Stretched?

[RobertTheNurse]

Lights are out right now. Got this interstellar Zoa this week. Is this considered stretching? Have a 36 inch deep 65G. Have 2 AI Primes 16 HD.

I suppose I'm a little paranoid as my older zoas were stretching, but then I onlynhad a zfluval Sea Marine Light.

 

[MnFish1]

IMHO - it is light. Do you happen to have access to a PAR meter so you can check exactly what light level is at that height in your tank? I've seen this discussed a couple times - and there is always the nutrient/light question. What else do you have in your tank? Do you feed fish? I only ask becasue I find no need to 'feed corals' - as they tend to pick up the small pieces of fish food. My goniopora even eat 'flake' food. I have also heard that flow levels may cause this (too low flow). I do not keep Zoas anymore - but I'm not sure 'stretching' is a bad thing (i.e. a problem) - how did it look when it was in the tank you bought it from? Are the parameters in your tank similar to that of the other tank (light, alkalinity, etc). I had my zoas high up in my tank near the light - maybe 2 inches deep - on a rock - they did quite well - some days they were longer - some days shorter.

 

[Saltyreef]

2 primes on a 36" deep tank seem pretty underkill.
Now i can see why you have them at 100% on ur schedule.

I would venture to guess they are stretching but should acclamate just fine and thrive.

Ive forced many a coral to deal with certain conditions or perish into oblivion lol.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Not sure, we in Lockdown in Toronto right now, bought this and a few more frags online. No access to a Par Meter unfortunately. I increased my whites from 0 to 10 and moved it up a little higher. I dose Red Sea AB+ maybe once a week or so. And a drop of iodine once a week. Just started doing this.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

2 primes on a 36" deep tank seem pretty underkill.
Now i can see why you have them at 100% on ur schedule.

I would venture to guess they are stretching but should acclamate just fine and thrive.

Ive forced many a coral to deal with certain conditions or perish into oblivion lol.

Sorry my bad its 24 inch deep lol

 

[Saltyreef]

Not sure, we in Lockdown in Toronto right now, bought this and a few more frags online. No access to a Par Meter unfortunately. I increased my whites from 0 to 10 and moved it up a little higher. I dose Red Sea AB+ maybe once a week or so. And a drop of iodine once a week. Just started doing this.

You should have a full spectrum blend coming from the lights honestly.

Only blues and no whites significantly can reduce output even further since you already have a very deep tank and lights that arent meant to penetrate that deep.

 

[Saltyreef]

Sorry my bad its 24 inch deep lol

All my zoas are at the top of my tank being lit by 2x hydra 52s at 65%
Some stretch still.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

You should have a full spectrum blend coming from the lights honestly.

Only blues and no whites significantly can reduce output even further since you already have a very deep tank and lights that arent meant to penetrate that deep.

Ok. I've added some white. Will see how they do. Like I said, everyone else in the tank is growing and thriving. Just having a hard time with the zoas, which is my fav type of coral

 

[RobertTheNurse]

All my zoas are at the top of my tank being lit by 2x hydra 52s at 65%
Some stretch still.

I'll start my whites at 10% and may increase to 15% over time.

 

[Saltyreef]

I'll start my whites at 10% and may increase to 15% over time.

What i like to do for AI lights is download a premade schedule from the signsture series page on aquaillumination.
Increase the schedule to your maximum wanted power.
Then use the acclaimation feature and bring it to full power over 2 weeks to a month from a 50-60% reduction.

Then, as you add coral. Just start them off at the bottom of your tank and bring them to their desired par already set.
Tweaking lights too much just upsets coral in my long term experience.
You want to keep some stability to lighting cycles too.
I also use the lunar setting along with david saxby's program that increases and decreases daytime intensities along with a real lunar schedule at night.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

What i like to do for AI lights is download a premade schedule from the signsture series page on aquaillumination.
Increase the schedule to your maximum wanted power.
Then use the acclaimation feature and bring it to full power over 2 weeks to a month from a 50-60% reduction.

Then, as you add coral. Just start them off at the bottom of your tank and bring them to their desired par already set.
Tweaking lights too much just upsets coral in my long term experience.
You want to keep some stability to lighting cycles too.
I also use the lunar setting along with david saxby's program that increases and decreases daytime intensities along with a real lunar schedule at night.

Yeah, when I got these lights I was mindful about raising the percentages. I slowly acclimated the tank over 2 weeks to what it is now. These frags im talking about I just added to my tank.

I suppose this worked in my favor. I moved the said frag from the bottom higher up. And already looks flat like a pancake. I have been surprised at how finicky zoas are. Things I've read and researched label them as "beginner" corals...its safe to say they are but aren't lol mushrooms are beginners, ya kill a mushroom then you got problems lol. Anywho, here's a recent pic of the one I moved that I was worried about

I just switched my lights 2 to 2 1/2 weeks ago to the Primes. Used to run one Fluval Sea Marine. Which caused some of those you see really stretched. Some have since improved dramatically since the switch, and others i feel may perish.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Here's another pic. Lights just turned on so some are just waking up lol

 

[Saltyreef]

There are a whole bunch of different types of zoas from different areas of the world and coming from different depths... Some melt from looking at them the wrong way.
From experience i wouldnt classify all zoas as beginner/intermediate....

But for example some eagle eyes, dragon eyes or rastas i cant kill back enough to keep them in check. These i would classify as beginner hardy corals.

In general, the more pricey, the more experience is needed.

Just ask how everyones stratospheres are doing lol.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

There are a whole bunch of different types of zoas from different areas of the world and coming from different depths... Some melt from looking at them the wrong way.
From experience i wouldnt classify all zoas as beginner/intermediate....

But for example some eagle eyes, dragon eyes or rastas i cant kill back enough to keep them in check. These i would classify as beginner hardy corals.

In general, the more pricey, the more experience is needed.

Just ask how everyones stratospheres are doing lol.

Ya for sure. If buying corals weren't so addictive a smart person would stop now and get these under control.