What kind of lighting do Zoas need ?

[Bonta]

Well the threads in the Zoanthid information draft aren't working so I guess I'll start a thread. Is my lighting sufficient ? I have Actinic Blues with 36watt CFs . Should I upgrade ?

 

[wmatt140]

it depends

it depends

I don't know about those lights but I think there is a lot of variance depending on the type of zoa. I have T-5's and some are fine up high and some need to be in partially shaded.

 

[Bonta]

Okay thanks, maybe I should go swap and get some T5s . I'm lookinv to keep some Jakarta Zoas, Tubbs Blues, Orange Bam Bam, and Superman Zoas

 

[ddcotter]

You have just compact flourescent actinic blues at 36 watts on a 60 gallon? Or am I reading that wrong?

 

[Bonta]

I have 2x of each bulb. And the CFs are 14000k

 

[muhnandr]

Zoas will flourish in most lighting, but you will get varied coloring on some zoas when using T-5s vs. MH and vice versa

 

[kac01]

The lighting has not been much of a issue for me but my water seems to be to clean. Zoanthids tend to like dirty water.

 

[jeffeg]

I just know Tubbs blue don't like to be blasted with alot of light. Almost melted mine with t5s..had to move them to the sides.

 

[Bonta]

If you guys kept Solomon or Fiji Zoas, what kind of lighting did you keep them with ?


Whats your definition of " dirty water " As in high nitrates ?

 

[Nerdy Nudi]

bonta, if im not mistaken, think of "nutrients" as dissolved food before it turns into nitrates.

so, like anthias, you want to keep the zoas fed well but keep the water from high nitrate build up.

 

[Keiki Moana]

Its going to depend on the zoa (and your individual tank and conditions)...for example AOG, my bam bams, radio active greens and TRPE love high light T5s while my lunars, KO nightmares, blue smurfs, etc would rather be in lower light....when I frag stuff I try to experiment and put one of the in bright and the other in moderate light and monitor growth..kinda fun!! Whee!