Is 400w too much light???

[caseyjones]

My name is Casey and I've never posted to this group before, everyone seems nice and very helpful. I'm running a 50 breeder with a 30 custom sump and do a lot of monti's and acro's. I've got a 400w Giessman bulb which I believe is 12k. The monti's and acros love it but my problem has been my Zoa's. I was never big on zoa's until I was able to get Soloman Island frags that absolutely blew my mind. I need some advice on placement because the aren't as bright and powerful as they were in the past and thier growth is very slow. Their colors seem to be fading although they seem happy. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Reef Junkie]

It's a touch balancing act.
One or the other usually fade in color.
Try throttling back on your filtering, carbon, skimming, phosban, etc...
Just keep an eye on your animals if you do this.
Also, try moving the zoas out of the direct light of the 400watt bulb.

I also use a 400 watt bulb, bulb, but I keep dirty water and have some zoas directly under my 400 watt bulb.

 

[geoxman]

400w is fine. IMHO it is hard to keep the color in most Solomon zoos. I also found that my Solomon zoos do better under higher light and higher nurtient levels. Good luck

 

[caseyjones]

Thank you both. I had a feeling it was a lack of nutrients but didn't want to turn off my skimmer. I'll post some pictures because some of these I have never seen before!!

 

[Reef Junkie]

Definitely post some pictures.
I can probably think of a thousand words why you should.