zoanthid n00b, question about lights

lokifish · 07/12/2012, 06:38 PM

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the lights I have and if they'd be suitable for what I want to put in my tank. I have a 38G that doesn't have much in it since I'm fairly new to reef keeping. I've had fish, inverts, and LR for a year, but recently (about a month and a half ago) I acquired a few zoanthid corals and while they haven't shriveled up and died, they aren't really growing all that much. A few polyps stay closed most of the time, and a couple of them have broken off from the pack and spread to random parts of my rocks, but other than that nothing much has happened. After reading that some grow and spread rapidly within a month or so, I'm a little concerned.

The lighting I have is a 78W T5 HO light with one fluorescent lamp and one actinic blue lamp each at 39W. I'm wondering if this will be enough to keep soft corals in a tank this size, or if this is not enough and consequentially the reason my zoas are staying pretty small. Since I upgraded to this light my coralline algae really took off and the tank itself looks great covered in it.

Just want to know if there's anything else I should consider, like maybe adding more light or something.

Thanks

07/12/2012, 06:38 PM	#1
lokifish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 1	zoanthid n00b, question about lights Hi everyone, I have a question about the lights I have and if they'd be suitable for what I want to put in my tank. I have a 38G that doesn't have much in it since I'm fairly new to reef keeping. I've had fish, inverts, and LR for a year, but recently (about a month and a half ago) I acquired a few zoanthid corals and while they haven't shriveled up and died, they aren't really growing all that much. A few polyps stay closed most of the time, and a couple of them have broken off from the pack and spread to random parts of my rocks, but other than that nothing much has happened. After reading that some grow and spread rapidly within a month or so, I'm a little concerned. The lighting I have is a 78W T5 HO light with one fluorescent lamp and one actinic blue lamp each at 39W. I'm wondering if this will be enough to keep soft corals in a tank this size, or if this is not enough and consequentially the reason my zoas are staying pretty small. Since I upgraded to this light my coralline algae really took off and the tank itself looks great covered in it. Just want to know if there's anything else I should consider, like maybe adding more light or something. Thanks