Ever "rub" the color off your zoas?

[dc_909]

I took these zoas out today to remove some bubble algae and hydroids, but when I put them back in I noticed they looked like this.

Here they are before (taken about 2 weeks ago, but colors looked like this this morning)

Did I rub the color off? Any idea of what happened? Ever happened to anyone else?

Here it is 1 day later

 

[MarvinsReef]

yup...

they will get their colors back in a few days...

 

[dc_909]

Does this apply to certain types of zoas? Is the color only in a thin layer on the surface?

 

[fishes2889]

I'm not quite sure on certain "type" of zoanthids but i have done it before and wondered why they do that.

 

[Weetabix7]

Holy Cow, I just had that happen for the first time a couple of days ago!

I was trying to frag some Armageddon/Devil's Armor (not sure which) with a 2 yr. old hanging off me.
I DON'T recommend this, btw!!!
At any rate, in the confusion one of the polyps got slightly squished against the white towel I was working on top of and actually left some pigment transfer behind. The affected polyp clearly has had the pigment rubbed right off of most of it and appears mostly white.

 

[Hypertek99]

Wow never have that happen yet. Does it have to rub off??? Or does it do that sometimes when you pull them out of the water????

 

[dc_909]

This was the first time I have taken these particular ones out. I was picking algae and hydroids off, so I was rotating the frag and holding trying not to rough up the polyps too much.

Didn't really think about til now, but this frag looked like the first pic and then it fell off one day. I had to fiddle with some tongs to get it back up and they semmed to loose the color in sort of the same way.

These pics were taken far apart, but the color lose seems to be the same thing that happened.

Before

After

 

[Weetabix7]

With me it definitely physically rubbed off, kinda like the powdery pigment on a butterfly's wings.
Very weird.

 

[Hypertek99]

That's funny how you can erase the color. Let me go erase some of the ugly colored ones. lol

 

[dc_909]

I always thought the color was deeper in the tissues, but with some it seems to be "like a butterfly's wing"

 

[edwing206]

That's what happened to my RPE's. I was freaked out until the color came back. I rubbed my hand against it while cleaning the tank, that's what caused it.

 

[ficklefins]

I have blown the color off with a turkey baster.

 

[berns]

With me it definitely physically rubbed off, kinda like the powdery pigment on a butterfly's wings.
Very weird.

same here weetabix, i did this with a light blue paly that i rubbed whilst polyp open and i actually see the dust disperse in the water i rubbed off.