Best lighting for Zoa Growth

[evoracer]

I was going to post this in the prop section, but being Zoa-centric, I decided on in here. I have a 20G Zoa-only prop tank with PC's overhead currently. I am wanting to switch out to MH, likely the Coralife 150W HQI clip-on fixture. It comes with a 14K bulb, which I know should be great for color. My question is, will a whiter bulb provide a better actual growth rate? I have read before that a trick is to grow them under a 10K or even lower K bulb to provide more Lumens then about a month before display/trading allow them to color back up under 14-20K. Any htoughts on this?

 

[Bebo77]

imo... zoas seem to do better under T5's...

 

[Kentanner11]

no dont say that!!! lol I just bought a MH lol!

 

[evoracer]

Anyone have any input for the MH's?

 

[b0bby1]

MH is the best for everything, no matter if it is a low light coral. i have a little frag of zoas (forgot name) that i bought for $30 for 3 polyps. i had it for 1 month under pc's and got 3 new polyps. but with the new MH's i got im getting 2-3 polyps a week.

 

[DaveJ]

Its not the type of light... its the amount of light and wavelengths that matter for growth for anything.

10K will provide the most growth, but you will lack colors.... 14K or 20K will have less growth but more coloration.

For specific growth rates etc, every variety is different and you'll have to adjust the height in the tank (along with flow) to optimize the growth for a particular variety.

 

[Island1Day]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10371292#post10371292 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveJ
Its not the type of light... its the amount of light and wavelengths that matter for growth for anything.

10K will provide the most growth, but you will lack colors.... 14K or 20K will have less growth but more coloration.

For specific growth rates etc, every variety is different and you'll have to adjust the height in the tank (along with flow) to optimize the growth for a particular variety.

fastest growth, i agree it varies with only a few components.
I have MH 250 12k. with 4 36" VHOS "(2 actinic/whites). My frag zoos that I have bought from people who posts in the livestock selling forums have doubled in size in less than 2 months. I bought the zoos with about maybe 8-10 polyps. they are 25+ now.
The zoos are located in off to the side of the tank, where it is not directly under the halides, nor is getting alot of flow.

Im no zoo expert, but im having alot of success with the ones I bought from the sellers of RC in the locations of my tank.

 

[SAPseven]

i got about 130 watts of pc light 10 k .. and i get about 1-2 polyps a week

 

[anonymousadrian]

and how bout iodine dosing and all that good stuff?

 

[Peter Eichler]

The whole coloring them up under higher kelvin bulbs is strange to me. I think it's just a matter of perception. The colors with zoanthids and corals is believed to be associated with intensity rather than kelvin ratings. If a zoanthid "colors up" weeks after being placed under lower kelvin bulbs then it's most likely a result of less intensity than a change in kelvin. There have been enough studies on this to have little reason to believe the proteins that give out corals color are linked to spectrum in any way.

 

[evoracer]

So do you think that they may actually produce a better color under a lower-lumen bulb?