zoa newbie Q: optimal zoa placement?

[goldmaniac]

alright, i'm new to zoas, and corals in general

I'm trying to do lots of research in learning here, but my question for today:

how much time do you take to decide if placement of a zoa/paly is better then before?

right now, as I'm waiting for live rock to cure, I have about 8-10 little plugs of different zoas sitting on eggcrate on the top of my live rock. They all open, but some are pretty small. I plan to position them permanently when i re-aquascape with the cured MM live rock

Parameters are good, and for lighting i'm using dual 150w HQI Phoenix 14000's and dual 92 watt PC's (Odyssea hood). Phoenix bulbs about 2 months old.

All eggcrate and zoas are about 8 inches from top, my tank is 24" deep.

SO if i move zoas in or out of current, or into higher/lower lighting, how much time should I give these guys to adjust? couple days? a week?

again, they're all open, but some are pretty small.

And is shrinkage a symptom of TOO MUCH light?

Thanks in advance

 

[goldmaniac]

addendum: I've heard from most zoa reefers I've met, including those I'm buying the plugs from, that "all they need is lots of light and lots of flow", but i want other opinions, please

thanks again

 

[killingseed]

if your asking about placement, depends on what kind of lights you have. some zoa will tell you where they want to be placed. example: i have some green bay packers that i placed high in my tank and they start to bleach a little, inturn telling me they want to be lower in my tank. i have a smaller tank with a lot more light then you have so those same zoa's might do better on top. just have to watch your zoa's over time and they will tell you up or down base on how they react to the light and current.

"And is shrinkage a symptom of TOO MUCH light", may happen when there isnt enough light or bulbs need to be changed.

i have had an Odyssea hood and personal dont like them gave up on mine after reading some of the horror stories on RC and made a hood from DIY parts and find my tank doing much better in growth and much brighter.

 

[goldmaniac]

Killingseed -

thanks for the reply - my question was how long should I give them to tell me if the new placement is good or bad?

i.e. for extremes - 10 minutes isn't enough time for the zoas to adjust (obviously), just as 2 months would be more time than needed to make a determination (obviously).

how long to let them settle in their new location?

I listed my lighting, and that the bulbs are 2 months old. Anything else to look for with lighting as a problem source?

 

[killingseed]

they could take up a month or two to start coloring up or changing in color. i place them low as first and work them up slowly over time. moveing them up some once a week. i dont move them at all if they are not opening. moveing them can make them stay closed even longer. once they start opening i give them a week before i start to move them up.

if they are opening they are happy. just need to see how they color up. placement for color morphing can be a person prefence like purple deaths can become a more deep purple lower in light and a brighter more blueish when they are closer to the light. both settings are fine they will grow in both cases but like i said may be more of a person prefence in the color you might want out of some zoa's


not sure what you mean by this question "Anything else to look for with lighting as a problem source?"

 

[goldmaniac]

thanks - that's really helpful. Move them and give them a week to adjust, and determine any further necessary moves...

what i mean by any other potential problem source with lighting:

well, the brightness, wattage, for one
then the combo of lighting wavelengths
and age of bulbs

but I now know enough to know that there's always something new to consider, so other possible trouble spots, in regards to lighting zoas:

light period? pc's 1:00 - midnight, HQI's 3:00 - 11:00
moonlights? currently, yes, just a couple

that kind of stuff.

So zoa's can have too much flow, as well? and i don't mean the dumba$$-knocking-over-plugs flow, but do some like light-to-medium flow, where others really like being right in the path of Koralias? etc.

as I said, the three local 'experts' I associate with all say never too much light or flow.

thanks

 

[killingseed]

well flow is like lighting as well, they will tell you if they have too much flow by only opening only part way. zoa's that like a lot of flow will tend to have or grow longer skirts but most dont like direct flow. i have some that love good heavy flow and some that wont open all the way if the flow is too much.

what do you have for flow?

and i have seem people with 250 MH over a 55 gl zoa tank. and people with 30gl tank with a 250MH over them. almost made me go with 250 MH but backed off and went with 175 MH for now. i truly think 150 where to small. i wanted growth which i wasnt getting much of. i get it now. they didnt look as good as some of the pictures people have posted, not any longer.

 

[goldmaniac]

yeah, I'm looking for a lighting upgrade now, that's going to be my next big upgrade, I think.

for flow: i have one koralia4, the other K4 I just sent in for a repair/exchange. I have two pumps comiing up from the sump, with the 5' head I estimate them about 650 gph each, they both have a Scwd on them, resulting in four returns which alternate. all with 3/4" tubing. a 1400 gph external overflow appears close to max'ed out.

I'll try moving some zoas out of direct flow of some of these alternating returns. thx