New Zoa's... Should I Dim The Lights

[tablesalt]

I have a big spread of Zoas coming in tomorrow for my Zoa dominant tank (currently without coral). They are going into a MAX-E 170 with Hydra 26s. The seller I am buying from says that they are coming from tanks with 90-200 par (depending on distance from light). My tank is mostly 80-240 par (to the best of my judgement from BRS investigates analysis of Hydra 26, and the placement of my rock.

Since the Pars are similar, would you dim the lights and place in final position, start at the bottom and move up, or leave the lighting as is because the lighting situation is similar? I have a poll below. Light readings for BRS TV also follow the poll.

Arriving stock.

Agent Orange
Candy Apple Red
Caribbean Beauties
Electric Boogaloo
Fire & Ice
Giant Green Cinnamon Paly
Green Button Palys
Japanese Deepwater
Japanese Firecracker
Keds Red
King Midas
Lemon Pinwheels
Mean Green Zoas
Orange Bam Bam
Radioactive Dragon Eyes
Rastas
Red Hornet
Reverse Gorilla Nipples
SBC Blue Spirit Palys
SBC Guava pinwheels
SBC Ring Of Fire
Space Magic Polys
Toxic Green Palys
True Blue Hornets
Tubbs Blue

 

[Kremis]

I put zoas straight where I want them, no clue where they come from par-wise. I have them at the top of the tank and at the bottom. they can basically go anywhere IMO. Id say it shouldnt matter, being that they were all in somewhat similar par. However, if you do notice closed up zoas towards the top of the tank it might be a good idea move them down more.

 

[Palyzoa]

Woah, Bet that was a pricey order, Im jealous

Agree with above, put em where you want em and if they don't like it (they will let you know) move them to lower par.if they are reaching for light then higher par.

 

[danschoenherr]

I would personally start them at the bottom as I see there are some deep water varieties in your list. Give them some time (3-4 days at least) to acclimate and see what they are doing, such as reaching for the light or not opening. They really don't like being moved around too much, so don't move them every day and think they have had time to adjust. The palys will generally like more light and will stretch towards the light if they are not getting enough. Be careful with the green palys and green button polyps. They will spread like wildfire and grow over everything in it's path. I'm breaking down a smaller tank this weekend that HAD some really nice pieces of liverock, but are totally covered in green implosion palys. NIce to look at under the blues, but totally invasive. Have fun, thats a nice start

 

[tablesalt]

I would personally start them at the bottom as I see there are some deep water varieties in your list. Give them some time (3-4 days at least) to acclimate and see what they are doing, such as reaching for the light or not opening. They really don't like being moved around too much, so don't move them every day and think they have had time to adjust. The palys will generally like more light and will stretch towards the light if they are not getting enough. Be careful with the green palys and green button polyps. They will spread like wildfire and grow over everything in it's path. I'm breaking down a smaller tank this weekend that HAD some really nice pieces of liverock, but are totally covered in green implosion palys. NIce to look at under the blues, but totally invasive. Have fun, thats a nice start

Other than the ones with "deepwater" in the name do you have any recommendations for whichh of these are likely lower light? (Under 100 PAR).

 

[Cary]

An old rule of thumb was light colors like light and dark colors like less light. But, that doesn't always hold true.

 

[danschoenherr]

Unless you know where/what depth they came from, it's hard to tell. There are wild ones collected from shorelines that are sometimes out of water during low tide and/or the water is very cloudy, so these enviroments are hard to duplicate in out tanks. I tend to stay away from wild corals and stick to aquacultured that are proven to grow in a captive system. I am starting to keep a chart of what flow and lighting my zoas/palys prefer for future placement. All I know for sure is that they do not like being moved around too frequently.

 

[Cary]

@tablesalt How did it go? Pictures please.



Agent Orange
Candy Apple Red
Caribbean Beauties
Electric Boogaloo
Fire & Ice
Giant Green Cinnamon Paly
Green Button Palys
Japanese Deepwater
Japanese Firecracker
Keds Red
King Midas
Lemon Pinwheels
Mean Green Zoas
Orange Bam Bam
Radioactive Dragon Eyes
Rastas
Red Hornet
Reverse Gorilla Nipples
SBC Blue Spirit Palys
SBC Guava pinwheels
SBC Ring Of Fire
Space Magic Polys
Toxic Green Palys
True Blue Hornets
Tubbs Blue

[/QUOTE]

 

[tablesalt]

Here's where they are all at right now. Almost all seem happy

 

[Cary]

Great start. thanks

 

[ckcustomz]

I always start at my sand bed and see how they react to my light...if they start to extend i move up a little amd so on... if they close up when you move them up then move them back down a little...find that sweet spot....but thats my opinion on zoas

 

[Wayne W]

Here's where they are all at right now. Almost all seem happy

Do you have an updated picture of your tank, would love to see the end result.

 

[tablesalt]

Mike's 45 Gallon Zoa Garden (Max E 170)

I'm so excited to get back into the game after a 10 year absence (military moves and deployments are not compatible to reef keeping). I worked at an aquarium store back in the day and finally pulled the trigger on getting back into the hobby with a Max E 170 which gets here Thursday. My tank...

www.reef2reef.com

Sure,

I have over 1000 Zoas now, and had to sell off all my palys because I couldn't prune them as fast as they were growing. The colony would double in less than a month.

I have expanded to some LPS corals as well. Everything is happy and doing well. Color saturation in photos is terrible, but everything is happy. I am on the change 5 gallons of water a month and leave it alone plan and the tank is thriving.