How do you know what kind of lighting to keep your zoas/palys under?

[SINNERMF]

Well what has worked for some people doesn't work for everyone. How do you know if your zoas/palys need low, medium, or high light to keep thier color w/o beaching or fading? I've seen people keep the same polyps I have in almost the same conditions and the polyps never fade or bleach. Is it a genus thing, color thing, or what am I missing?

[geoxman]

Humm?? Many things here. First what size tank LXWXH and what lights are you using? type,brand, ballast and bulb? good luck

[killingseed]

the reads say they do far better in intense lighing , so i grow my under some nice 175 MH x 2, blam! wow i need better colors , tose in a couple t5's for actinic and wala! growth and colors :>

[SINNERMF]

For now I have a 55 gallon tank. My lights are dual 175 watt metal halide and I'm running 10k Ushios, and a IceCap 660 powering 2 Super actinics(116 watt I think).

[geoxman]

Spectrum will also place a roll in color variations. I am headed out for a B-day party and I will reply later. Just something to chew on.

[Pufferpunk]

I have 6 T5 bulbs over my 90g. The only placement I'm really careful of is keeping blues low, otherwise they turn more greenish.

[SINNERMF]

I have some BLood Rains that lost most of thier blue and the red bands on the skirt are barely visible. I had them in the middle of the tank. The guy I got them from said he had them 14 inches below 250 watt M.H. Would it be best to move these guys down?

[geoxman]

You lost me at "BLood Rains". Do you have a picture or genus, maybe a region/wild at least?
There are about 20 other variables other than lighting as to why they are changing. I know it sounds absurd but we know nothing about your system, so please expound upon it.

[SINNERMF]

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?modul...g2_itemId=2386

these are Blood Rain

I don't know what to really tell you. All my parameters check out. I perform all maint., on the tank on a regular basis.

[geoxman]

they look like fire and ice and about 50 other morphs and that is why it is absurd to give made up names to these polyps. Your "blood rain" might be a goof arse jerry garcia in a low nutrient tank etc....

I have seen similar polyps come from the Solomon Islands as well as Indo as well as other areas. Does your reef friend have an origin? If not it is trial and error for the best result.

I would say HIGH light and nutrient but I can't bee too for sure as of the stupid, pseuodo name, with no origin??? good luck

[geoxman]

everything in check means bubbly as to how a polyp will morph. You will need to provide a complete tank overview as well. It is not as simple as Alk, Ca, and PH with polyp coloration or lack there of. JMHO and good luck

[revautosports]

Looks like fire and ice to me as well. They like lower light to keep the blue center. In high light the blue fades out.

[geoxman]

how are your sick polyps doing?? I have not seen a response in the C thread??

[SINNERMF]

just got off work. Overview of tank: 55 gallon, wetdry filter, Coralife skimmer(the 65 gallon model), magdrive return pump(i don't remember the size), Sea Swirl "wavemaker" Maxijet 900 powerhead to give flow to the spot that doesn't get as much flow. I already listed my lighting above. I have mostly Zoas/Palys, 2 Toadstools, Zenia, Elegance Coral, 2 Frogspawns, 1 Palau Nepthea, Fungia Cluster, a couple Ricordeas, and 3 Croceas clams. I have a Black Perc, and a Tang. Anything else.

"sick polyps" look faded

I guess the reason I made this post was to see if there were "guidelines" on light intensity needs. Example PPE do better under lower light conditions, RPE will do well under high light so on and so forth. I was wondering if color can be a indicator of intensity as well. Example I just heard people say keep blues lower, so would colors from other morps indicate thier needs?

[geoxman]

Sorry about being a jerk last night, the better half and the kids were on my last nerve! I would go medium to high. The higher the more the blue will "star" out and appear more white. I do not consider these in the blue range rather light blue/white and should be up higher.
Either way the should spread fast for you when stable and happy. Good luck with them.
The rule of color works most of the time. I use to base it on how deep into the tank the actual color spectrum penetrates-just my experimenting. A lot also to do with origin-ie Solomon blues will fade if kept in low light-bright in high, most red indo polyps will get deeper in color in lower light?? It is really trial an error but they will tell you. Nutrients will also play a role in color. good luck with your new polyps!