Hi everyone. New to this forum and am planning on adding Zoas to my tank, which is 100 gallons (24 inches tall). I have a 30 gallon sump, with a 1000 gph output into the display as well as two 850gph power heads. The main question I have is regarding to lighting. My current tank has been running for about 4 years and is fish only with live rock and hermit crabs, so I have two 24 inch shop lights from home depot. I am assuming I need to upgrade my lighting. I would like to have a variety of Hawaiian Zoas (that's all i can legally get here in Hawaii) in the middle and bottom half of the tank. Does anyone have any advice on lighting? And/or Zoa care in general? Thanks much.
Zoa beginner
- Thread starter TomFez
- Start date
SonoranReefer
New member
Most zoas really pop under most LED's as far as color goes. I'd consider LED for that reason alone, as well as the energy savings compared to other lighting choices.
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Your energy costs will be the same using any set up if your wattage is the same. 150w using LED will cost the same as 150W halides.
I am only 2 months into my halide/t-5 set up and like the colors and spread I am getting from my lights. I've been doing this for 10 years and used compact fluorescents, t-5, and LED in the past. I think everyone has a light they prefer so go to shops and check out different tanks lit by different sources.
As for ZOA care, get yourself a couple test kits. Your alk, mag, and ca need to stay stable and be in acceptable ranges. That's where I would start.
I am only 2 months into my halide/t-5 set up and like the colors and spread I am getting from my lights. I've been doing this for 10 years and used compact fluorescents, t-5, and LED in the past. I think everyone has a light they prefer so go to shops and check out different tanks lit by different sources.
As for ZOA care, get yourself a couple test kits. Your alk, mag, and ca need to stay stable and be in acceptable ranges. That's where I would start.
I can tell you from experience that 2-3 Halides of the right wattage and reflector design will work and work very well!!! They do generate a lot of heat but unless you live in Arizona you should be able to manage if your home has AC and not need a chiller. Proper canopy design will eleminate a lot of the heat transfer to the tank.
6 x T5HO's would probably work as well although that tank is a bit deep for that application. But for non SPS corals you should get enough PAR and be able to use a combination of bulbs that give you the look you want and the corals what they need. The down side is they dont save much electricity over halides and they will create a good bit of heat too.
LED's are definitely an option and technology has us at a point where its hard to ignore using LED's. Most are low energy demanding, extremely adjustable allowing you to really dial in things to suit you and your corals. They are one of the more expensive options up front and slightly cheaper in the long run and definitely more efficient use of electricity.
I dont recommend PC although they work as they are getting tougher to find bulbs and parts for. Although I love VHO's they too are getting hard to find these days and replacing the bulbs can make them pretty pricey options. You most definitely need more than what NO shop lights will provide even with the correct color temp in bulbs. They just dont kick out enough PAR unless you have a shallow tank...like a frag tank, and even then I would go T-5HO's!
Instead of looking at where your at now and the next step you wanna take, I would look even further ahead and look at where I wanna be two or three steps from now. You started out FOWLR your Shop Lights were okay for that. Now you wanna do Zoanthids which is more of a "softy". Why spend a lot of money on lights to get enough to work and then later decide you want LPS or even SPS and have to upgrade in lights again? Lighting is probably one of the most expensive aspects of a Reef Tank, you dont wanna be upgrading two or three more times down the road unless money is no object to you. Just something to think about before you jump.
Were it my tank....I would go LED's as a first choice, Halides as a second choice and then T-5HO's as a bare minimum on a tank as deep as yours is in my opinion.
6 x T5HO's would probably work as well although that tank is a bit deep for that application. But for non SPS corals you should get enough PAR and be able to use a combination of bulbs that give you the look you want and the corals what they need. The down side is they dont save much electricity over halides and they will create a good bit of heat too.
LED's are definitely an option and technology has us at a point where its hard to ignore using LED's. Most are low energy demanding, extremely adjustable allowing you to really dial in things to suit you and your corals. They are one of the more expensive options up front and slightly cheaper in the long run and definitely more efficient use of electricity.
I dont recommend PC although they work as they are getting tougher to find bulbs and parts for. Although I love VHO's they too are getting hard to find these days and replacing the bulbs can make them pretty pricey options. You most definitely need more than what NO shop lights will provide even with the correct color temp in bulbs. They just dont kick out enough PAR unless you have a shallow tank...like a frag tank, and even then I would go T-5HO's!
Instead of looking at where your at now and the next step you wanna take, I would look even further ahead and look at where I wanna be two or three steps from now. You started out FOWLR your Shop Lights were okay for that. Now you wanna do Zoanthids which is more of a "softy". Why spend a lot of money on lights to get enough to work and then later decide you want LPS or even SPS and have to upgrade in lights again? Lighting is probably one of the most expensive aspects of a Reef Tank, you dont wanna be upgrading two or three more times down the road unless money is no object to you. Just something to think about before you jump.
Were it my tank....I would go LED's as a first choice, Halides as a second choice and then T-5HO's as a bare minimum on a tank as deep as yours is in my opinion.
Jekerry
New member
Dip, dip, dip, then dip some more. They are very cool but can have nudibrach on them that will slowly eat them. Only the adults are killed by dip, so you have to wait and repeat. Don’t anchor them down too good until you are sure they are nudibrach free.
I am a beginner, but I am hoping you will learn from my mistakes!
Jane
I am a beginner, but I am hoping you will learn from my mistakes!
Jane
oldhead
New member
Um no, a LED that puts out the same as a 150w bulb will be using a lot less power to do it. LED's using 150w of power would be outputting way more light than a tank could handle.
eastlake
New member
The LED community will bash me for this I'm sure but if you want to use an affordable fixture that will grow coral look into the mars aqua led lights. They're super affordable, dimmable (via control knob), and grow anything. Maybe you don't get the same color out of the corals instead of using radions or something of the like but I grow plenty of SPS and my zoas are doing and look great under the mars lights. Again I know that they don't do the same job as the radions as they don't have the same to the percentage control, but for $98 a fixture (and I need three for my 150gal) vs $800 for the xr30 g4 pro they do a fine job in my book. Also, wattage, a 150 watt LED won't use 150 watts of power as you won't be running it at full tilt. A neat feature I saw on a friends radion is that in the online program it tells you how many watts the light is using when it's on. Anyhow, just my two cents. I hope you find the never ending color variety of zoas as addicting as I do, cheers!
