New Zoanthids SMELL BAD!!!??Help

[saltman123]

I just got some zoanthid frags in the mail. 1 of the bags had 3 small frag rocks with about 3 or 4 polyps on each rock. When I opened the bag it smelled really bad.

I dipped the zoo's in a freshwater dip with lugols and FWE. I now have them in a small container because I think they are dead and don't want to put them into my tank.

If zoo's smell are they goners? They don't look dead, or have nasty stuff hanging off them or anything. They just stink!

I got a bunch of great looking frags and these were just some minor pieces so I won't be heart broken if they go in the trash. Should I just toss them?

[Hormigaquatica]

If they look alright, its worth a shot. Put them in the tank- since theyre small pieces, they wont affect the water quality too badly if they Are actually dead. Give them a week or so and see what happens. If they start to disintegrate or get a film over them, then its probably time to pull them. Zoas are sturdy... give em a chance.

[saltman123]

That is what a friend told me as well. My only worry is that they stink, like, BAD.

I have them in about a half cup of water that I am adding to every once and a while and they stink up the water enough to smell it a tiny bit.

Think they will stink up my 12 gallon? I DEFINITELY don't want that smell in my tank.

Here are some pics of them:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/359/p5010330gl4.jpg
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4894/p5010327gt5.jpg

Look dead? Alive?

[Tang Salad]

They don't look bad. I'd definitely give them a chance in your tank.

Do you generally dip your zoas? If not, you may want to consider it now. I think there's a Sticky in the Zoanthid forum.

[frederickk]

I would also try it. They don't look dead.

[saltman123]

I decided to set up a mini QT with 2 gallons of water, a power head, and heater. Going to put them in there for a few days to see if anything gives.

[omni2226]

The smell could be from worms/whatever inside the rock/rubble that is dead.
The polyps look ok in the picture.

[davenia7]

If you're worried about smelly water, do you have a filter you could add carbon to for a few days??
Always takes the stink out of my tank water.

[navipro1]

Those zoa looks ok, I've bought a bunch of zoas in the last few months, some were smelly when I took it out of the bag, water was a bit tan but smelly, I put them in a bucket and used my tank water to soak them for an hour and rinse and repeat it a few times, I also use the turkey baster to spray them to clean off all the unwanted dirty and stuff before I give them a quick fresh water dip and then put them in my tank, after a day or two, all seems fine, they sometimes take upto a week to open up fully. I notice the smelly zoas can be a result of the place that had them maybe in a holding tank with smelly water so they absorb all the smelly in them, and also corals can smell when they release their slime.