Zoa fresh water dip - the longest you can keep in freshwater?

[thefishgirl]

How long can you "dip" zoas in freshwater before losing them completely? I ask this question rather sheepishly as I forgot about the nice small colony that I just bought yesterday. I was going to dip for a few minutes before putting in my tank when company arrived. I completely forgot about it until this morning. Needless to say...it was kind of stinky. I would say that it was in fresh COLD water for about 14 hours (in a bucket in the basement on the concrete floor).

I put in a tank just to see if it survived at all this morning. I'm hoping that it went into defensive overdrive and slime coated itself. Lights will be on in about 5 hours....so we will see.

PIC ADDED
After placement in tank:

[Sir Patrick]

Looking forward to seeing what happens. I am going to guess, if they havnt completely melted, they will survive. Good luck!

[thefishgirl]

I was shocked to still seem them intact. I will go down and take a pic of them real qiuck. Photograph the progress or digress of my little colony.

[dlhirst]

zoas seem to be tough little buggers... i bet they survive, or at least, most of them do... but, don't expect any holiday greetings / cards from them this year!

[MizTanks]

Looks like they just may pull through-you gonna try an see how long they can go exposed to air next? Hmmm? Lol

[thefishgirl]

Looks like they just may pull through-you gonna try an see how long they can go exposed to air next? Hmmm? Lol

You just never know what I'm cooking up in my lab.....

[schminksbro]

Zoas can survive in the air quite a while. They often ship dry in bags. However I don't recommend fresh water dips. This is 2011 not 1990! LOL. We have much better options at our disposal now.

Looks like they just may pull through-you gonna try an see how long they can go exposed to air next? Hmmm? Lol

[thefishgirl]

. However I don't recommend fresh water dips. This is 2011 not 1990! LOL. We have much better options at our disposal now.

Ohhh... and don't I know it. However, it's what I had available at the time. In hindsight, I might be better off. I'm not sure they would be so "healthy" if I left them in a vat of chemicals for that long. (not that they've opened up yet... but they are also not mush either...so I still have hope).

[jimsflies]

I'm not sure they would be so "healthy" if I left them in a vat of chemicals for that long.

Good point!

[TM01]

lol...One thing is for sure. Your dip worked.