Dead-heading Zoas?

[hwk7072]

Anyone who gardens is familiar with the term dead-heading, or cutting back the dead flowers so new ones get the nutrients.

 

I recently purchased a zoa colony that seems healthy, but there are a dozen or so dead polyps, sort of encrusted with detritus.

 

This is under all white light so you can see the polyps better.

 

Should I take this out and cut those off?

[GHill762]

no..

 

you'd be better off blasting them a few times with a turkey baster to clean them off.. they're animals, not plants, so get that gardening stuff out of your head right now

[Thomas898]

+1 ^^

 

The heads on the zoa are closed, not dead, probably due to the detritus as you said. Give them a good clean and they should open over next few days. A lot of people neglect to clean the mats zoas are on, results in some nasty build up.

[hwk7072]

So individual polyps in these colonies cannot, or at least don't tend to die?

[Thomas898]

So individual polyps in these colonies cannot, or at least don't tend to die?

 

Not IME, but I've know my share of people who have terrible luck keeping them. Yours just don't look dead, they're still extending and some polyps are partially closed, they just look irritated. I've had zoas in my tank survive rocks falling on them, me being careless when fragging and damaging polyps, the resident urchin throwing them in the sand all the time.. They by some miracle survive the abuse and are thriving.. I'm sure yours will do the same after a solid clean.

[Lawnman]

Anyone who gardens is familiar with the term dead-heading, or cutting back the dead flowers so new ones get the nutrients. I recently purchased a zoa colony that seems healthy, but there are a dozen or so dead polyps, sort of encrusted with detritus. This is under all white light so you can see the polyps better. Should I take this out and cut those off?

there not Petunias. Think your problem is the fungus on the stalks. That detrius will wipe out a whole colony if not removed. Blast it with a turkey baster and keep those mats clean. This might of already been mentioned I just read the title and looked at the pic.

 

+1 ^^ The heads on the zoa are closed, not dead, probably due to the detritus as you said. Give them a good clean and they should open over next few days. A lot of people neglect to clean the mats zoas are on, results in some nasty build up.

+1

[CronicReefer]

You don't even need to worry about this because dead polyps will melt off the colony anyway. And a lot of times things may look dead and gone only to come back to life and regrow back to a healthy coral.

[hwk7072]

Well, that's one less chore Thanks for the good advice.

[Tenor]

You don't even need to worry about this because dead polyps will melt off the colony anyway. And a lot of times things may look dead and gone only to come back to life and regrow back to a healthy coral.

If you don't remove the dead polyp off the colony then it will spread out and contaminated the whole colony and melted them all. The best method is frag them right away.

 

Well, that's one less chore Thanks for the good advice.

Your colony look healthy. Nothing to worry yet

[CronicReefer]

If you don't remove the dead polyp off the colony then it will spread out and contaminated the whole colony and melted them all. The best method is frag them right away.

This may be true if it died due to disease but it would have most likely already spread through the whole zoa by the time polyps start melting. There are many other factors that can contribute to a polyp melting away, such as a nudibranch which fragging will do nothing to stop.

[cju84]

They honestly just look pissed... Something disturbing them at their opening. Also recommend what another poster said and turkey baste the tops of them to remove any detritus on them. They don't look dead to me.

[Tenor]

This may be true if it died due to disease but it would have most likely already spread through the whole zoa by the time polyps start melting. There are many other factors that can contribute to a polyp melting away, such as a nudibranch which fragging will do nothing to stop.

 

Try to keep them by your experience and not read other people post too much