Different lighting/different colors

[mallorieGgator]

I was wondering if anyone has any pictures of the same zoas but one under lower lighting and one under higher lighting? I am doing a little experiment with some zoas I got at a reef club meeting. I didn't know what they were so I ended up with 2 large frags of the same zoas. I have moved one up to bright light and medium flow. The other is in lower light and medium flow. Anyone care to share their pictures and experiences of color changes under different light?

 

[mallorieGgator]

No one cares to share?

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

not everybody uses the same lighting, there for you could probably compare any picture with another as long as you know what kind of lighting each is under.

 

[MikeandNicole]

I will get some pics up tonight of my purple deaths, have one colony under T5s on the sandbed and one under LEDs up higher. The ones under LEDs are much much more purple and the growth has been very good. If I can find the pictures I have nuclear greens under 10k MH, 14k MH, T5s and LEDs. Was away this weekend so I did not see this until today.

 

[mallorieGgator]

I don't really care too much about what lights they are under. You can list what lighting you are using but the point is more of how moving the same type of zoas from lower light to higher light and how their colors change. I just thought it would be nice to see some pictures of what people are seeing.

 

[feixjai]

I don't have pictures, but I had read that purple deaths liked shaded areas to be purple since mine was pretty much brown since I acquired the frag from a friend. They were dark brown under my lighting (2x 3RB, 2W par30 bulb). They were under high flow also.

Once I moved them down, probably a week later, they started losing their brown color and turned sort of clear which wasn't a good sign. They were under moderate flow when I moved them to a shaded area. I tried feeding them too with no luck.

I ended up putting them back at its original place. It quickly regained back its brown. And once I started dosing Aquavitro's Fuel, they're starting to get their purple hue. But slowly though. And also during that time frame, I added another par bulb. This one is dim-able and it was set to mostly RB.

Hope this helps and relates to what you're experimenting with.

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

Well lighting is important cus 4 inches under water in a tank with t5s is not the same as in a tank with MH.

 

[mallorieGgator]

I don't have pictures, but I had read that purple deaths liked shaded areas to be purple since mine was pretty much brown since I acquired the frag from a friend. They were dark brown under my lighting (2x 3RB, 2W par30 bulb). They were under high flow also.

Once I moved them down, probably a week later, they started losing their brown color and turned sort of clear which wasn't a good sign. They were under moderate flow when I moved them to a shaded area. I tried feeding them too with no luck.

I ended up putting them back at its original place. It quickly regained back its brown. And once I started dosing Aquavitro's Fuel, they're starting to get their purple hue. But slowly though. And also during that time frame, I added another par bulb. This one is dim-able and it was set to mostly RB.

Hope this helps and relates to what you're experimenting with.

Thanks! Interesting with the purple deaths.

Well lighting is important cus 4 inches under water in a tank with t5s is not the same as in a tank with MH.

Yes, lighting is important but obviously, most people aren't going to put zoas under a MH 4" from the surface of a tank unless it's a very low watt MH. I'm more interested in general trends. I'm trying to get people to start thinking here on this forum instead of just posting pictures and the same topics. I would like to know what lighting it's under but it doesn't play a huge part in what I want to see.

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

lol it was just an example but i do get what you are saying.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Thanks! Interesting with the purple deaths.



Yes, lighting is important but obviously, most people aren't going to put zoas under a MH 4" from the surface of a tank unless it's a very low watt MH. I'm more interested in general trends. I'm trying to get people to start thinking here on this forum instead of just posting pictures and the same topics. I would like to know what lighting it's under but it doesn't play a huge part in what I want to see.

Hey Mallorie, great question in your first post above. Sorry you didn't get more replies.

I agree with your thoughts on thinking outside the box.:thumbsup:

Has your own experiement yielded any favorable results?

MUCHO REEF

 

[mallorieGgator]

I've actually got some stuff. I'll have to take pics.

 

[mallorieGgator]

So, I'll take pics when I can but what I found is only with one type of zoa so it may not apply to other zoas. I used two colonies from the same large colony. These are colonies of probably 70+ polyps. I placed one colony in medium flow/low light. It encrusted on the rock within a week of having it in my tank. The stalks are long, and the polyps are large (to soak up more light most likely). The color is an olive green with yellow stripe across the skirt. there is a blue line that goes around the inside of the skirt and an orange mouth. When these polyps are kept in low light, the blue on the polyp is broken up and doesn't form a line. The mouths are dark orange and the polyps are just dark in general (I believe to absorb as much light as possible since they are low).
The polyps placed high are with my SPS and in high flow. The blue line in them has migrated and made a nice complete blue stripe around the polyp. The polyp stalks are smaller, the mouth is almost yellow and the polyp is a light green. They have long skirts most likely due to high flow. The colors are lighter thus the polyp has morphed to reflect the correct amount of light so it doesn't get too much or not enough light.

Just my theories on color change. Hope that helps some people.

 

[DEEC77]

Hey Mall-

Sorry haven't been around lately but hopefully I'll have more time now.

I will mention that I have MH so unless my Zoa/palys are on the bottom they almost always look drab. So I very rarely put them anywhere other then the lower portion of my tank or the sand bed. I also feel coloring may be affected by water chemistry as well as how much blue lighting/ Actinic you have.

On that same note, I do know in my system that pinks always turn brown unless they are on the bottom with good flow.

I've also noticed that a while back I had purchased a green skirted beige body with a orange mouth that turned baby blue with a pink/peach mouth when I moved them down onto the sand.

Right now I'm working on some regular green paly's that were a hitchhiker a while back. They were in almost complete shade since I didn't realize they were there. I moved some rock around recently and found them. So I fragged them and put them on the sand bed. Now they have blue/aqua speckles but are more of a brownish/green body. I'm trying to see if I can get them to green up more but retain the speckles. I'll let know.

Great question and experiment by the way:wave:

~Dee~

 

[mallorieGgator]

Hey Dee, thanks for the input! Interesting about the colors changing when they are lower but I guess it's because of the MHs. I have some pinks up about half way in my tank which would probably be the equivalent of on the bottom in your tank. They hold pink very well.