zoa skirt gowing too long?

[ReefsandGeeks]

I got into coral a few months ago and one of the first I got was this red zoa. It's been growing great , but one thing I noticed recently is that the skirts seem to be getting ever longer. I was wondering if it was my memory going bad or not, but low and behold my first pic of them shows very short skirts. Is this normal for their skirts to grow so long like these? it's been getting longer and longer it seems. I have another small frag of zatermellons growing that I've noticed a similar, yet less dramatic effect. Maybe somethign to do with the flow or lighting of my tank? I'm not sure if I'd perfer them to have the skirts long or short, but would be nice to know if it's normal.

Thanks

 

[BryanS4]

When I first started my tank I bought some cheaper zoas and they have long skirts like these. The higher end frags that I've bought since then have shorter skirts. A few nicer palys I have have long skirts, so it really depends on the coral itself.

 

[jayball]

Judging by the picture they are in decent flow. I have three different zoas that are placed in multiple places around the tank and the exact same species/morph will have longer skirts in higher flow. Nothing to worry about.

Lighting I have seen only effects coloration and growth. Higher lighting makes for brighter colors and faster or slower growth depending on the morph.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Thanks guys, I appriciate it. I just wasn't sure if it was normal, or if it was a sign of something wrong. It does have a fair amount of flow in it's position, so that would explain it. Only reason I was worried is because the skirts were much shorter when I bought them, as shown in the previous picture.

It's interesting you should mention lighting affecting coloration and growth rates. I kinid of recently bought 5 new zoa frags taht I have low in the tank. One was a rel nice red one, but I've noticed it's red doesn't pop like when I bought it. kind of faded slightly since I've gotten it. I've been adjusting my LED spectrum slowly to try to get more full spectrum and less blue in an effort to get more color out of my zoas and SPS. Do you have any sugestion as to the ratio of blues to whites that would bring the color back? And I'm guessing brighter may be better as well?

 

[650-IS350]

flow affects that some I've seen have much longer skirts.