Help save my Zoas

[hfa3501]

Hi All, I am relatively new to R2R - I received a purchase of button polys the other day

after the fed-ex plane was delayed, and I got them after 2.5 days in shipment. The package smelled like death, the water was black, and even the bristle worms that were in the bag were dead. I emptied the bag, put it in fresh saltwater and blew it off with a turkey baster before putting it in QT. Nearly all of the polyps looked like they were grayish-white, closed and I thought they were dead...but I thought I would give it a few days. 4 days later, about half of them have opened, a few more look like they are trying to open, and the rest are still pale and I can't tell if they may open, or if I should cut them out and try to save the ones that are trying. Any advice would be helpful - is it possible to save the colony? Or should I cut my losses? I have attached pictures.

 

[DSC reef]

Some look like there gonna make it. Not much you can do but wait it out. I wouldn't cause any more stress by cutting right now. Give it a few days and keep things stable.

 

[Humblefish]

Moved to Zoa Discussion subforum

#reefsquad for more input

 

[Dsnakes]

I would wait it out as DSC said. Looks like a fair amount of polyps will survive just fine. Let them acclimate and go from there. From my experience, zoas are pretty resilient.

 

[hfa3501]

What about tbe ones on top that are completely white?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Considering you received a murky bag-o-death, if any survive, consider yourself lucky. Sucks this happened, though. However, looking at the clean coralline-free rocks in your tank, if they don't survive it could be because of something else. Two factors here. I would check and double check parameters. Maybe run some carbon in case the zoas start releasing toxins.

What about tbe ones on top that are completely white?

Those will most likely die. However, if any survive and begin growing, they will cover the rock again.

 

[glb]

I wouldn't cut any off. Just wait and see.

 

[hfa3501]

Will do. Thanks for everyone's help!!!

 

[bnguyen714]

They don’t look too bad at all. I’d leave them alone like the others are recommending. I’d also not blast it with too much light for the next week or two.

 

[littlebigreef]

I"d suggest a Lugols dip somewhere down the road but in the meantime the less you do the better off you probably are.

 

[A. grandis]

Probably too much light intensity = shock!
Turn light down or bring fixture up.
Leave them alone for a while and see them coming back..
Grandis.

 

[TerraFerma]

They don’t look too bad at all. I’d leave them alone like the others are recommending. I’d also not blast it with too much light for the next week or two.

yea go easy on the light. They came in rough - just need to heal a bit.

 

[hfa3501]

Update - well, after a few weeks in the tank, low light and good water parameters, the rock the zoas came in on has started to fall apart and a large majority have turned white, withered away and are falling off the rock. UGH!

So my next question is this.....would it do any harm to blow the remaining rock off with a turkey baster to get rid of the dead stuff, in an effort to give the healthy looking ones that are left a better chance to thrive?

I am concerned about leaving all the dead stuff in the tank

 

[Wankell]

In my experience they just kinda melt away, hermits are good at eating the dead ones too. I wouldn't go ham on trying to remove them. Did you ever do a dip? I would try Revive now that they have had some time to acclimate, might give the healthier ones a better chance at staying alive.

 

[hfa3501]

I have not dipped them in any medication or supplements yet. Normally I would dip new corals in CoraRx. When I got them, even the bristle worms that were on the rock came in dead - I figured if that was the case there were probably not many other hitch-hikers that survived the trip either so I just dipped it in clean saltwater and put it into QT. I do have a large hermit and a serpent star in the tank with this group of polyps, but there are SO many coming off and the base rock is falling apart that they are on. It was originally a little bigger than a softball and now it's in 3 pieces with dead or dying polyps all over those. You said try Revive? I haven't heard of that, can I find it a the LFS?