How long can corals be out of water

[MAReefer1]

How long can I keep my corals out of water. I want to re- acuascape tomorow afternoon by drilling holes in my live rock and running acrylic rods through them to creat 2 pillars in my tank, Most of my LR is covered with zoanthids, will they be alrite if I have them out of the water for a while? Whats the longest I can keep them out while I work on the rocks?

Thanks,

Donal

 

[Chris L]

if you can keep them wet with maybe a paper towel or something you should be ok for a short period. i would say do one at a time so they are not sitting out for hours.

 

[MAReefer1]

thanks chris

Thats what I was thinking.

lol,obv. Im not going to take all the LR in my tank out and bring all out to my cold garage and drill it for a few hours and put it back in my tank. I just wanted to know how long I could leave them out while I put some peices together on the floor before I drill. Like half hour max?

 

[fanaglethebagle]

Zoas can usually last about 30 minutes if memory serves me right.

 

[MAReefer1]

k, thanks

 

[stevenp]

I've heard 15-20 minutes for SPS, not sure about softies.

Steve

 

[skyedolphan]

not recommended but.....
I have had zoas outta water for app 14 hours ( forgot about them when I got an emergency call ) replaced in tank after slowly pouring water over them temp was an issue LOL and they all reopened within 4 days I wouldnt worry about 30-60minutes last sat when I had the tank PH problemI had all manor
ofcoralsoutta the water on the kitchenfloor for well over 40minutes
lots of slimingbut no problems

 

[Stimpy]

I would not chance it..
Just setup a bucket, rubbermaid storage bin, put in water, spare heater.
Bins at Walmart are only like $5, use a scrubbed dishpan, anything clean to hold water....

 

[GinaD]

Lol! As I was reading through this thread, that's what I was going to recommend. That's what I do and it works fine.

 

[Liam]

I've heard 15-20 minutes for SPS, not sure about softies.

Steve

in the wild corals are often exposed for several hours at low tide and in intense sunlight with no problem.
Of course if you so much as look at a coral in tank the wrong way it dies

 

[Aquaman_68]

in the wild corals are often exposed for several hours at low tide and in intense sunlight with no problem.
Of course if you so much as look at a coral in tank the wrong way it dies

oops

 

[this is me]

Can you stand the smell of sps when it's out of the water? The smell is enough to make me find ways so that it wont be out of the water.
If you're taking the LPS out, make sure you wiggle it in the water so that it close down their polyps, otherwise they can't retract the polyps when it's out of the water. Ex. hammer, frogspawn, goni, etc.

 

[muddskipper]

I had all my sps and most of my lps out of water for almost 10 mins 2 weekends ago while I moved my tank from downstairs to upstairs and only lost one acro.. many zoas come from tidal zones and are ale to close up and last 6 hours or so with only a misting of sea spray.. not saying all.. but alot of them..(alot of zoas are also shipped from oversea suppliers wrapped in wet paper or papertowels and no water...)

 

[JustDavidP]

"one time...at frag camp" Okay.. kidding..but once, when fragging my pocillopora, I forgot to put them in the tank and left them on the center brace of my oceanic 75, under 175w MH for at least two hours. I only noticed it when I returned to the basement to that sick, sweet, smell of SPS sliming!

They all survived!

Dave

 

[merk1_99]

I have taken my SPS and friends out for 2 hrs or so no ill affects. Though a Walmart tote and airstone/powerhead would be the best....I agree SPS smell is horrible...

 

[RichConley]

FWIW, Zoos are kind of intertidal, and in a lot of places are totally exposed for entire tide cycles. I've seen pics of entire flats of them exposed at low tide. They just close up.


Several vendors also just ship them in damp paper towels. I wouldnt worry about them.

 

[Jocko]

Don't forget to wear gloves. And if you'll be drilling anywhere near the zoas themselves, then you should probably use protective eyewear too. Nobody wants neurotoxins in their eyes!

 

[Mikeaveli21]

Of course if you so much as look at a coral in tank the wrong way it dies

Gave me a good laugh because it's true! But only if you're "ridiculously ridiculously good looking" (zoolander)