goop around new zoanthids

[Degenerate]

My wife got me 3 zoa(one might be a paly, not sure.) for Father's day, and some of them are not opening up. one of them opened up in a short amount of time, and I can see it glowing under the blue lights, and it looks great. the other two are not doing as well. one is not fully open or has a slight goop on it, and a faint glow under lights. the 3rd one seems like it is encased in some transparent goop with a black looking end. not sure what is going on. I can't tell them apart, but I know they are supposed to be scrambled egg, stargazer, and purple people eater.

I had been talking about setting up a tank for a while now, and had assembled the necessary equipment, only missing piece was a stand for the tank. So I was supprised when I found out they were on the way. They have been sitting in a 5 gallon bucket with a heater and light for about a week now. I plan to do a water change soon.

I don't have any parameter information besides salt and temp, I don't really know how to check the rest.
Salt: 32.4ppt
temp: 77f
When the light is on the temp gets a couple degrees warmer.

This is the third one that I mentioned, does anyone know what this clear substance it is encased in is, or what to do about it? This is a view from a cup I put it in, it doesn't look much different than when I got it.

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

I don't have any parameter information besides salt and temp, I don't really know how to check the rest.

THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. You need to go buy test kits ASAP. I would recommend Hanna brand if you have the money, Salifert if you don’t. To start, you need:
Alkalinity (for Hanna, get the dKH one)
pH
Nitrate (for Hanna, get the Low Range one)
Phosphate (for Hanna, get Ultra Low Range)
If you want to take it further:
Calcium
Magnesium
Also, what light are you using?

 

[Cell]

I mean, it's not that big of deal if it's just a few zoa frags. Weekly water changes might be perfectly sufficient. But learning how to test and knowing your parameters can only help and will be necessary if the OP wants to continue stocking different types of coral.

 

[Cell]

Assuming the transparent goop is hard, it's just superglue used to mount the polyp to the plug.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

sitting in a bucket with heater and light for a week? No flow, no oxygen, no nutrients....

Would suggest to put the horse before the cart, get the tank up and running, get proper test kits (not API) and learn how to use them... step by step.

Its very difficult to be patient in this hobby, but we have to remember they are living creatures, and they deserve better than a bucket.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I would find a store or person to hold onto the coral until your tank is ready. I think some people missed the part of your well intentioned spouse buying the coral before the tank was ready.

 

[Cell]

I guess I missed the lack of flow. You have nothing moving the water in the bucket?

 

[paragrouper]

If you read through a number of “my tank busted a seam“ threads on this forum, you will discover many have had to temporarily house livestock in buckets.

your specific gravity and temperature are okay, given the situation. You will need to move the water, but that can be solved with a cheap powerhead from Walmart or Amazon. The final item is light, it would be best if the light provided spectrum appropriate to marine aquariums. Your lights may already do this, or you will need to pick up a cheap one off Amazon.

final thought: this is a temporary fix. Do your best to get your stand sorted and get your tank up and running. Not sure which method you plan to use for cycling, but any that require your lights to be out for extended periods (weeks), will not be conducive to coral health. If you plan to go that route, the above suggestion to find an LFS (or a friendly fellow hobbyist with spare room on his frag rack) to house your corals while you cycle.

 

[Degenerate]

Thanks for all the replies. I do plan on testing the water, I just don't have the test kit for it yet, I will get it soon. I do have a 5 in 1 digital tester that does salinity and PH,

I guess I missed the lack of flow. You have nothing moving the water in the bucket?

I guess I forgot to mention that I have a small usb pump that is stuck on the side of the bucket. I had it just above them, but the flow seemed to annoy the one that was opening, so I moved it a little higher.

Also, what light are you using?

NICREW 50 Watts Aquarium LED Reef Light

If you read through a number of “my tank busted a seam“ threads on this forum, you will discover many have had to temporarily house livestock in buckets.

your specific gravity and temperature are okay, given the situation. You will need to move the water, but that can be solved with a cheap powerhead from Walmart or Amazon. The final item is light, it would be best if the light provided spectrum appropriate to marine aquariums. Your lights may already do this, or you will need to pick up a cheap one off Amazon.

final thought: this is a temporary fix. Do your best to get your stand sorted and get your tank up and running. Not sure which method you plan to use for cycling, but any that require your lights to be out for extended periods (weeks), will not be conducive to coral health. If you plan to go that route, the above suggestion to find an LFS (or a friendly fellow hobbyist with spare room on his frag rack) to house your corals while you cycle.

This is definitely a temporary solution, and I plan on getting a stand as soon as I can. I don't really know of many methods for cycling a salt water tank. I will have to do water changes till I figure that out.

 

[Tcook]

If you are not busy in the evenings then you can watch the Bulk Reef Supply video series. They can give you a lit of background information.

 

[paragrouper]

Thanks for all the replies. I do plan on testing the water, I just don't have the test kit for it yet, I will get it soon. I do have a 5 in 1 digital tester that does salinity and PH,

I guess I forgot to mention that I have a small usb pump that is stuck on the side of the bucket. I had it just above them, but the flow seemed to annoy the one that was opening, so I moved it a little higher.

NICREW 50 Watts Aquarium LED Reef Light



This is definitely a temporary solution, and I plan on getting a stand as soon as I can. I don't really know of many methods for cycling a salt water tank. I will have to do water changes till I figure that out.

You can read the sticky’s on this page for some guidance on cycling. You will find there is more than one way to skin this cat. A lot depends on whether you choose to use dry rock or live rock.

 

[Degenerate]

If you are not busy in the evenings then you can watch the Bulk Reef Supply video series. They can give you a lit of background information.

You can read the sticky’s on this page for some guidance on cycling. You will find there is more than one way to skin this cat. A lot depends on whether you choose to use dry rock or live rock.

Thanks, I will check both those out, I also had a chat with a guy at the LFS when I was there getting water for a water change, all the help I got here along with his information helped get my mind out of panic mode.

I will be getting the 10gal setup asap, even if that means on the floor.

 

[Degenerate]

Update: I got the tank setup. the zoanthid that looked the worst had melted and the guy at my LFS said it was probably dead and I should just throw it out, but I wasn't about to give up on it. I put the healthy looking growing zoanthids into the new tank and left the melted one in the bucket and put it next to the window. After some time I checked on it again and noticed that a polyp had formed and was slightly open. I cleaned off the part that looked too far gone leaving just the polyp and moved it into the main tank.

I am doing a 25% water change each week, and have put in flake food a couple times to keep some ammonia in the tank. once I am sure that it will cycle I will throw in a critter, maybe hermit crab, and eventually a small fish.

The one in towards the back is the one that almost died.

This is the setup that I have, with a simple quarantine tank. Eventually I will get the corals on the rocks, but they seem to be fine where they are for now.

Thanks for all the help! I was thinking of getting a build thread going talking about what I have thrown together so far to get this running.