Maximum zoo growth conditions

[Mr S]

Has anyone experimented with the requirements that produce maximum zoo growth? At present I have 3 tanks with zoos in them. One tank has t-5's, one has 250 mogul with vho actinic supplements and one has 250 hqi with a t-5 actinic on it. All tanks are lplumbed together with additional Koralis in each tank. I am running 20 k mh on tanks also. I realize there are still factors not mentioned like depth, water quality, salinity level and parameters, and light cycle. Just curious what people have found out on their own.

[newfisher]

You should bag them up and put them in my tank and we will see if they grow faster...lol

 

I found that switching from a canister filter to a sump,upgrading to a madda$$ skimmer and running SPS brand blue 20k instead of the phoenix or plus rite 14k, has doubled the growth time cycle.

[CA2OR]

This was the goal or focus of the Grow Out Competitions....education through entertainment or competition, I would start by PM'ing the leaders of the competitions as they have a very good insight.

[Mr S]

Good point. Nice try newfisher!!!

I am really liking the color I am getting off my t-5's but seem to get best growth off of the hqi set up. Just my opinion. Wanted to see if others have the same results. I am in a unique situation because all the tanks, since they are plumbed together only have lites as the difference in each tank environment.

[CA2OR]

I will say it seems my SPS 15k gave me faster growth....I just wasn't happy with the color....

[Mr S]

growth versus color always a problem. Hence the pitfalls of Ushio 6500 k. Horrible color but awesome growth.

[CCR]

Roger. I think you have the best setup for testing . Especially with all 3 setup on the same loop. You can do some excellent experimenting with the lighting. I think the students would have a lot of fun with the tracking and how light works in conjunction with growth. Not a lot of time left this year. Maybe a start up project for next. I sure would like to see the results. You could have different/same depth comparison.

[undrtkr_00]

That's a good idea, Blaine. Yeah, Roger, educate your students AND the rest of us. You should take one (or more) of your bigger zoa colonies, split it into 3 equal parts, and put one in each tank. See which one does the best.

[Mr S]

I kind of already have that going but did want to see if the "experts" have learned any tricks that I have not considered. Target feeding? I hear pros and cons. Dosing? etc. Feel free to comment.