need help with my zoas

rng_pw

New member
I have been keeping sps for a while now and they have always been fast growers, very colorfull with great polyp extension. I have recently started adding to my zoa and paly collection, but unfortunately Im not having the same success. Any way, they dont seen to open all the way and some of them are even melting away. I have a 450 gallon reef that is 30" deep. Most all of my zoas and pallys are on the bottom of the tank. I am running 3 400 watt metal halides with 6- 4ft t-5's. for flow I am runing 2 tunze 6200 and 3 6201's. I dose reef advantage calcium along with baking soda. My alk drops from about 10 to 6dkh in the period of one week but my calcium rarely drops under 420. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks
 
Wow 30" deep and 3 400 watt MH's, that sounds like way to much light for zoas, even if they are at the bottom

you could try putting them in the shade,cave or under an overhang. to keep them out of the intense lighting.
 
another thing you can consider is that a SPS dominated tank usualy requires a very clean tank. zoas/palys prefer a nutrient rich tank. the lighting i doubt has anything to do with most of them. there are alot of people who keep zoas in tanks were they are blasted with light. if you think your lights are playing a role in this then experiment with a few frags. move them to the bottom of your tank or into a slightly shaded area for awhile and see if things start to go better for you.
 
What K lighting, bulb maker, reflector and ballast on the 400? Why are they at the bottom? I do not think it is an issue with too much lighting
6 dkh is getting on the low side. IMHO
post some pictures and good luck
 
What K lighting, bulb maker, reflector and ballast on the 400? Why are they at the bottom? I do not think it is an issue with too much lighting
6 dkh is getting on the low side. IMHO
post some pictures and good luck

I totally agree with geoxman on this.
 
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