Zoos OK under PC?

[Octavarium]

In my peaceful 29g fish/invert tank with lots of LR I wanted to try some zoos from my 28g halide reef tank and maybe other soft coral that possibly will do well. It has the Coralife aqualight (1 65w actinic, 1 65w other bulb) which is 4.5 Watts/gallon. My question is will they be healthy under that light, and will they reproduce. I get so many varying answers on the web, figured I'd ask you guys based on experience.

 

[brackeeper75]

I think they will do ok. I have a bunch of different types, 75 gallon 2x65 watt actinic and 2X65 watt daylight. They would probably grow faster with better light, however, I think they will still do ok and reproduce with what you have. Just my 2 cents

 

[fsn77]

With a 65w daylight and a 65w actinic over a 29g, zoas and palys should do just fine.

I wouldn't go by WPG in making that determination though, as the amount of usable light produced by the actinic bulb is not going to be the same as the daylight bulb. And, WPG was pretty much formulated when normal output T12 lighting was more or less the only cost effective lighting option, so it's an outdated method for estimating a proper amount of light. Similarly, WPG doesn't work well for tanks that are small, really large, or particularly tall.

 

[Octavarium]

Thanks for the repsonses. I put it in my 29 now, and they opened up. We'll see how they grow compared to the halide tank. Will it alter their shape also, I thought I read somewhere on here that low light causes them to get fatter or vica versa.

 

[fsn77]

Typically, higher light results them in hugging the rock more and not being as tall. In very low light, they tend to really stretch upward to get as close to the light as they can.

I'm not sure how different lighting affects if they are skinny or more fat.

 

[GregAW]

What about using a 50/50 Actinic 03/10000K White? I've often wondered about these lights as well. I've got a 15000K MH light in the same fixture.

 

[ToeJam]

What about using a 50/50 Actinic 03/10000K White? I've often wondered about these lights as well. I've got a 15000K MH light in the same fixture.

I dont have the scientific explanations or links but I could dig them up.

The MH lighting is in another ballpark from PC... That 15k MH bulb will outperform any PC with same K rating and wattage (if possible to go that wattage =))

Amp help me out here with the scientific stuff.

OK ok..edit:

Greg so you have a 15k MH x3 PC 1ok's and one 50/50 PC bulb?


The 10ks are supplemental for that MH ..dont really see that 50/50 as necessary bulb in your set up... may as well slap a 20k in there if you want blue. You can juggle this many ways to.

MH 10k
x2 20ks
x215ks

Or

MH 10k
x4 20ks

its all about how you want that display to look I thinks.

Disclaimer: 15k PC do they makem I dont recall...stopped looking at pc long time ago..

10k or lower K more sunlight level of lighting for growth
14k or close to it has mix of white and blues to keep have tthe color stand out but have growth spectrum in there.
2ok slow growth and very blue ..makes colors stand out but you sacrifice the white lights you need for growth.

 

[ToeJam]

In my peaceful 29g fish/invert tank with lots of LR I wanted to try some zoos from my 28g halide reef tank and maybe other soft coral that possibly will do well. It has the Coralife aqualight (1 65w actinic, 1 65w other bulb) which is 4.5 Watts/gallon. My question is will they be healthy under that light, and will they reproduce. I get so many varying answers on the web, figured I'd ask you guys based on experience.

Ok here is an idea... (though I agree with another poster your zoos will be fine)... if you are unhappy with its growth and spread..

Try another bulb combo:

Want to give more light for growth: change them out for 10ks

Want to keep some color but have growth:
1ok/14k or 14k and 14k...

I never was fond of actinics...slow growth promotion and its mainly to bring out color in a display ...