Swollen Zoas

First let me apologize for the lack of pictures, but we've all seen closed up zoas before. There are no obvious signs of disease like zoa pox or anything.

On my Radioactive Dragon-eyes zoa frag several of the polyps are suddenly not opening and look swollen and a little detached from the rock. On the back side of the rock there is an orange golf ball sponge.
My LFS said that I should just dip the rock in fresh water and gently shake it. This should get rid of most pests that might be bothering the zoas. However, I don't know if this is ok for the sponge. If it kills it, I've read that some sponges release toxins as they degrade. This is one of my favorite pieces because of the vibrant colors, and I would really hate to lose it.

What to do?

 

You could cut the sponge off of the plug, place it elsewhere and then zip the zoas. I believe.

 

It's really working quite well to hold them in place on the front of a rock face. It would be nice not to have to remove it. Do it if I have to.
Are there any other options?

 

Not dipping.


Is there any way to provide a pic? Is there a swollen clear membrane around them or anything?

 

I'll be back with one soon hopefully.

 

dont dip them yet
first lets figure out whats going on .
test ur water ,when was the last water change

 

It's not the greatest picture, but my new phone doesn't have a macro mode, and i just broke my digital camera.

 

buddy you have aspatisa in that tank might be getting stung

 

joes juice ,lemon juice not sure if fw dip will work im sure the aspastia has spread

 

Last water change was last weekend. Doing a 10% tomorrow anyways.

Salinity: 1.023
pH: 8.2
Alk: Little on the low side of normal (no numerical value given by test)

And our tank generally runs warm ever since the chiller broke.
Steamy 80 degrees F