Will zoas regain their color? How to “dip” zoas grown into a rock?

[Stuckita]

I had my phosphates bottom out and with it came some issues that left all the zoas looking pretty awful. Corrected the issue and the majority of zoas are now opening.

Im noticing that the polyps that’s existed before the issue are very grey in color and their shape seems off (somehow some polyps grew during the terrible conditions, they are tiny but proper color).

Is it possible for the color and shape to come back?

I also had some hair algae growing on some, I dipped those and it seemed to allow them to open. I have another frag but it’s grown onto the rocks.. any way to care for these ones?

 

[TX_REEF]

Yea, it is possible for them to recover with proper care. Unless the rock in question is huge, it should be fine to dip the whole thing.

 

[Just John]

As long as the tank is healthy, the zoas will recover and will get their color back eventually. For algae on frags, this is how I usually kill it with hydrogen peroxide. If your zoas are short, this method will probably be too difficult though. Make sure the zoas are closed before removing the frag from the tank. Out of the water I continuously dribble straight hydrogen peroxide from the drugstore in between the polyps with an eyedropper or syringe. Just don't get it on the tops of the polyps. You will know if you did because it will foam up. They are fine out of the water for a few minutes and the sides of the zoas are OK with the peroxide. It will kill anything on the plug after a minutes or two. I have done this a dozen times with no problems.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I dipped a large Zoa colony I have, it’s on a 12 inch by 12 inch rock. I was very new to this and had wild GHA growing from between the Zoas. I looked at this as kinda a last ditch effort to save the colony, or at least that’s what I told myself. I dipped the entire rock in H202, about 70% 3% and 30% tank water. Let it sit for about 6-7 minutes, used a tooth brush, and the foam had to be an inch to inch high. I rinsed it off twice and right back in the tank. Man were they ticked. I had no clue how ticked they would be. It took about 2 weeks for them to open back up. I would bet that around 10% just melted away. However, the GHA was gone and hasn’t come back. They have grown back with a vengeance. In fact the Zoas/pallys in the second pic on the left came out of that rock, they just keep multiplying. They came back looking ten times better and stronger. I also take a turkey baster to them weekly now and clean and inspect them. But, I’m getting over run by these things. I love it.