Question about my zoa colony

[Yates273]

I have a zoa colony that appears to have stalks and looks like it’s stretching for light. They are on bottom of tank and attached to Rock work. I understand they are looking for more light. My question is do I raise all lights a small percentage or just the UV? Also some of them have an umbrella look to them is that also lighting?

 

[Tahoe61]

An image and specifics as to lighting would be of assist.
Type of lighting, duration and intensity if applicable.

 

[Yates273]

Will do when I get home. It’s a AIO 32 cube with a Hydra 26 about 11” above water.

 

[jurgenph]

Will do when I get home. It’s a AIO 32 cube with a Hydra 26 about 11” above water.

please post a screenshot of your lighting schedule as well.

J.

 

[Yates273]

Okay so here it is. As you can see the other zoas look good. Light is 12” off of water with a diy diffuser
bottom pic is the zoas in question.

 

[Yates273]

Anyone have any idea?

 

[Saltyreef]

Post water parameters. Lighting looks fine. I ran my ai shedules in the past pretty much just like that.

 

[Hallowhead]

Have you had the ability to test the PAR at location?

I'm not familiar with the light but other colonies look fine so it makes me believe like any plant does it's stretching for the light

 

[Yates273]

Never tested par. I assumed since the other colonies were fine at that level this one would be fine. Guess I should never assume. As far as water, I have to test it. I just did a 5 gallon water change with reef crystals. I will test and report back later on tonight.

 

[Hallowhead]

Never tested par. I assumed since the other colonies were fine at that level this one would be fine. Guess I should never assume. As far as water, I have to test it. I just did a 5 gallon water change with reef crystals. I will test and report back later on tonight.

I couldn't imagine that the quality of water is bad as all the other colonies are fine. It's just a reflex to ask for parameters. If the colony isn't encrusted try moving it to a higher point in the tank

 

[jurgenph]

Never tested par. I assumed since the other colonies were fine at that level this one would be fine. Guess I should never assume.

some will like more light than others. what works for one, may not for the other.
my rastas still have pretty pronounced stalks, at the same level as other zoas right next to it, which are hugging the rocks.

is that the non hd version of the hydra26?

you could try to bump your lights up 5% every few weeks, and see how things react. go slow.

i have two hydra26HD running over a smaller tank, acclimation and ramping up to a setting similar to yours.
i'm sure you can get away with bumping that up slowly.

edit; then again, some people like the stalky mushroom look

J.

 

[Yates273]

First I want to thank all for your input. This colony is growing like a weed now. It has encrusted the rock and continues to shoot out new heads. Correct this is the non hd version. I did just bump up 5%. May do another bump in a week and keep an eye out. Don’t want to go too high because when I did it was bleaching my Monti. I will monitor and adjust accordingly.