They've suffered from their time in the dark, and I'm not sure whether the lights are a shade too intense for the ricordea, but my 36" depth tests the reach of my arm when settling specimens on the lowest tier. I have a total of 4 'wild shrooms,' but I have them comfortably contained in a shell-like piece of rock in the sump, and one has attached: waiting for the others to settle.
I didn't get the tank shrooms settled until about 3pm, which limits their exposure to the light. They were showing some signs of relaxation (from a sort of mushroom catatonia) by lights-out, and the zoa-rock was ablaze with a brilliant orange under the lights. That's the rock that shed an inhabited flake off its surface, so I've kept them together near at the top of the rockwork, and they will be gorgeous if I can get them to take off. The shrooms haven't really shown me their color yet, but they at least are staying put on their rocks, nobody casting loose since the FedEx folk are no longer turning their world this way and that and thumping the box.
The fishes in with them are a royal gramma, a chromis, two mild clowns, a yellow watchman goby, and a tailspot blenny, who has taken up residence in the purple mushrooms. Have to be a little careful about the damsels (chromis and clowns)---these two species are genteel, but damsels like the one-spot, the humbug, and even clarkii clowns are prone to picking up light rocks like these and tossing them in demonstration of territory. A humbug (gold one-spot) will literally carry on its demonstrations and throw them a good foot, not to their good. Besides growing to about 8" in size.
Not conducive to coral placement. those. So now it's just a matter of waiting and watching to see who's happy and who isn't. Nobody is under or behind the rockwork, which is a good thing.
I didn't get the tank shrooms settled until about 3pm, which limits their exposure to the light. They were showing some signs of relaxation (from a sort of mushroom catatonia) by lights-out, and the zoa-rock was ablaze with a brilliant orange under the lights. That's the rock that shed an inhabited flake off its surface, so I've kept them together near at the top of the rockwork, and they will be gorgeous if I can get them to take off. The shrooms haven't really shown me their color yet, but they at least are staying put on their rocks, nobody casting loose since the FedEx folk are no longer turning their world this way and that and thumping the box.
The fishes in with them are a royal gramma, a chromis, two mild clowns, a yellow watchman goby, and a tailspot blenny, who has taken up residence in the purple mushrooms. Have to be a little careful about the damsels (chromis and clowns)---these two species are genteel, but damsels like the one-spot, the humbug, and even clarkii clowns are prone to picking up light rocks like these and tossing them in demonstration of territory. A humbug (gold one-spot) will literally carry on its demonstrations and throw them a good foot, not to their good. Besides growing to about 8" in size.
Not conducive to coral placement. those. So now it's just a matter of waiting and watching to see who's happy and who isn't. Nobody is under or behind the rockwork, which is a good thing.
