# Coral Handling



## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

In regards to some hair algae, I need to remove rocks for scrubbing.

Generally, how long can things like zoas, mushrooms, gsp, and sps be out of water? I'm assuming a minute or so?

I remember when getting sponges off a candy cane I removed it from water and not long after it started melting.

This is going to be gross.


----------



## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Ive had zoas and mushrooms out of the water for at least 30 mins never had a problem do not know about the others though


----------



## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Greg_o said:


> In regards to some hair algae, I need to remove rocks for scrubbing.
> 
> Generally, how long can things like zoas, mushrooms, gsp, and sps be out of water? I'm assuming a minute or so?
> 
> ...





pat3612 said:


> Ive had zoas and mushrooms out of the water for at least 30 mins never had a problem do not know about the others though


Have left zoo's glued to a rock for about 6 hours on the table once. I was the supt. of 7 buildings. The alarm went off.... Oops, got back, and forgot about them. Wasn't till I was trying to sort out the smell, then it hit me! They lived.

Think about most coral reefs. Most are meer feet below the surface. Low tide will sometimes leave the corals out of the water, in the sun.


----------



## JayPetro (Feb 8, 2012)

Yeah they can be out a while. Like JT said... many are exposed for a couple hours during low tide. But the corals you listed should be fine for however long it takes to get the algae off. I'm always surprised to see how hardy corals actually are...like when a zoa gets ripped off a rock, disappears for a few days/weeks and starts growing somewhere else in your tank...or sump haha.


----------



## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

If your taking a long time, just put them into a container with just enough water to cover them to reduce stress. Then you can take as long as you want to clean up the algea.


----------



## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Thanks guys. What I did was have a large syringe filled with tank water to 'spot moisten' every so often, which sounds like was overkill but allowed me to take a very relaxed approach.


----------



## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

I agree with TypeZERO, ive done this a few times, especially with new rocks. It saves rushing a making a mistake and I find I can see 'things' on the rock better when its submersed. You see all the floaty bits you missed when it was out of water. 
But if your are scrubbing zoas, or any coral really, wear eye protection! It could be very painful to get zoa juice in the eyes.


----------

