Did my OG Bounce morph?

[bnguyen714]

The colors on my OG Bounces have changed quite drastically in recent years. I purchased the mother about 12 years ago and she was mostly orange, yellow, and green. But now the babies have developed bright pastel colors. Has anyone else experienced this? Here are some pictures for comparison. My avatar is also what they used to look like.

Before:

Now:

 

[john90009]

12 years!?! Wow mine seem to be happy
For a few months then shrivel and bleach to the size of a dime. Never to get happy again.

 

[bnguyen714]

12 years!?! Wow mine seem to be happy
For a few months then shrivel and bleach to the size of a dime. Never to get happy again.

From my own experience, shriveling is usually a sign of too much light. They don’t like a lot of light at all. 75-100 par is plenty. Other than that, I find them to be very forgiving.

 

[john90009]

I have two in 100 par and they never recovered. While is have one that lives in around 200 par. Was my happiest and healthiest one, even was big enough it had a natural baby. When the baby started to get just as big as it, it started acting stressed. I have moved it at all and it’s still in the spot it grew up in.

 

[slingfox]

Those are some beautiful mushrooms!

 

[bnguyen714]

Thank you! They keep looking better. My favorite coral.

 

[Mikeltee]

Freaking gorgeous. How many times has it split and how much have you profited? My very first coral was a red mushroom. It ended up taking over about 100# of live rock. I did everything in my power to kill it. I'd dig it out with a knife and 2 weeks later there would be 4 of them there. I'd flip the rocks over every 6 months. Dinos wiped them out finally. I'll never have a plain Jane mushroom again.

 

[bnguyen714]

Thanks! I haven’t kept count of the numerous splits and fraggings throughout the years. I’ve “profited” enough to stay in the hobby. LOL. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I would not be in this hobby today if it wasn’t for this coral. It’s simply the brightest and most colorful thing in my tank. My iPhone (and photography skills) fails to capture all of the colors, particularly the pastel pink and purple. It’s simply spectacular in person especially with the actinic lights on. Oh, these are not invasive growers. I wish they were though!