re-coloring of zoas

[Arkayology]

I got some hitchhiker zoas on some rock from a local guy. They were bleached white and didn't look great. They are fully opening now and are spreading already (I have only had them for 3 weeks or so!). I can tell that they have a little bit of coloration in them, a neon green mouth(?) and orange-ish body. But the orange is very faint. My question is, how long may they take to fully re-color? I am running a Tek 4x24 fixture w/ ATI and KZ bulbs on a 20H. They zoas are a little bit lower then half way in the tank.

 

[Reef Bass]

If they like your tank lighting and water chemistry, you'll notice the color beginning to intensify after a couple weeks. Will probably take a few months for them to fully reveal themselves. Even then you'll notice differences between new and older polyps. And they can change gradually (morph) over time as well.

 

[A. Grandis]

If you make sure the temperature, light, chemistry and water flow are without major fluctuations it won´t take too long for them to come back to the normal colors. If your lights are too strong that will make it worse!! It´s a good idea to skimm less for a while and add some quality invert food to help for a week or so (not too much invert food!!). I´d say probably in about 2 months you can tell that they are showing good signs of colors. If they have the zooxanthellae in, they can come back to normal colors.
Grandis

 

[Cymaster007]

+1 for not adding too much invert food. When I fist started in the hobby, I hadnt done some research and I tried to feed my zoas every day w/ plankton which resulted in a massive algae bloom....

 

[A. Grandis]

+1 for not adding too much invert food. When I fist started in the hobby, I hadnt done some research and I tried to feed my zoas every day w/ plankton which resulted in a massive algae bloom....

Correct...

 

[yourbedormine18]

if your water quality is good minimal food will be fine

 

[Arkayology]

My water is NSW that is filtered from my university, it is known to be good stuff. They are already splitting off w/ new heads. I think that them starting to grow more heads is a good sign. I just hope that the light isn't too strong, but we shall see.

I wont be having any fish for another week or two, so food right now is limited to a small piece of silverside I feed my CBS.

Thanks for the advice!