best way to acclimate a zoa

[kaihonu82]

i don't want to screw this up...what's the best way to do this?

[Paintbug]

slowly is the best :). you can either do a drip method, or just float the bag in the tank for about 15 mins, then add some of your tank water to the bag. a 1/2 or so is plenty. then add some of your tank water about every 5-10 mins. do this for about an hour (although many will say longer). once you are ready to put the zoas in the tank, then place them towards the bottom of the tank. if you dont see them opening in the next day or two, then move them up the rock some. most zoas will do fine at the bottom of the tank.

[TitansFan]

I would also dip any new zoanthids before putting them in your tank. It may save you some headaches in the long run. Zoanthids are fairly hearty and I would worry more about dipping them than acclimating them. I am not saying acclimation is bad at any means though.

Here is some info on doing it:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=451720

[kaihonu82]

great, thanks!

[spenick]

i would pay more attention to temp. acclimation and do a freshwater dip. Not only will a dip help rid of flat worms and such but may help in case your peice is carrying a nudibranch that eats Zoos. These nudibranchs can eat your colony and move to the rest of your zoos.

[L and L]

You do know that some zoanthids (palythoa sp.) have a neurotoxin called "palytoxin".

Just in case you didn't know.

[kaihonu82]

yea, i knew at least that much ;)

[reefshadow]

Yes, I agree 100 percent with the above. If you don't intend to quarantine and observe, a FW dip is absolutely necessary, since zoas are one of the corals that commonly carry a few kinds of pests. I have had the zoa nudis and it is not fun!!!! Once they get into the display they are very hard to eradicate. If you dip and find nudis you also need to look very carefully for the eggs and scrape them off outside the tank. They are white spirals usually stuck to the outside of the zoa. FW dips will not kill them. Nudis are becoming increasingly common, I find them often on new colonies, especially aquacultured ones and WC that have been held with AC.

I FW dip in water adjusted for PH and temp for 5 minutes, and use a baster to blow everything out of the rock and between the zoas while dippiong.

If the system is a good environment for zoas they tend to be very hardy and I rarely spend much (if any) time acclimating them, but acclimation is never a bad thing!

[msman825]

I would float it in bag for a few, get the temp on some fresh water up around 78 add lugols, drop them in for about 8-10 minutes throw them in a QT tank