Paly color and CF lighting.

[Blemo]

Hello everyone. Brand new here. I just found this forum today, and was wondering if you guys could help answer a question for me. I read the article on zoaid.com about palys and zoanthids morphing under various kinds of light, and it got me really worried. I recently had a chance to redo my tank, and decided to add some new palys and zoas to the collection. I have a 10 gallon nano, with 40watts of 50/50 pc lighting over it. Basically, I bought a bunch of frags of some more colorful palythoas, and I was wondering, are they just going to brown out until I'm left with a bunch of dull regular looking crap left in my tank? Do I really need the m/h lighting to have a tank of beatiful and brightly colored palythoas and zoas? Is it necessary for a tank even this small? Aside from lighting, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of the palys staying colorful or even gaining color under my care?

 

[Hypertek99]

Actually i heard palys and zoo's do good under PC lighting. But i think they do look brighter under MH. I have only dealt with MH and love the color. I have my T5's coming in soon so we'll see how the colors are there.

 

[NeveSSL]

Blemo: You should be good, man. They may change a bit, but I don't think they'll brown out or anything.

When are they coming in, Hypertek99? I was talking to my wife about getting some T5HOs for Christmas for me.

Keep us updated!

Brandon

 

[Teeka]

Blemo: You should be good, man. They may change a bit, but I don't think they'll brown out or anything.

When are they coming in, Hypertek99? I was talking to my wife about getting some T5HOs for Christmas for me.

Keep us updated!

Brandon

I have T5HO on my zoa and paly tank now. I have some Lord of the Rings that have kept their bright colors and their babies too. That orange by what I have read is hard to keep under low light. I started out with 3 and now have 12 that you can't tell the difference in.

 

[gastone]

Blemo, IMO you will be fine. Anectodotally speaking, discoloration can be caused by lighting, flow, tank feeding, nutrients, et al. I used to keep a 10 gallon with an orbit 80w pc fixture, 40w of 10k and 40w of actinic. I always had nice coloration on my zoas and lps.

Good luck and give it some time.

Garrett.

 

[Blemo]

Thanks alot everyone. So I should be fine with the 4 watts per gallon. That makes me feel alot better. What are everyone's views on feeding as it pertains to color? So far, I have only been throwing my bbs into the tank, and the fish love it, as do my tonga mushrooms and my one acan frag. I love the bbs because they tend not to foul my water, as the ones that don't get eaten end up growing until they eventually do. Should I supplement the bbs with mysis and cyclopeeze?

 

[Hypertek99]

Try cyclopeeze too it colors up the corals nicely.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hey bro welcome to CZ!!!

:welcome:

 

[Blemo]

Thanks!!! Would it be best to target feed, or just put the cyclopeeze in the water column?

 

[turbois300]

I tend to add it to the column but if my micro's or acan have there tentacles out then I'll get the dropper out and give them a direct hit. Also my fish/shrimp sometimes try and pick out the bbs and such from the polyps so both ways will make sure that everyone gets some.. just my .02