How long should I wait for zoas to open?

[Perpetual Novice]

I was visiting a local reefer to pick out some new frags this past weekend when I lucked out and left with tens of pounds of zoa colony rocks. The guy specializes in zoas and regularly frags designer morphs to sell to other hobbyists. Last weekend he happened to be in the process of reducing the height of his rockwork in his main display. The rocks he removed were sitting in a makeshift tub temporarily plumbed into one of his frag systems with almost no light. Im not sure how long they had been in there but it had been less than a week. I also don't know the flow or light that each rock was positioned in his display before removal.

But it didnt matter much because he was selling mixed colonies of dozens to hundreds of polyps for as little as 5$. I got a ~1k polyp rock that is near equal parts rastas, scrabled eggs, fruit loops, and red hornets, for 100$. Im really excited but I dont want to lose any of the growth on these colonies if i can help it.

There is room in my tank to provide any of the rocks with just about any combination of light and flow they might need.

But how do I know what they need. none of the colonies have completely opened after 4 days now. The colony rocks were ripped from the aquascape and dropped into a dark tub (that might have been plumbed into a different system) for at least a few days. then transported in an unheated 5 gallon bucket for an hour. then dipped in chemicals before being placed in my tank on the sandbed.

they've been thoroughly stressed, im sure. but how long should I wait for them to shake off the stress? when do i know if theyre closed due to needing time to recover or if theyre closed because theyre not receiving the right environment and will never adapt without intervention or new placement. Or worst case, if they simply will not accept my water chemistry as it is (and I would need to contact the guy i bought them from, learn his parameters and what he doses, and then try to dose my tank to match his alk, ph, magnesium, calcium, temp, phosphate, etc.)

 

[good.reef]

Sounds like they've had a traumatic journey. I added a large colony rock to my tank a few months ago and for like 3 weeks I had some not opening and some polyp bailout and I let them be (but thought I was going to lose them all) and now the rock is fully covered and thriving and spreading and the ones that bailed are growing in new parts of the tank. It sounds like with what they went through. The more stability you can offer the better. You may have some bail out or die off but if you just let them be and offer stable parameters they should recover nicely.

 

[good.reef]

This was them about a week after I added and this is them now after a few months...

(Sorry I've got my blues on and my tailspot photobombed lol)

 

[AZ_Reef]

Following - my zoas are not opening up after diatom bloom.

 

[Ook Sag]

I have noticed that a reduction in iodine can cause zoas to not open fully. Getting an iodine test kit may be a bit much. But I fixed my closed zoa problem by dosing Fuel by Aquavitro two times a week. The aquavitro fuel contains a little bit of iodine and after 2 applications I saw great success. I continue to use the aquavitro fuel once a week and all my zoas are happy.

 

[tankstudy]

they've been thoroughly stressed, im sure. but how long should I wait for them to shake off the stress?

If it's just stress, like a simple water change or something, it shouldn't take more than few minutes for things to open up.

If they have been damage from an ammonia burn, physical damage, low alk, exposed to a high amount of magnesium for a long period of time, extremely low temp drop, it could take weeks to months depending on species.

You wont' necessarily need to match his parameters spot on. From my experience, if you keep your parameters within the recommended ranges you can keep most organisms. I keep mine closer to natural salt water for organisms that may be more sensitive.

A polyp that's healthy, when closed, is generally nice fat and plump. They should not be deflated looking. If you observe them going from a tight plump look to a deflated look over time, that's a sign that things are getting worse and they are not improving. Going from a deflated look to a plump look over time, especially with a size increase, is a good sign that they are recovering.

First thing I'd do is run all the standard water parameter tests. This includes double checking for ammonia. If everything comes back normal, I'd check for pests next. What you have appears to be a maricultured or a wild colony I see appear at the LFS often. They tend to come with some horrible stuff =d.

Following - my zoas are not opening up after diatom bloom.

Have you tested your water parameters after that? Diatoms themselves aren't harmful from my experience but the water parameter swings from their blooms can be problematic. My current collection is sitting on top of a massive diatom bloom and they are pretty healthy.