Too much light, too little light....confused.

[blackthunda77]

I cant figure it out. I have some zoas, (jokers are a good example) that act like they want more light but my research says they dont need an extreme mount of light. They have 1" stalks now and act like they are reaching for light. But i run friggen 2 250 watt MH bulbs on a 16" tall deep blue rimless frag tank. Should i move these guys higher up? Would a picture help? Right now they are on my sand bed. The seem to be putting more energy into stretching towards the light than multiplying and spreading as i am getting almost no growth. I almost refuse to believe that 2 250 watt MH bulbs on a 16" tank is not enough light for these guys on the sand bed. ???

 

[650-IS350]

Pictures please

 

[A. Grandis]

Yes, a picture will help.
Depends on what type metal halide bulb you've got and if the bulbs are running good.
Make sure they've got good water flow.
Light isn't the only reason they grow towards the surface.
If they do have flow, yeah move them up slowly. Why not?

Grandis.

 

[vette.tech]

Old bulbs?

 

[blackthunda77]

Yes, i will try to get a pic up tonight. As for flow, i kind of doubt it, as i have an mp40 on a 80 gal shallow, but i guess i will take that into account. Bulbs are brand new.

 

[jda]

It is enough light, but sometimes they always want more. I only have 8-10 kinds of higher end zoas, but most seem to be able to take more light. I have tubbs, rastas, fruit loops, chaos about 5" under the water beneath a 250W HQI and they put on about a new 1/2", or more, of growth every six weeks. When I put them on the sand, they will reach a little bit. The Blue/Red/Purple hornets don't like to be up that high, but 15" to sand in full light is perfect for them. I used 14K phoenix on HQI.

I always figured it was quality and quantity, not quantity alone.

 

[Fcwham]

Yea they can take a lot of light they live in some of the highest light environments on the reef

 

[blackthunda77]

Placedt them up higher. You can see them above the birdsnest.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[A. Grandis]

I would just let them be there for a week or so.
They look healthy. Not a big deal...
You'll notice a little difference soon, I believe.
Make sure they're safe and won't bleach.
With a good flow they'll probably show shorter stalks.

Grandis.

 

[Fcwham]

An old trick you might want to try:

Take a rubber band and pull the stalk down to make contact with the substrate, careful that the rubber band is only holding it in place but not crushing the stalk.

Then put it back in the higher light and wait till the stalk grows to hold itself against the substrate.

Remove the rubber band when the stalk holds itself in position.

That all seems obvious and maybe dumb because it will make the frag ugly for a month but:
The stalk will quickly turn into coenenchyme, because it is receiving light along that now horizontal section lots of new polyps will pop out of the tissue.

If done right you can get 4-5 new short polyps for every tall polyp, its a good way to turn that "wasted" vertical growth into a higher polyp count.

 

[impur]

An old trick you might want to try:

Take a rubber band and pull the stalk down to make contact with the substrate, careful that the rubber band is only holding it in place but not crushing the stalk.

Then put it back in the higher light and wait till the stalk grows to hold itself against the substrate.

Remove the rubber band when the stalk holds itself in position.

That all seems obvious and maybe dumb because it will make the frag ugly for a month but:
The stalk will quickly turn into coenenchyme, because it is receiving light along that now horizontal section lots of new polyps will pop out of the tissue.

If done right you can get 4-5 new short polyps for every tall polyp, its a good way to turn that "wasted" vertical growth into a higher polyp count.

Wow I had never heard of this but it makes sense. I've got a few frags reaching maybe i'll give this a try.

 

[blackthunda77]

An old trick you might want to try:

Take a rubber band and pull the stalk down to make contact with the substrate, careful that the rubber band is only holding it in place but not crushing the stalk.

Then put it back in the higher light and wait till the stalk grows to hold itself against the substrate.

Remove the rubber band when the stalk holds itself in position.

That all seems obvious and maybe dumb because it will make the frag ugly for a month but:
The stalk will quickly turn into coenenchyme, because it is receiving light along that now horizontal section lots of new polyps will pop out of the tissue.

If done right you can get 4-5 new short polyps for every tall polyp, its a good way to turn that "wasted" vertical growth into a higher polyp count.

Interesting concept! Might be crazy enough to work!! MUAHAHAHAHAH

 

[Sean626]

An old trick you might want to try:

Take a rubber band and pull the stalk down to make contact with the substrate, careful that the rubber band is only holding it in place but not crushing the stalk.

Then put it back in the higher light and wait till the stalk grows to hold itself against the substrate.

Remove the rubber band when the stalk holds itself in position.

That all seems obvious and maybe dumb because it will make the frag ugly for a month but:
The stalk will quickly turn into coenenchyme, because it is receiving light along that now horizontal section lots of new polyps will pop out of the tissue.

If done right you can get 4-5 new short polyps for every tall polyp, its a good way to turn that "wasted" vertical growth into a higher polyp count.

Werdddd? Lol have u had success doing that?

 

[Fcwham]

yea, thats how I propagated zoas

grow them tall, frag, band them down, bam 5 new polyps

 

[A. Grandis]

yea, thats how I propagated zoas

grow them tall, frag, band them down, bam 5 new polyps

I'll have to try that!!
:thumbsup:

Grandis.

 

[enzo0000]

yea, thats how I propagated zoas

grow them tall, frag, band them down, bam 5 new polyps

Would you mind taking a picture and showing how you band them down please.

 

[Fcwham]

I don't have any like this currently, but I use those small bands used at the fish store and wrap them around. Only thing you can do wrong is get it too tight.

 

[nommarune]

Thats a great Idea lol. I need to try that with my solars and get them propigating faster lol.

by the looks of the pictures they are definately wanting more light so i would move them up.