zoas and button polyps not opening

[itzafugasi]

I bought some button polyps about a week ago and they still have not opened up. should I be worried? i have other corals that are doing fine: frogspawn, hammer, pink zoas, rics, colt, and candy cane.

also I have another colony of zoas that are not opening fully. this is probably because I neglected my reef a few months back, but almost everything recovered since I've brought it back to life. are these lost for good? some polyps open very little, most stay closed.

water params are all normal..nitrates around 5-10, alk 9, ph 8.1, temp 80, calcium 400

i did not perform a dip on the new buttons. they were fully open at the fish shop, and looked very nice. they were in a tank w/ pc lighting. i have a 250w mh in my 55, but i put them on the shady side of the tank.

thanks

 

[ricordia nut]

some times they just take some time keep a eye on they and see what happens also youre light might be to brite if u have them up high

 

[itzafugasi]

thanks for the reply..

yesterday it looked like 2 polyps were open (out of about 20-25) which is an improvement...

i have them placed on a low rock (about 4 inches from the sand) and i did place them to the side of the mh's so they are in a shady area.

im still a bit concerned b/c it has been over a week now...

 

[jasonj90]

i can tell you what i did recently that seemed to work well. after getting a shipment of new zoas i took out 2 colonies that had been closed up for a few weeks. i took them out and let them sit out of water for about 30 minutes or so. then i gave them a fresh water dip and returned them to the display. within 15 minutes, literally every polpy had opened after being closed for 3 weeks. i cant tell you this wasnt a zoincidence (hehe) but it seemed to do the trick. its been 3 weeks now and all is well again...

 

[itzafugasi]

thats interesting...
i did not dip the new ones at all..just acclimated them and put them in my tank.
maybe i will give that a shot..any ideas why that would make them open up?

 

[jasonj90]

well actually most zoas are found in tidal areas that are in and out of water for hours throughout the day. i didnt intend to keep them out that long but i was moving some stuff around and plus i knew that i couldnt kill them out of water for that period of time. anyways i gave it a try and it seemed to work for me. im not saying that it will work with you, but it did work for me.

 

[itzafugasi]

thanks jason...ill probably give them a few more days and give that a shot.

any other suggestions or experiences?