zoa lighting

When it comes to Zoa's I've always played by the rules of ''whatever it's out for''... as long as algae isn't growing. Personally simple LED's run zoa's well in my opinion... most softies do. I am a night owl so lights are on in our house 24-7 even not lighted the tanks still get plenty of light and none of my zoa's seem to mind one bit. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

I say it's probably not necessary but good for your other livestock if you could... mimic whats natural as best you can, your fish (if any in that tank) would probably appreciate a consistent lighting cycle.

Best of Luck.

 

sounds good to me... I say if their opening and they aren't showing signs of stress in any way... roll with it. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/wink.gif Zoas are cool like that.

 

IMO I would not run lights 24/7 for zoas or any coral... They need the dark too :0)

 

I agree. The corals AND fish need a dark period, mimicing their normal environment. Get a 2nd timer if you don't have one. Run the lights for a max period of 12 hours on with 12 hrs of darkness. Most/many people run lights for only a total of 10 hours.


In my display tank I have T5 lighting. 2 blue bulbs come on at 9:30 am. The remaining 4 bulbs come on at 10:30. Those bulbs go off and 8:30 p and the last 2 blue bulbs go off at 9:30 pm.

 

Kel, corals have saturation points in regard to photosynthesis, or rather their zoox does. Basically, it's had all it needs for the day and it stops producing energy. Whether or not your corals reach that under your lights, I have no idea. But after saturation your lights are only on for your viewing pleasure, not the corals', and in fact may cost the coral energy in protecting itself from the prolonged photo periods.

Like I said before, I couldn't tell you if you'd reach that with your zoas or not. Zoas can have a wide range of saturation points depending on from where they were collected, and corals in general are very good at adapting and surviving. Just food for thought.

 

I scrounged up an article related to the topic, though it doesn't specifically focus on zoas. More SPS oriented. Interesting article though. I like reading about how and why our corals react, albeit sometimes the jargon is over my head.. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/aafeature1