Where to place white bubble coral?

Where do these guys prefer to be and what light requirements? My light system is a Hamilton Belize 250W MH, T5's actinics. Do they prefer to be in the sand bed or do you think higher up in the water column sitting on some rock? Will they tolerate being close to a 250 W MH or is that too intense?

Thanks

 

in terms of lighting, they are flexible IME

But the sand bed , or on flat rock thats not to close to any surrounding rock is better IMO
When fully inflated, these corals can damage the stretched skin on sharp edges if they are in contact
they also do not like to much flow, moderate is best , for the same reason, the inflated polyps are easily damaged , and as most tanks do have higher flow at surface , this is another good reason to keep bubble corals low

also bear in mind these corals have the ability to extend sweeper tentacles
and its not uncommon for those tentacles to reach more than twice the size of the actual coral
they use these sweeper tentacles to check out surrounding areas , and sting any neighbours in order to protect their own territory
so placing away from more sensitive corals is ideal IME

handling, if you need to move it, waft your hand over the coral repeatedly until it deflates all of its polyps into the calcium skeleton
then use tongs or gloved hands to move it
if you try to move it whilst its still inflated, you may puncture the polyps against the calcium skeleton

tongs or gloves are suggested, as this coral, like most LPS corals, can have a negative reaction to contact with human skin and the oils etc that the human skin has on it

Steve