Who Gives A Fish Forums

Just picked up some new zoanthids and it's been a bit since we've had any in the tank. Not sure what to expect in terms of opening up after shipping, since it's been a while since we've had to deal with that.

It usually takes around 1-2 days for zoanthids to open up after shipping.

Sounds about right, 1-2 days is what I was thinking too.

Thanks, appreciate the quick response.

They usually open on day one, or at the latest, day two. Anything beyond that, there's probably a reason. Tank conditions and shipping conditions play a huge role in when they decide to open up, so relying solely on the 1-2 day rule isn't always the best approach. I've found that placing new zoanthids low to mid-water, away from other corals, and in an area with moderate current helps reduce stress and slime expulsion on the first day. And I always stick to actinics only for the first 24 hours. This approach has worked for me consistently over the years.

Mucho

By the way, did you dip them?

I had a similar experience with some Tubbs Blues I got shipped overnight - took 'em almost 3 weeks to open up. Had 3 other kinds come in the same day, and they all opened within hours, so I guess it really does vary. One of those other ones even came in the same box as the Tubbs, and it opened right away. The Tubbs was a 3 poly frag, 2 of 'em are open now, but the third one's still not open yet.

No dip for them. I think I figured out why they weren't opening though - aside from the shipping stress. Checked the salinity today and it was way off at 1.030. Luckily, I was able to bring it back down to 1.026. Hopefully, nothing in the tank got stressed out from the sudden spike.

I did a dip in Tropic Marin Coral Cure today, hoping it'll help since only a few polyps had opened up on one frag. Fingers crossed, it does the trick. Honestly, I've never seen zoas stay closed this long after being fragged.

I've had some that opened right away, while others took a bit of time, even up to a couple of weeks, personally speaking.

Just got my first order from Aquarium Depot (akareef2go) - a bunch of new goodies. It's been about 24 hours now, and I'm seeing just a few polyps popping out here and there. All the new additions are placed low in the tank. Had some mixed results with the inverts - 2 Tonga snails made it just fine, but sadly, 1 scarlet didn't survive the shipping. Also got two blue claws that were supposed to be XL, but let's just say I'm glad I didn't get the regular size...