Frogspawn Expands More Because Not Enough Light?

[jiggy]

my water conditions r fine, but i have 2 400w DE halides on hqi ballasts. i see some peoples frogspawns under PC's that open up HUGE while mine opens up, but not enormous like theirs.

is this because they have weak lighting and the frogspawn is opening up to have more surface area to catch more light?

 

[pufferman90]

That sounds about right. You could place the frogspawn a little lower and see if it expands any more

 

[Yonghui]

That's right. My frogspawn used to be under 2 x 55W PC lights and it opened up huge with deep brown color. About two months ago I switched to 175W MH. The frogspawn now is only about half of its previous size and the color is also much lighter.

 

[jiggy]

how about flow? does alot of flow cause them to not open as much?

what causes them to slime/melt? seems like whenever sand gets on it it starts to slime (turns white and fluffy and the fluff starts coming off).

 

[Yonghui]

Yeah, strong current definitely will cause the frogspawn to close a little bit. For example, due to growth, the left side of my frogspawn became very close to the output path of a powerhead. As a result, the two or three heads in the area didn't open as much as others do. It took me a month to figure that out and I moved the coral a couple of inches away from the powerhead. After that, the closed heads opened up just like others.

I don't know about slime/melt. Never had that problem.

 

[iCam]

I'm not sure whether or not that's the case.

I had a torch and frogspawn under VHO for quite some time that opened quite large and grew well. I eventually switched to DE halides, and both continued to stay open just as large, and grew just as well.

Each specimen is an individual, and each specimen will do different things.

As far as flow, it should make the coral sway gently all around, instead of just in one direction. Regarding the slime, it is probably sliming to get rid of the sand that gets on it, unless another factor is stressing the colony.

 

[papagimp]

I had my frog under 4 x 65 watt pc lighting and when I upgraded to my 4 x 54 watt t-5's I noticed overnight that his extension doubled in size (and he looked very good under the pc's) And these fella's made a good point about making sure the tenticles sway around in a more turbulent pattern vs. a straight linear current. My frog will stay shut if he's getting a linear current for more than a day.

 

[PatMayo]

I'm not sure if I buy the light deal. I personally think it has more to do with flow, water clarity and condition. Mine extend quite large with good random water flow. The frogs sway in all directions and are not in any direct water flow. I have quite a bit of flow. 2 ea. seio 1100 plus 2 ea. mj 1200. But like I say none of the frogs are in the direct flow. It's all indirect.

Those are my thoughts.

Regards,

Pat

 

[jiggy]

well you only have 150w halides and pcs.. i have 400w halides and 87x turnover

 

[David Grigor]

A combination of the two things you mention ( lighting and flow ) can definate attribute.

With so many different variation of frogspawns and what they can tolerate, trial and error is your best bet at finding a good location in your tank for your environment conditions.

 

[Sk8r]

I have mine 8" below the surface with a 250 w mh directly above, and if it expanded any more it would explode. It's bright green with pink tips, in the intermittent direct flow of a Sea Swirl.