Zoa and lighting question.

R

RyanM

I think I have seem some specifics somewhere about this, but my brain just can't seem to to have the capacity for all that I have throw in there over the past few weeks.

I have recently purchased a complete system from an individual that was established for almost 2 years. These were stuffed inside with little care for some time. Over the past few days I have seen some green color start to form, but I don't understand why they don't show color when my Metal Halides are on during the day. When my Actinics are on they are starting to "green up", but they seem dead without them on.

It's obvious that they need to some TLC, but can someone help me understand why the color only shows under Actinics.

Also, I have a Coralife 48" fixture (not sure the wattage on the 2 MH, but have 2 96W actinics). how long to these bulbs usally last or more importantly how would one tell if these need to be changed?

Here is a pic of the Zoas with the MH on.
 
you may want to post some information about your tank. lighting, tank size, how long the lights are on etc. depending on how deep the tank is, you may have too much light, or are leaving it on for too long. i haven't had zoas for a while, so someone else may have better info for you.
 
Actinics put off light that peaks the most in blue part of the lighting spectrum. Lighting that peaks in the range is generally used to "color up" corals because they make their colors pop whereas lighting in the red and yellow range such as a 6500k or 10k bulb give off more PAR--faster growth--but tend to make corals appear dull without some kind of actinic supplementation. I suspect, as you noted, they are just getting used to better care. Most zoanthids do very well under metal halides and they are probably just adjusting. I would give them some more time.
 
This makes sense. When I bought the tank the guy told me that he did not have the lights on at all the day before. I need to get some timers. I am thinking about purchasing a controler so I can automate things a bit.


I am turning on the Actinicts about 8:00 AM (leaving on for 10 hours) and the MH about 11:00 AM (leaving on for 5-6 hours).

110 gallon
48x29x19.
 
the bulbs might be old also most change them every 9 to 12 month and from my experience when u ask someone buying used bulbs u never get there real age.
 
I could be wrong but those guys don't look very happy. I have zoas and recently I had posted that their skirts were turning white... they were under 4x24W T5 HO lighting so not high MH. I needed to move lights around so that tank now has only 2x24W T5 HO. The zoas are starting to look better. Depending on the zoas they may not like the bright MH and may lose their color. As someone else had pointed out to me, they've had to move theirs around the tank trying to find the right place where the zoa will look its best. Mine have taken about 2 weeks to start changing colors.
 
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