Zoas not completely opening

[A. grandis]

The combo of bulbs you have is probably very different than the pic you saw when you bought the zoas.
There is little to the green in your bulbs. Aquablue would be a better choice than the Purple plus, but it's your taste.
I particularly am not a huge fan of the Purple Plus for a 4 bulb fixture. But again, it's about taste...
Check this out in regards to the spectrums:
http://www.atinorthamerica.com/bulbs.php

Grandis.

 

[DereksReef77]

The combo of bulbs you have is probably very different than the pic you saw when you bought the zoas.
There is little to the green in your bulbs. Aquablue would be a better choice than the Purple plus, but it's your taste.
I particularly am not a huge fan of the Purple Plus for a 4 bulb fixture. But again, it's about taste...
Check this out in regards to the spectrums:
http://www.atinorthamerica.com/bulbs.php

Grandis.

What bulb combo and placement or a 6 bulb ati dimmable for zoas do you recommend?

 

[A. grandis]

What bulb combo and placement or a 6 bulb ati dimmable for zoas do you recommend?

Humm... that is a great question! It's a great personal question, to tell the truth.
It will be mostly your personal taste. And you don't have to worry too much because of the quality of most bulbs, specially from ATI, KZ and Giesemann.
What I can assure is that would be best to choose a spectrum that would be a good balance between the "whites" and "blues". Not too blue, not too white! I like it towards the blue... like 10K to 14K ish.
The position of the bulbs in the fixture from front to back is also particularly changeable in regards to how the rock work and zoas are placed. So it varies... BUT, not to the point of worries in regards to PAR and the health of the corals and zoas.
My personal taste doesn't capture the Purple Plus. Just my taste. Could I use it? Yep, but prefer not to, because I've got only 6 bulbs in my current fixture.
What is the combination you're thinking of? More info?
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Here is a nice video about the new Giesemann line:
Enjoy!
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

These are nice videos about ATI bulbs:
Grandis.

 

[Armydogracing]

I know it was mentioned but definitely always dip your corals no matter where you get them from.

If they dont open in the next day or so dip them in an iodine solution. You can get lugols most likely from your lfs add a couple drops in a container of tank water and let the frag sit in it for 3-5min

 

[DereksReef77]

Humm... that is a great question! It's a great personal question, to tell the truth.
It will be mostly your personal taste. And you don't have to worry too much because of the quality of most bulbs, specially from ATI, KZ and Giesemann.
What I can assure is that would be best to choose a spectrum that would be a good balance between the "whites" and "blues". Not too blue, not too white! I like it towards the blue... like 10K to 14K ish.
The position of the bulbs in the fixture from front to back is also particularly changeable in regards to how the rock work and zoas are placed. So it varies... BUT, not to the point of worries in regards to PAR and the health of the corals and zoas.
My personal taste doesn't capture the Purple Plus. Just my taste. Could I use it? Yep, but prefer not to, because I've got only 6 bulbs in my current fixture.
What is the combination you're thinking of? More info?
Grandis.

What bulb combo are you currently using in your 6 bulb fixture. I thought you were a t5 guru and was kinda expecting a little more in depth discussion bout my last post. I dont really care about color spectrum being pleasing to the eye as long as the bulb combo chosen grows zoas and palys. Many people say to use all blue plus but I have seen zoas and palys suffer from just blue light. I have 5 ati t5 fixtures currently in use, seperate system for each family f corals. I ust put up a 6 bulb t5 with
2 blue+
2purple+
1 coral+
1 actinic
Thinking about taking out one purple+ and adding a 3rd blue+. Any thoughts or further discussion I am down for. Also experience to par levels would be great to discuss also. Thank You
Derek

 

[Triggreef]

What bulb combo are you currently using in your 6 bulb fixture. I thought you were a t5 guru and was kinda expecting a little more in depth discussion bout my last post. I dont really care about color spectrum being pleasing to the eye as long as the bulb combo chosen grows zoas and palys. Many people say to use all blue plus but I have seen zoas and palys suffer from just blue light. I have 5 ati t5 fixtures currently in use, seperate system for each family f corals. I ust put up a 6 bulb t5 with
2 blue+
2purple+
1 coral+
1 actinic
Thinking about taking out one purple+ and adding a 3rd blue+. Any thoughts or further discussion I am down for. Also experience to par levels would be great to discuss also. Thank You
Derek

In my six bulb fixtures I use those same bulbs except get rid of the 2 purple for 2 more blue. But I also run leds with my t5. I used to be all leds but you can't argue the growth factor with t5. I still like the colors better with the leds so I keep them around.

 

[mekesterson93]

Not sure if they're looking any better today or not??

 

[DereksReef77]

Not sure if they're looking any better today or not??

Well they are opening up so thats better than being closed. Maybe you could use more flow. what size tank is that? Your powerheads look small in the tank. I definitely would have inspected them prior to placement. I have gotten all kinds of pest on zoas ordered from the internet and anywhere else. I'm currently battling zoa eating spiders. I've dipped with everything including bayer, and nothing kills all the pests ever except flatworm exit that stuff is great for flatworms. I had a thriving zoa garden now it's pathetic. Get yourself a quarantine tank and quarantine everything. If they don't have any pests I'm sure they will continue open up.

 

[mekesterson93]

Well they are opening up so thats better than being closed. Maybe you could use more flow. what size tank is that? Your powerheads look small in the tank. I definitely would have inspected them prior to placement. I have gotten all kinds of pest on zoas ordered from the internet and anywhere else. I'm currently battling zoa eating spiders. I've dipped with everything including bayer, and nothing kills all the pests ever except flatworm exit that stuff is great for flatworms. I had a thriving zoa garden now it's pathetic. Get yourself a quarantine tank and quarantine everything. If they don't have any pests I'm sure they will continue open up.

Thanks for the advice. I have a 55g and the powerhead in the pic is the little jebao wp10, I have a jebao pp8 (which is the newer series of the wp25). And yes, I agree I should have dipped but I looked and didn't see anything on them visually.

 

[MermaidTail]

Id give them a lot of actinic too. My zoas respond best to blue!

 

[Mikemccafe]

I also have a problem with zoas not opening , my lighting is a Kiesel led does anyone think that this type of lighting could be the problem?

 

[A. grandis]

What bulb combo are you currently using in your 6 bulb fixture.
I currently have:
------BACK------
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Coral Light
ATI Blue plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Coral Light
-----FRONT-----
That doesn't mean the combo above will work for everyone nor that it is the "best for zoas".
I change bulbs every year. This year I'll bring some KZs to the mix and possibly a True actinic. Maybe a 10.000K? Who knows... I already know that for the end of 2017 I'll probably get some of the Giesemann's in the combo. That's why I just can't get too used to the T5s. It's an amazing world!! I wish I had 10 systems running with T5s just for the sake of using and experimenting all the bulb combos!

I thought you were a t5 guru and was kinda expecting a little more in depth discussion bout my last post.

I'm not any kinda guru. There are only few people in the hobby that know enough to carry such weird title. I'm not one of them. Thank God! That's for sure!! LOL!
I'm sorry to disappoint you in regards to the last post. I'm not sure what you meant by "...a little more in depth discussion bout my last post"... because...
T5s are so simple to use, therefore there are absolutely no magic nor secrets to be revealed in any way. My answer had a very particular thing that shows you how diverse one can think when using T5s, and that is: you didn't give me any details about any of the systems you have. How do you expect me to give you a guru answer? LOL! Perhaps by spiritual guru powers? LOL!

I dont really care about color spectrum being pleasing to the eye as long as the bulb combo chosen grows zoas and plays.
Well, lets see what do you suggest for growth in regards to spectrum?

Many people say to use all blue plus but I have seen zoas and palys suffer from just blue light.
I'm very interested to know what have you seen zoas and plays suffering from just blue light. Could you please get some more details? by the way, I agree in 100% and never recommend blue only!

I have 5 ati t5 fixtures currently in use, seperate system for each family f corals. I ust put up a 6 bulb t5 with
2 blue+
2purple+
1 coral+
1 actinic
I didn't quite get it when you said "each family f corals"... sorry..

Thinking about taking out one purple+ and adding a 3rd blue+. Any thoughts or further discussion I am down for.
I'd love to! Very nice talk! Thoughts about removing 1 Purple Plus? It's mostly about your taste.
Blue Plus bulbs are THE best bulbs in existence today IMO in many ways. So if you ask ME if you should remove one of the Purple Plus bulbs I would say yes, just because of my personal preferences.

Also experience to par levels would be great to discuss also. Thank You

PAR level number is a very relative subject IMO. What are your experiences with T5s' PAR levels?

Derek

Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Not sure if they're looking any better today or not??

Nothing wrong. relax!
Nice polyps. Let them grow...
Grandis.

 

[mekesterson93]

Nothing wrong. relax!
Nice polyps. Let them grow...
Grandis.

Thanks, glad to hear that! Hopefully they will start to get some color back (sooner than later, preferably lol)

 

[A. grandis]

Thanks, glad to hear that! Hopefully they will start to get some color back (sooner than later, preferably lol)

In regards to colors, please keep in mind that zoanthids do change their colors depending on some factors. We normally refer to that as morphing. Besides, the lights used can influence very much in reflection of pigments, and pictures can be changed a lot with photoshop.

Grandis.

 

[mekesterson93]

In regards to colors, please keep in mind that zoanthids do change their colors depending on some factors. We normally refer to that as morphing. Besides, the lights used can influence very much in reflection of pigments, and pictures can be changed a lot with photoshop.

Grandis.

Yea, just stinks that they had to change colors that drastically [emoji20]

 

[A. grandis]

Yea, just stinks that they had to change colors that drastically [emoji20]

What I'm saying is that could be photoshop...
Could be that the vendor has a different light than you have, in combination with the camera...
Could be also that he made a mistake?!?
I don't know...

I would send a picture to the vendor and ask them about it.
Tell them that the polyps opened recently, but the colors aren't the same as the web site.
Let them explain to you. Let us know what they say..
Good luck!

Where is DereksReef77?

Grandis.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

In my six bulb fixtures I use those same bulbs except get rid of the 2 purple for 2 more blue. But I also run leds with my t5. I used to be all leds but you can't argue the growth factor with t5. I still like the colors better with the leds so I keep them around.

I dont think those are fire and Ice zoas man.
Ive messed up some corals but not like that.