Ricordea bleaching??

[mackmrtn]

Just got this guy a few days ago.. I stressed him out pretty good moving him all over trying to find a good spot at first. We’re on day three of being left alone. This is the first time I cranked up the white lights on it and could see the coloring differently… does this look okay?? Should I move it?? Is it getting too much light? Should it have opened up more by now?

 

[Lavey29]

I have mine in low light low flow on the side of the tank rocks.

 

[mackmrtn]

I have mine in low light low flow on the side of the tank rocks.

Yes I originally put it in direct light but learned this so that’s when I moved it around quite a bit trying to find somewhere with a little less light. I settled on this spot and wanted to wait a few days to let it settle in.

I just don’t want to leave it here if it’s still too much light and/or it’s not looking good.

Does the coloring look okay to you?? This is my first piece of coral.

 

[Chrisv.]

Looks fine to me! They can bleach but that doesn't look bleached. If you take it slowly, they can take a whole lot of light. I keep most of mine around 250 par, but I don't think they would be upset if I gradually increased.

 

[Lavey29]

Yes I originally put it in direct light but learned this so that’s when I moved it around quite a bit trying to find somewhere with a little less light. I settled on this spot and wanted to wait a few days to let it settle in.

I just don’t want to leave it here if it’s still too much light and/or it’s not looking good.

Does the coloring look okay to you?? This is my first piece of coral.

Seems fine corals can take weeks not days to acclimate to a tank. It's always better to start out on the low side of things like light and flow and gradually increase as your coral responds positively.

 

[Lavey29]

Looks fine to me! They can bleach but that doesn't look bleached. If you take it slowly, they can take a whole lot of light. I keep most of mine around 250 par, but I don't think they would be upset if I gradually increased.

For sure they can take that par because in the wild they live near the surface but also have the ability to move if it gets to intense. I'm trying to create a little garden on the side of the tank

 

[Chrisv.]

For sure they can take that par because in the wild they live near the surface but also have the ability to move if it gets to intense. I'm trying to create a little garden on the side of the tank

Yes, I've seen these in 6 feet of water on a wild reef.

 

[Lavey29]

I should correct myself to because ricordia are not really corals as defined from Wikipedia:

Ricordea florida is a species of coral of the family Ricordeidae and the order Corallimorpharia, whose members are also called false corals. Due to their bright pigmentation and fluorescence under ultraviolet light, Ricordea florida is very popular in hobby saltwater aquariums