Candy Cane and light

[TracyZeuner]

I have a small candy and there are about 10-12 heads on it. How much light do they like? I have a 180 with 14 39 watt T-5's in a hood. Right now it is sitting on the bottom under a rock over hang. I just moved it monday from another tank. should it be middle, upper deck or closer to the bottom?
Thanks

 

[duec22]

With the T-5's I would deff do as you are and start it low on the sand bed and even shaded if you can...and gradually start moveing it up if you want it higher. IMO it will fine anywhere from 3/4 up the rockwork down to the sandbed.

 

[shaggydoo541]

I have found candycanes are very adaptable. I have had mine in the middle of my tank w/ 130W PC. Then I moved them higher and they did fine. Then I upgraded to 250W MH and they also did fine higher up. I even put a frag of them in the sand under the MH for awhile and they grew there as well. I do feed often though so maybe that helped them adjust under all these lighting situations.

 

[JMAONE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8248342#post8248342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shaggydoo541
I have found candycanes are very adaptable. I have had mine in the middle of my tank w/ 130W PC. Then I moved them higher and they did fine. Then I upgraded to 250W MH and they also did fine higher up. I even put a frag of them in the sand under the MH for awhile and they grew there as well. I do feed often though so maybe that helped them adjust under all these lighting situations.

I agree! I have a few hundred polyps of Caulastrea furcata and use 250w MH ... (the first five years I didn´t feed them at all though)...

 

[billyr98]

yea i agree.. i have had my candy cane everywhere in my tank and it always seems happy.

 

[johnnybravo234]

Candy canes love light!

 

[bcolvin]

any light

any light

Candies do fine in just about any decent light... I have them at all different levels in my tank..... they are nearly indestructable. Mine divide best when they are not right under the halide though.

Benentt

 

[peecook]

my candycane is 5 in from the surface under 2 250 MHs. they have been doing better than when they were placed near the bottom. def better color since moving them up to the top.

 

[3mm3]

After switching from t5s to 14k metal halide, my candycanes color has become very intense. They are 6 inches from the top of the water.

 

[divecj5]

Instead of starting a new thread, I figured I'd add on since this is a question about a candy colony I have. I recently upgraded from 112 watts of T5 to 270 watts and although my candy colony looks happy, there are some darkish spots in the color since changing the lights. I'm not sure if it's changing colors or if it's getting too much light.

My question is, is it alright to set a colony just on the sand? Or does it need to rest on some live rock? I might just drop it to the sand and then start raising it up slowly. Any thoughts?

Adam

 

[s2k]

my candy cane doesnt mind the placement, but i dont think they like direct flow. after moving it to a lower flow area in the tank, they multiply alot faster.

 

[s2k]

and their tentacles come out more during the day.

 

[peecook]

mine sit 6 in under 250s. tentacles really come out at night. i still spot feed mysis and cyclopeeze.

 

[barjam]

Let me add my question to this since it is related.... I have mine as high in the tank as I can get it under NO bulbs (160 watts for a 75). It seems ok but the color did lighten up a bit and now the polyps are quite a big bigger. I often see the tentacles but more so during the day.

I have some T5 in the works but how long do you think they can survive under such low light? They are about 6 inches from the bulb.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8325224#post8325224 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divecj5
Instead of starting a new thread, I figured I'd add on since this is a question about a candy colony I have. I recently upgraded from 112 watts of T5 to 270 watts and although my candy colony looks happy, there are some darkish spots in the color since changing the lights. I'm not sure if it's changing colors or if it's getting too much light.

My question is, is it alright to set a colony just on the sand? Or does it need to rest on some live rock? I might just drop it to the sand and then start raising it up slowly. Any thoughts?

Adam

Alright since no one has answer your question I will attempt it.


First off, did you acclimate your tank to your new lighting system? With strong lighting such as T5s, it is very easy to overwhelm lps coral with an increased amount of lighting. Its not the coral that has to acclimate but the zooxanthellae algae that lives within the coral that has to adapt. If it is overwhelmed, it will either bleach or die off. I know when I upgraded my PCs to Tek T5s, I did not acclimate my new lighting to my system at all and I lost a green bubble coral. At first my bubble coral seemed to be doing better but then overnight it was already dying off. This was in the span of two weeks though. You don't really notice the negative affects for a while until boom, a coral died.

How long have you had your new lights up since your upgrade? If it has been more than 2 weeks than I wouldn't sweat over the dark spots but if your upgrade was recent I would lower your Candy cane colony. I don't think it would be that big of a deal if you placed it on the sand. If you feel like its necessary and you lower it you could possibly get a flat piece of rock, put that on the sand and then rest your colony on the piece of flat rock just in case.

Hope that helps.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8365945#post8365945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barjam
Let me add my question to this since it is related.... I have mine as high in the tank as I can get it under NO bulbs (160 watts for a 75). It seems ok but the color did lighten up a bit and now the polyps are quite a big bigger. I often see the tentacles but more so during the day.

I have some T5 in the works but how long do you think they can survive under such low light? They are about 6 inches from the bulb.

Since you have the minimum amount of lighting I would supplement it with weekly feedings until you get your new T5s. I can't give you an exact answer of how long they would survive but just assume that they won't very long. Get your T5s as fast as possible and definately acclimate your T5s to your tank once you have them. Lower your candy cane to like the mid level of the tank.