Welcome to the wonderful world of rhizos!!! :thumbsup:
Rhizotrochus typus is my favorite coral by far. Regarding your questions:
Light does not effect them as they're non-photosynthetic. In nature NPS coral opens more at night as this is when the reef
"comes alive." All the baby larvae, zoaplankton and other little critters come out of the rocks, and NPS corals open wide to begin the feast! In captivity we can easily "train" NPS coral that in OUR reefs there is food available more frequently, including during the day. When you first receive your NPS coral it's very important to get it to feed, as generally they're starving by the time we get them into our tanks. If it only opens at night initially, feed it at night. Over time begin feeding it during the day, then only during the day, and eventually they'll remain open all the time. My rhizos are open 24/7.
Legalities behind these corals is interesting. Generally speaking it's illegal for the US to import coral from Japan, but they don't have to come directly from Japan to the US. They might stop in Australia, Canada and a couple other places on the way, so
technically they're not imported from Japan
Even moreso however, we must keep in mind that not all
Flabellids are from Japan.
Feeding rhizos is a freekin' blast, and THE main reason I LOVE this coral... an extremely predatious NPS "flowy" coral you say? Who wouldn't love these bad-boys?!?
I mainly feed P.E. Mysis every other day, with the occassional offering of Rod's Food "Predator Blend" (no algae), Hikari Mysis, and large frozen Krill. I have fed silversides plenty of times but I'm a firm believer that little bits more frequently goes further than a larger gorged meal. I've also found that smaller feedings more frequently causes the rhizos to stay open all the time, where as a silverside once a week will not. Nutritious foods and frequent feedings will increase tentacle length the longer they've been in captivity, and also morph colors slightly. For example my white rhizo that's been in captivity for a couple years has developed a very obvious pinkish/purple center, where my other whites have just barely a pinkish hue (how the other one looked when I first brought it in).
Temperature I've found also plays an important role in the
overall health of rhizos, and most NPS coral. They most definitely can survive in 78* F water as many reefs are kept at, but they absolutely THRIVE in cooler temperatures. I run my tank right around 75* F, never climbing above 76* F.
For more info here is a link to the best thread on
Rhizotrochus typus here on RC (IMO):
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1370540&perpage=&pagenumber=1
Last but not least I'll leave you with some eye candy! The first pic is of a few of my rhizos in full-glory, the next sequence of pics was taken by a friend of his rhizo consuming a Barletts anthias (it was already dead!). All pics credited to a great reefer buddy of mine, Paul McDevitt:
