on at night, the other on during the day)
15 LB Fiji live rock
2 narssius snails
2 asterea snails
2 ocellaris clowns
3 blue legged hermits
1 zoanthid colony

This is my first saltwater tank (it's small since that's all I'm allowed where I live). It's been setup for 4 weeks as of today.

2 weeks ago I got a zoanthid colony (my first 'coral'!) from an LFS which looked like a good deal (about 70 polyps for $30; species wasn't listed, they're green and brown, but that prolly doesn't help much). I acclimated them to the tank, and they opened up in a few hours, and have since been open whenever the light is on.

Now, unfortunately the store had lighting both on top and behind the tank. So there are a few polyps which are hardly getting any light in my tank (since my lighting only comes from above). They do still open up when the light is on. My question is: should I frag those polyps, or should I just leave them alone?

I'm concerned about whether or not they'll get some sort of disease in their weakened state which would spread to the rest of the colony. However, I've never fragged anything before, and they're not in an easy to frag spot on the rock they came on.

 

[kawicivic]

I wouldnt worry about fragging them.... IME zoos that dont have access to the proper light will turn or reach towards it whenever possible. This means normally short stalked species will extend further if under a small shelf and species under shelves will sometimes even extend from under the edge. If they were mine i would do my best to get as many heads in the light as possible and then just let nature take care of the rest.

 

[Revision17]

Upon examining them more closely, the ones which aren't getting good light do seem to be growing longer to face the light. When I placed the colony in the tank I made sure an optimal number were facing the lights.

Guess I'll just leave them alone then. Thanks

 

[650-IS350]

With out getting much light, your not getting the best color out of them, plus most of the zoos food comes from light.

 

[renogaw]

personally i'd frag them off the rock and either put them somewhere else on the rock, or put them on a plug and sell them off and get some of my money back.

 

[flyyyguy]

I always frag off shaded polyps. not doing them or me any good If I cant see them and they are in less than ideal lighting

 

[kingfisher62]

If it was me ,I would leave them.
If you decide to frag , be warned some of those zoas are extremely toxic and you should wear gloves,mask and goggles.
They can actually squirt quite a distance. When handlling make sure you have no open cuts on your hands and give them a good washing afterwards.
there is a good sticky(article) at the top of this forum you should read .

 

[kingfisher62]

Here is that link i mentioned


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=158730

 

[kiran523]

I always frag off my nicer zoa/palys if they get shaded. Toxicity is an issue to be very serious about. Check out zoaid.com , they have a nice article by WhoDah on fragging as well as necessary precautions.