Thank You John, but now I need help

[juniormmm]

1st off I just wanted to say thank you for my order. Everything came in looking great. My Florida Ceriths are still sittin tight but it's only been about 40 hours so I'm not too worried. I appreciate ALL the freebies.

 

I was sent a Red Gracilaria for my penny algae. I placed it in my 29g tank late night on Friday and the next day when I got home it had been blown across the tank and landed directly under my light. I'm using an 85w Compact fluorescent light hanging in the middle of my tank. It's Full Spectrum 6500K and says it's equal to a 350w incandescent bulb. Now the Gracilaria is starting to show white patches throughout the middle of the algae.

 

I've read many things from it being too much light, or not enough light. I've also read that when it's growing, the tips will turn a light colored indicating that the algae is healthy and growing. I've taken some pictures to show you and hope that you can help me out with this plant.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Should it be in strong light up top on my live rock? Or should it located closer to the bottom near some shadows? Also will the strength of the water current have any effect on this beauty? Some said it should be in strong current while others disagreed. Last thing is how should I handle anchoring this baby down? Most said it's best to just free float it like a tumbleweed, but I plan on keeping it in m display and would like it anchored down. Should I try to attach it to the rock or sink it into the sand?

[johnmaloney]

Attach it to a rock. Less light will be better if it is going pale from overexposure and it should color back up. Flow doesn't matter to that algae at all except if you are trying to get it to sway in the current. At some point in a very low flow system it might be prone to cyano coverage or detritus buildup, but even moderate flow should be okay to prevent this.

[juniormmm]

Well now some bad news. It's been over a week and the Florida ceriths still haven't budged

All the other snails are doing just fine except for the big ceriths.

 

And now for the good news: The macro looks like it is starting to get better. The white blotches have stopped growing and the red is starting to look a little healthier