Removing zoas from glass. Can they live?

R

rcoapstick

Member
So I know a guy who is breaking down his tank. He has a beautiful zoa colony living on the overflow housing. The colony is about 9 inches by 6 inches. Can it be removed safely and have the zoas live? it would be fairly easy to slide a razor blade between the zoas and the glass to remove them, but i have never done this. How would they ever reattach to anything? I dont want to let this colony just die.
 
dmatt88

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
Scrape with a blade. Cut to the size u want n glue to the rock. Easy as pie. Use super glue gel PS.

........welcome to my mind
 
DesertOrchid

DesertOrchid

Active Member
And be sure to wear gloves and eye protection.... no sense in taking chances with palytoxins. Oh.... and take before and after pics. Good luck!!!!
 
R

rcoapstick

Member
dmatt88 said:
Scrape with a blade. Cut to the size u want n glue to the rock. Easy as pie. Use super glue gel PS.

........welcome to my mind
Click to expand...

Will they come off of the wall in a sort of "sheet" if so I'd like to keep as much of the colony together as possible. can i just lay this sheet over a rock and glue it in a few spots? will the zoas "figure it out" and conform to the new rock?
 
catran

catran

Well-Known Member
It would be better if you spread the glue on the rock since the mat may take a long time to attach. In the meantime, the mat can tear. you really want to avoid stressing the mat since the zooxanthelle that live in there are critical to the survival of the zoa.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
dmatt88

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
rcoapstick said:
Will they come off of the wall in a sort of "sheet" if so I'd like to keep as much of the colony together as possible. can i just lay this sheet over a rock and glue it in a few spots? will the zoas "figure it out" and conform to the new rock?
Click to expand...

Just glue a few spots. Within weeks they will bee attached on their own.

........hi I'm matt and I'm technologically inept.
 
R

rcoapstick

Member
taking them off the glass wasn't as easy as anticipated. they had grown over a layer of coralline and the razor was difficult to use. I took about half of his Zoas. i brought them home acclimated to my water then glued to frags. they have been in the tank for about 5 hours. 90% of them are closed up tight. hopefully they are ok. They did not come of in as much of a sheet as I had hoped
 
dmatt88

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
Half the time ur right all the time.

........hi I'm matt and I'm technologically inept.
 
L

LEDTRiC

RS Sponsor
As others suggested, gloves, some eye wear and when you are done scraping them, I would give them a quick iodine dip to help with healing and reduce shock. Then you can mount them on rubble/ frag plugs. Superglue is best.
 
S

socalzoa

New Member
Zoas are hardy, if you are not purposely cutting them in half they will survive anything. I've always had them open up fast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top