T5 bulb help for zoa

[Rogergolf66]

i have a custom built 72x18x10 Zoa tank with about 150 different Zoa and play in it. Currently I am lighting it with one 72 inch reefbright blue Xho in the middle. About 12 inches over the tank and a Ati coral plus 60inch in the back and a 60inch ATI blue plus I am thinking of swapping out both the t5 bulbs to actinic bulbs. What's your thoughts?

I am thinking about doing this cause I feel my head size is a bit small so I think the reefbrite it putting out plenty of light for them and they don't have to reach or have a large surface area for the polyps to absorb the light.

What's your thoughts?

Roger

 

[that Reef Guy]

I would not use Actinic Bulb.

Other Bulbs have Almost 3 Times the PAR as the Actinic.

I would do all Blue Plus Bulbs.

They will do better, look better, and grow much faster than using Actinic Bulbs.

 

[mfinn]

I liked the blue plus bulbs for my zoanthids too.

 

[Rogergolf66]

Well that was my point . Being the tank only has 8 inches of water and the polyps are small and the stock is not reaching at all I feel they r getting to much light now. That was the point with the actinic to lower the amount of light but still have a good color spectrum from the actinic

 

[that Reef Guy]

Well that was my point . Being the tank only has 8 inches of water and the polyps are small and the stock is not reaching at all I feel they r getting to much light now. That was the point with the actinic to lower the amount of light but still have a good color spectrum from the actinic

I have 4 Bulbs Over Zoanthids in one of my Tanks that is only 12" Front to Back..

And they are Thriving.

Your Tank is 18" Front to Back so if it was me I would use 6 Bulbs not 2.

 

[Acroporaaddict]

I blast my zoas with light. 6 bulb ati fixture on a 12" deep tank. 3 b+, 2 actinic, 1 c+. In 1 month, rastas went from 3 to 16 polyps and jubilees went from 4 to 15 polyps

 

[Rogergolf66]

Ok any thoughts on why the polyps are small heads and why the stocks are so short?

 

[KlynnUK]

I have combination of 2 actinic and 2 blue plus..ATIs on one channel @ 100% and 2 coral plus on other channel at 60% at peak. I had this over a year and I found actinics was a great addition to my tank. Looks pretty dim compare to blue plus but definitely has some punch..

 

[that Reef Guy]

I have combination of 2 actinic and 2 blue plus..ATIs on one channel @ 100% and 2 coral plus on other channel at 60% at peak. I had this over a year and I found actinics was a great addition to my tank. Looks pretty dim compare to blue plus but definitely has some punch..

Par for T5 as Tested by the Grim Reefer (The Old T5 Expert).

Actinic 137
Blue Plus 336

Huge Difference.

 

[Slims Shop]

I blast my zoas with light. 6 bulb ati fixture on a 12" deep tank. 3 b+, 2 actinic, 1 c+. In 1 month, rastas went from 3 to 16 polyps and jubilees went from 4 to 15 polyps

How high above the water line is your light?

I have a ati sunpower 6 bulb over my DB rimless and have my zoas pretty much on the sandbed and light is about 18" above the water line and zoas seam like they are getting to much light. I run 2 aquablue special ramp up to 35% and down for 4hrs then 3blue+and 1 antinic ramp up to 55% and back down for 8 hrs. polyp heads shrink in size from when I first get them and do not stretch at all. T5 also run blue only reefbrite for the 8hrs.

 

[Acroporaaddict]

6" above waterline. Actinic on at 100% for 12hr, blue + and coral + on at 75% for 6hr

 

[Rogergolf66]

That is similar to my results. I realize I only have 2 t5 bulbs but what nobody is commenting on is the 72 inch reef rite Xho. When I called reefbrite they said that it is like having 3-4 blue plus bulbs per Xho strip.

 

[that Reef Guy]

That is similar to my results. I realize I only have 2 t5 bulbs but what nobody is commenting on is the 72 inch reef rite Xho. When I called reefbrite they said that it is like having 3-4 blue plus bulbs per Xho strip.

3-4 T5 HO Bulbs the same as One Strip of Weak LED's.

I find that Impossible to Believe.

 

[Rogergolf66]

3-4 T5 HO Bulbs the same as One Strip of Weak LED's.

I find that Impossible to Believe.

Why do u say weak led? Do u know much about reefbrite xho led strips? These r top of the line led strips. Why do u say weak led?

 

[that Reef Guy]

Why do u say weak led? Do u know much about reefbrite xho led strips? These r top of the line led strips. Why do u say weak led?

I know Plenty about ReefBrites.

1.5 Watts for Each LED Which go the Whole Length of a Tank Single File.

That is much much weaker than any Reef LED on the Market.

Look at Radions, Kessils, or any Chinese Black Box LED's.

Those Fixtures will have anywhere from 4 to 8 Times the Power of One Single Reefbrite LED Strip.

Plus comparing it to 4 T5 Bulbs?

The Spread is not going to be anything like 4 T5's

 

[that Reef Guy]

Why do u say weak led? Do u know much about reefbrite xho led strips? These r top of the line led strips. Why do u say weak led?

Yes, they are Top of the Line Strips.

Key Word "Strips"

People use Reefbrites as Supplemental Lighting to go with Their T5 or Metal Halides.

They make it sound like one Strip is all you need for your Tank and that is Simply Not True.

I know Plenty of people that use 4 T5 Bulbs to Light their Entire Tank.

I have never heard of anybody using a Single Reefbrite to Light their Whole Tank. Have you?

 

[DereksReef77]

Hello to all struggling with their zoas and t5 lighting. I am in the same boat with my zoas and ati hybrid powermodules. I have a 4 foot x 4 foot x 16 inch depth zoa frag tank with 2 48 inch 8 bulb hybrid powermodules over the tank. My zoas were once doing alot better when I had 2 other ati fixtures over it. A six bulb and 8 bulb dimmable, I don't know why I ever upgraded to the hybrids, i guess cause I wanted the blue leds for pop. I was running all 16 bulbs at a very low intensity, could never go higher than 10% intensity. So after talking to my reef shop owners they said to try and just run one channel on each fixture (4 bulbs each fixture) and raise the intensity and see what happens. All my zoas still look like crap. Shrunken and melting away on me. I listened to what THATREEFGUY suggested and just ran blue+ bulbs and they got worse. I am currently running 2 blue+ and 2 actinic on one channel each fixture and 2 blue+ 1 coral+ and 1 purple+ on the other channel both fixtures and still having problems.

Light schedule is:
Blue leds on 1 1/2 hours 25% intensity
Blue+ and Actinics on for 1 1/2 hours
Blue+ Coral+ Purple+ on for 2 hours
Blue+ and Actinics on for 1 1/2 hours
Blue leds on for 1 1/2 hours 25% intensity

What gives whats my problem? Fixtures are almost 2 feet above the tank. Par readings with apogee par meter are 100-110 in the middle and 50-60 on the edges of my tank.

 

[DereksReef77]

Yes, they are Top of the Line Strips.

Key Word "Strips"

People use Reefbrites as Supplemental Lighting to go with Their T5 or Metal Halides.

They make it sound like one Strip is all you need for your Tank and that is Simply Not True.

I know Plenty of people that use 4 T5 Bulbs to Light their Entire Tank.

I have never heard of anybody using a Single Reefbrite to Light their Whole Tank. Have you?

Can you post some pics of your setups with fixtures included? I'm tired of struggling with zoas and am about to give up on them. Its not fun anymore.

 

[Rogergolf66]

Yes, they are Top of the Line Strips.

Key Word "Strips"

People use Reefbrites as Supplemental Lighting to go with Their T5 or Metal Halides.

They make it sound like one Strip is all you need for your Tank and that is Simply Not True.

I know Plenty of people that use 4 T5 Bulbs to Light their Entire Tank.

I have never heard of anybody using a Single Reefbrite to Light their Whole Tank. Have you?

Well I have seen an sps tank with just reefbrite strips. They use a mixture of there 50/50 strips with the all blue.

But

I had all my Zoas under an 8 bulb Ati fixture for 2 years and I was not impressed with the Zoas. They where small heads and very much flat against there base tissue. To me it was like to much light. That is why I moved them to a shallow tank with the 2 t5 bulbs and I added the reefbrite for the blue pop but I'm worried they r still getting to much light since the tank is so shallow. Only about 6 inches of water. Maybe I'm missing something??? Then tell me why the Zoas are not reaching at all and the heads r small. My understanding is when they don't get enough light they reach for the light? Mine are doing the opposite.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Hello to all struggling with their zoas and t5 lighting. I am in the same boat with my zoas and ati hybrid powermodules. I have a 4 foot x 4 foot x 16 inch depth zoa frag tank with 2 48 inch 8 bulb hybrid powermodules over the tank. My zoas were once doing alot better when I had 2 other ati fixtures over it. A six bulb and 8 bulb dimmable, I don't know why I ever upgraded to the hybrids, i guess cause I wanted the blue leds for pop. I was running all 16 bulbs at a very low intensity, could never go higher than 10% intensity. So after talking to my reef shop owners they said to try and just run one channel on each fixture (4 bulbs each fixture) and raise the intensity and see what happens. All my zoas still look like crap. Shrunken and melting away on me. I listened to what THATREEFGUY suggested and just ran blue+ bulbs and they got worse. I am currently running 2 blue+ and 2 actinic on one channel each fixture and 2 blue+ 1 coral+ and 1 purple+ on the other channel both fixtures and still having problems.

Light schedule is:
Blue leds on 1 1/2 hours 25% intensity
Blue+ and Actinics on for 1 1/2 hours
Blue+ Coral+ Purple+ on for 2 hours
Blue+ and Actinics on for 1 1/2 hours
Blue leds on for 1 1/2 hours 25% intensity

What gives whats my problem? Fixtures are almost 2 feet above the tank. Par readings with apogee par meter are 100-110 in the middle and 50-60 on the edges of my tank.

Alot of People Recommend PAR of around 200 for Zoanthids.

Maybe the Lights are on Too Long (11.5 Hours is a Long Time).

My Lights are on for 6 Hours a Day (4 Bulb T5 - All Blue Plus).

Zoanthids are 6 Inches Under the Light.

All Zoanthids are Doing Awesome in my Tanks.