MH & Zoa's

[fastjunkie]

I currently have a standard 6' 125 gal tank w/3 x 250w 14k mh fixtures about 2 feet above the tank.After a few months of switching to MH's,my zoa's did not seem to strive as much as when I had 4 x 96w pc's. directly on top of the tank.MH's too much?I moved all my zoas to a 20g long with 192w of PC lighting and the zoa's took off again.My 125 is currently empty and I'm thinking of going back to PC's or possibly VHO's.Anyone have any honest suggestions?All input will b e appreciated.
Thanx all,
Mike

 

[InADream]

Zoos can be funny, and they need time to acclimate to the new ligthing... I have the same situation with a few zoos in my frag tank, the frag tank has pc's in it and they grow at an outstanding rate... In my display tank which has MH`s they dont... It is because they need time to adjust to the new lighting...

I have a frag in my display tank that grew a new polyp or two every week, after putting in my display tank I got a new polyp a month... That was two months ago, now I get almost 3 polyps a week and am continually cutting and fragging it... It just takes them time to adjust, but once they do watch out, and you will want them to stop...

MH are the best lighting for coloring, IMO... Where are you frags located... Also something most people do not realize is the more you mess with the frag the slower it will grow, leave it alone and it should take off in no time...

Dream

 

[fastjunkie]

I swityched from PC's to MH's over a year ago.They had plenty of time to acclimate.I kept most of my zoa's on the bed of my tank,pretty far from the MH's.

 

[InADream]

A year is a long time but again zoos can be funny... Do your zoos reach up for the light or do they look normal... Do they open up fully and seem healthy... Have you ever tried counting your zoos and then counting a week or two later... If you have nothing in the tank and do not care about keeping other corals i would say go back to pcs if everything is normal.. By chance what are you water parameters?

Dream

 

[cutnup]

why are your MHs so high off your tank?

 

[killingseed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10988146#post10988146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cutnup
why are your MHs so high off your tank?

wondering that myself. i have 175w mh. most of my zoa's are in the middel of the tank with some exceptions. some are closer, some are even on a frag rack less then 2" or less from the surface of the water. my MH's are 8 to 9 " above the surface of the water.

these are about 4 to 6 " under sureface of the water.

these are 3 to 5" under the surface of the water.

the biggest problem i have seen so far is "they grow like mad."

when is the last time you changed the bulbs?

 

[killingseed]

and ya i just switched from pc to mh, and i'll never god back. personaly i had some grow ok with my pc, but switch has made a big diffence. i will not go backwards. maybe its not your light but something else.

 

[Hypertek99]

I get really good growth with 250MH over a 29Gal.

 

[Æonic]

I saw the same thing, moved them from PC to a 250w MH and they looked kinda bad, it really seemed like they had too much light. Moved them back under a more subdued (70w MH) light and now they're back to normal. Replaced the MH with a higher wattage PC, and the ones in that tank seem to be doing better as well.

Someone told me a long time ago zoa's were like weeds and easy ,but the damn things can be fickle sometimes!

 

[fastjunkie]

2 reasons I mounted them so high is..(1)I didn't want to heat up the water too much,and (2)I was afraid the 3 x 250w MH would be too much for my softies.I didn't want to bleach anything.Should I try to move them down a foot or so?

 

[jjmcat]

Mine are about 8 inches from the water.I do think however PCs are great lights for zoas.Infact my wintertime frag tank for zoas and palys are 3 4ft NO T5s.Awesome colors and growth.Six bulbs total.

 

[cutnup]

yeah move em down. your just waisting electricity having them that high.i'd try like a foot off the water. then if you can later move em to about 8 inches.

 

[m2434]

Had zoa's under a 250MH's didn't grow for 4 years... switched to PC's a few months ago and they seem to be doing better already.

 

[cutnup]

i had mine under pcs first. saw littles growth. put em under 1 x 175 w mh. saw good growth. now are under 2 x 175 and are growing like weeds. they are 10 k in a 46 gal