Q about lighting Ricordia

[PrivateJoker64]

I have a 46 bowfront with a Tek T-5 four tube fixture. I have several rics, which I have about halfway up in the tank, that are slowly fading in color. I don't know whether I ought to move them up or down. Any suggestions?

 

[ReneX]

Are they Florida rics or Yuma rics?

What colors are they?

How much flow are they in?

Were they acclimated slowly to this light?

What are your water parameters like?

Is anything else in the tank having problems?

I've seen both Yumas and Floridas kepts almost directly under MH. Too much light should not be a problem IMO, if they are slowly acclimated, but YMMV.

 

[PrivateJoker64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8877401#post8877401 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReneX
Are they Florida rics or Yuma rics? Florida

What colors are they? Green, blue

How much flow are they in? 2 modded mj's near the surface, they are under the main flow

Were they acclimated slowly to this light? No

What are your water parameters like? am, nitrite, nitrate, phos all 0, sg 1.025, pH 8.2

Is anything else in the tank having problems? Nope

I've seen both Yumas and Floridas kepts almost directly under MH. Too much light should not be a problem IMO, if they are slowly acclimated, but YMMV.

 

[ReneX]

It could be too much light. Do you know what kind of light they were last kept under? How long has this problem been going on for?

If you can get a pic, it would really help in figuring out what the problem is. If your rics look flat to the rock, it may be too much light. If they are very expanded and lifting up off the rock ("trumpet shaped") they may not be getting enough light. Either could cause color to fade.

I have my Fl rics about 8" under a 70 watt MH, but I acclimated them to it. Fl rics can be naturally found under VERY bright light, but after transport and handling, and being held by an LFS usually under dimmer light, they seem to loose their resistance to brighter lights quickly. They can do great and often color up nicely under really bright light, but will often bleach and melt if not acclimated to it first.

That -may- be happening here if the problem is too much light. You can either move them to a shadier spot and then move them slowly back into the light over a period of weeks, or try the window screen method. I like the window screens, because not moving the coral is one less stress you have to put the coral under. If your tank has a glass top, get some plastic window mesh from the hardwear store and cut some sheets to fit the top of the tank. Place them between the tank and the lights, about 4 sheets, and then remove one sheet a week. That's how I acclimated my rics to my MH lights.

If you have an open top, do the same thing, but use some eggcrate to make a temporary top to keep the mesh from falling in. You don't have to put mesh over the whole tank either, you can cut pieces small enough to shade your target area. HTH!