Is This enough light for Zoo's?

[whatnot45]

Ok so I have 2 lights for my 29 gallon tank. One Is a Coralife 90 watt compact florescent.

The other is a 40 watt T-8 fixture.

So i used to use the 90 watt fixture, but then i was having a big hair algae problem, so i switched to the 40 watt T-8. My tank is a seahorse tank, and lately my tank has been looking pretty boring. No corals or anything, just two lazy seahorses. So I was at My LFS today and saw a really cool zoanthid colony i just had to have. So i got it. To make a long story short is my 40 wat T-8 Fixture enough lighting, or do i need to switch back to the 90 watt?

 

[camz28]

i would put the other light on with that one for now and get something better so that youll get like 8 watts per gallon , and the color on the zoos would change to , i have a MH175 14k hamilton with 2 attinics 65 w of pc in my 29 gal and the color are awesome just my 2 cents.


Ralph

 

[whatnot45]

lol well your 2 cents are going to cost me a few hundred bucks, so i dont think ill accept them, i would rather return them... haha

 

[kaihonu82]

i see you're from san jose...what lfs were you at that had zoas that you had to have? just out of curiousity..

 

[sambo123]

neither are strong enough, need at least 3.5 watts per gallon to keep zoos healthy, you need at least 130wt power compact on zoos in a 29g AGA to make them grow/survive/andeven look descent. Is there any way you could put both fixtures on the tank? Might want to invest in a 130wt PC strip, or you might be ok placing them really high up next to the 90w pc fixture, but that would only be temporary.

 

[whatnot45]

Ill stick em in a a small 2 or 3 gallon nano w/ an 18 watt fixture.

 

[whatnot45]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9269271#post9269271 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kaihonu82
i see you're from san jose...what lfs were you at that had zoas that you had to have? just out of curiousity..

lol its called Amazon its on Branham next to nickle city. Its under new management, and they tore everything down. They are finally getting things back up and running again. So dont expect a whole! lot.

 

[sambo123]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9269902#post9269902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whatnot45
Ill stick em in a a small 2 or 3 gallon nano w/ an 18 watt fixture.

that sounds like a good idea, make sure the 18w fixture has some sort of antic spectrum on it for proper growth.

 

[whatnot45]

it does

 

[cardgenius]

You might look at a coralife dual T-5 fixture. Youll get the best bang for your buck compaired to any PC fixture. Plus there only $40-60.

 

[zolovinglover]

I've tried every type of lighting for zos you can imagine and let me tell you one thing: watts per gallon is a bogus way of assessing lighting. Intensity is what matters.

T5's are in every way superior to PC's. T5's are on par with metal halides intensity wise, and due to their slim profile htrow a much smaller shadow on their reflectors, increasing light output signifcantly.

It is certainly true that zoanthids do very well with super intense light, some pinks really flourish under 400W MH's. However, as long as you can provide tyhe minimal amount of lighting needed, as your T5 unit does, your zoas will do very well, as long as you keep in mind rule #2.

Lighting is important, but even more important to achieve great zoanthid coloration is heavy feeding of zoo and phytoplankton products as well as the proper trace elements. Send me a PM is you'd like to know some good products to use and for an article on coral feeding by Borneman.