I'm an idiot... Help on what to do

booth2010 · Apr 2, 2014

Sooooo I was moving a small frag of zoas (10 on the rock) from one tank to another. I forgot to move it from the small tank before draining it, it was hidden. The tank was empty for 30-45 mins and it was just sitting there. When I realized it I put immediately I a bucket with a powerhead, heater, and a light right on it to see if I killed it or not. After an hour and a half it seems some of them are opening (I can see the green outer ring and not just the ugliness of them closed) but some are still fully closed. Is it possible for only a few go die and those few have lived? If so is it safe to take a knife and cut off the dead ones and the live will flourish? It was only a 15$ so not a huge financial loss but if kills me that it happened. Any and all help is appreciated.

TJ's Reef · Apr 2, 2014

I'd say that they are all fine and probably would of been even if you did not remember until tomorrow....lol

I have some Giant Paly's that sat outside in a bucket of Dolomite for about two weeks even with some rain before I noticed what looked like lil Chicken Gizzards laying on top of the sand. I through them in my sump and a few weeks later and after recovering realized just what they were. Shallow water varieties get left high and dry at low tide or rain soaked quite often and do fine.

Cheers, Todd

booth2010 · Apr 2, 2014

Well that's comforting to know.

3Dsam · Apr 2, 2014

they should be fine,
in the summer i sometimes ship zoas dry (no water, just some wet tissue paper wrapped round the zoa) as long as they remain damp they can last for a few days.

booth2010 · Apr 2, 2014

They seem to be doing okay. I have blue LEDs for my night time lights in the tank a transferred them to and the zoas are glowing I love it.

760mason · Apr 2, 2014

You should see how they handle these when they take them out of the ocean. That plus a 12+ hour plane trip to get the to the US. They will be fine.

joshporksandwich · Apr 3, 2014

I see zoas out of the water on low tide for over 10 hrs with the sun on them and theyre ok. I've forgotten frags out of water for a day and the have been ok also

Jimbo662 · Apr 3, 2014

On a Friday afternoon I sold a guy a piece of live rock and told him there are several zoa polyps on it. He forgot by the time he got home and didn't have time to do anything with the rock and left it sitting in the bucket over the weekend. I'd poured about an inch or two of tank water in the bucket the covered the rock with news paper and soaked it. The following week he posted how excited he was that there were hitchhikers that survided...he completely forgot I told him they were on there.

FLipp · Apr 3, 2014

You should be good!

booth2010 · Apr 3, 2014

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I feel much better now

duke4130 · Apr 3, 2014

When zoas are pulled from the ocean they sit out of water for hours. Like Josh said, in low tide they will be exposed to air for 10 hours at a time. Some of the larger zoa rocks are actually shipped with out water over seas and as soon as you put them in the tank they are fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it.