how much lighting for zoo's?

mudplayerx

Active Member
Make sure that you don't place the zoos too high up and that you have a good, medium current flowing on them. I had a group of zoos and before I moved them down lower on the rockwork, they were covered with algae.
 

oceanists

Active Member
yeah zoos should only be kept under PC lighting , they will burn under MH ............. if you put them under mh make sure you know what your doing and place them in a shaded area
 

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Oceanists
yeah zoos should only be kept under PC lighting , they will burn under MH ............. if you put them under mh make sure you know what your doing and place them in a shaded area
that is a very untrue statment. i run 3x400 mh and have been collecting hard to find zoanthids for a long time. the only thing that happens to the zoas when then get in my lighting is they get ALOT more colorful. you know those very sought after true blue zoas everyone always talks about. well there is a very good chance that many people have them right now they just dont know it. most blues/purple are a very dull and boring zoanthid untill placed under MH for a few weeks. then BANG they come to life
 

oceanists

Active Member
Originally Posted by oceana
that is a very untrue statment. i run 3x400 mh and have been collecting hard to find zoanthids for a long time. the only thing that happens to the zoas when then get in my lighting is they get ALOT more colorful. you know those very sought after true blue zoas everyone always talks about. well there is a very good chance that many people have them right now they just dont know it. most blues/purple are a very dull and boring zoanthid untill placed under MH for a few weeks. then BANG they come to life
Im not to sure about this statement ......... i read in fenners book zoos shouldnt be placed directly into mh lighting , your lighting isnt going to change the color of your zoo , unless your placing it under actinics or even a black light ....... MH will kill a zoo by either burning it or covcering it with algea
 

fishmamma

Active Member
I have been reading much about this topic on this site and others, along with written reference material and I see the same things being said:
1.) zoas need "intense" lighting
2.) zoas do best under PC, T-5, VHO (not MH) - mid level, medium flow
3.) zoas will have the truest color under MH
4.) zoas can be burned under MH
So guess this leaves much to interpretation...........
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
directly from fenner's site:
Lighting: Many of the species of zoanthids kept by aquarists are hermatypic, living with endosymbiotic zooxanthellae within their tissue. These forms appreciate moderate to intense lighting; either metal halide or shallow placement in settings with adequate full-spectrum fluorescents.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
notice the wording: "many of the species...", and "these forms appreciate..." That means there are different forms of zoos, and those different forms require different lighting. So it's very plausible that some do better under MH's and other under PC's...
 

oceana

Active Member
. in have gotten good at looking at a zoa in the store and being able to tell which ones will color up and which wont. they DO change coloration and or how intense the color is. i have a tank FULL of over 40 differnt zoas and they are by far anythign but dead bleached or anything that could be considered bad
 

wax32

Active Member
My zoos were mostly boring when I had them under 300w of VHO in my 30 gallon. You heard me, that's 10 watts per gallon.
When I moved them to my 70 with a single 250w MH (3.6 watts per gallon) their color improved 10 fold and their growth took off.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
which just goes to show that it's not the watts/gallon that makes good lighting, it's all about the lumens, baby!!!
 
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