When do I know my zoa's/Paly/s are dead?

abirozy · Jul 13, 2014

Hello

I know I post a lot questions, but I just want to make sure I get it right ;-)

QUESTION

1) How do I know if my zoa's / play's are dead or beyond help? The reason I ask is that I have a section of zoa's that are new and have not opened up yet. They are next to zoa's that are doing great and are fully extended, but these are not opening up. I can see the yellow in the center inside the polyp (Kind of a yellow dot in the center with an opaque covering, but it just will not open up. At what point do I say that they will not open up and take them off the rock?

Thanks

Adam

702 · Jul 13, 2014

A bit more info would be a great start. How new are they? what kind of light was on the tank when you bought them, are they shaded, are they in direct light, are they in a high flow area. There can be a lot of reasons why they are not opening up or they could be perfectly normal and just not use to the change they are going through and stressed out. move them around the tank a few times and give them a few days in between moves and see if they will open up. No if they start melting away then you will know if they are dead.

ReeferEric · Jul 13, 2014

Take them out and smell them. LOL, you'll know. Usually they will shrink up and eventually disappear.

abirozy · Jul 13, 2014

702

3 days old, low in tank but direct light... 132wLED light. Medium flow. They have not started "melting away". Or at least only one of the polyps did that. The others seem fine. I will wait and see

Noob · Jul 13, 2014

i don't ever just pop them off the rock. if they're going to melt, i let nature run it's course. but i've had some zoas close up for days then come back just fine.

702 · Jul 13, 2014

Noob said:
i don't ever just pop them off the rock. if they're going to melt, i let nature run it's course. but i've had some zoas close up for days then come back just fine.

+1 just give them some time and they should open back up.

Peanut · Jul 14, 2014

I have found that even when it appears that they have totally disappeared, you cant count them out. On more than one occasion I have moved a frag that I thought was empty to the bottom of my talk and forgotten about it only to find some polyps many months later. Granted this is rare and not the norm, but it happens. When it does, I am reminded of the line in Jurassic Park "Life, finds a way..."