Trying my hand at Ricordea

[NTP66]

Given that I've been having success with mushrooms, I figured it was time to venture out a little bit and look at Ricordea. I jumped on a recent deal at saltwaterfish.com a Ricordea Florida 5-pack, since I have never been able to get them at my LFS, and also added an Umbrella Mushroom to the order. All are now sitting in shot glasses in my tank because they were all loose polyps. I hate that aspect of it all, but if what I've read is accurate, they should all attach to the rubble rock/Eheim Substrat Pro that I have at the bottom of each of them. It hasn't started yet, but I can see my trigger doing some damage to the mesh tops of each...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7584/16939180195_86534408e6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rNRJ7X)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7627/16752966769_a63cf6c4b7_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rwpkmD)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7642/16319124833_15b14a48cc_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qS4Mgg)

[golferbud101691]

should attach rather quickly(48 hrs). Ive ordered some from there before and had the same thing happen. Triggers will be triggers...

[NTP66]

I plan on giving it at least a week before I even bother checking to see if they've attached. How high up in your tank did you end up placing your ricordea? Everything I've read says that they like more light and flow than mushrooms, so I was actually thinking of placing these either a little higher up, or more towards the face of the rock in direct light.

[ca1ore]

Big fan of ricordia. Though be warned, they can take over if happy.

[NTP66]

Big fan of ricordia. Though be warned, they can take over if happy.

I'm totally okay with that. In fact, my goal is to have every inch of the rock covered in shrooms, like this tank (which I saw on FB today).

[pyithar]

wow that's a lot of mushrooms!

[Scranton]

Love ricordia mushrooms. Some of the best colors in the hobby

[ca1ore]

If you can find it Copps ToTM thread has some really nice shots of a ricordea tank.

[atteb66]

Big fan of ricordia. Though be warned, they can take over if happy.

Oh I hope I have that problem oneday, these are my favorite coral.

[NTP66]

I watched as my trigger grabbed the screen from the top of two of those glasses and just pulled it right off - and then did nothing. Just went about his business. He keeps spitting sand directly onto the umbrella mushroom, which I blow off each night. One of the ricordea managed to get out of the glass and is now sitting at the bottom of my rock work nearby, so I'm hoping it just decided to attach on its own and move to wherever it wants to.

On a related note, I found my missing blue mushroom that floated off its rubble rock a month or two ago. It attached inside a large piece of pukani in my tank and looks great, in a very shady area. I was actually a little surprised given the location.

[NTP66]

So, two of the ricordea attached to a piece of rock, enough for me to glue the rubble to my live rock. Two other ricordea blew out of the glasses while I was at work thanks to the trigger pulling the netting off the top of every single glass. The funny thing is, both of those ricordea landed in shallow crevices nearby at the base of the rock work and appear to be attached, after only a few hours. I was planning on attaching them in the middle of the rocks for lighting reasons, but I figure they can move there if they want to on their own.

[650-IS350]

they can take over if happy. that would nice especially if the Rics are really nice looking

[NTP66]

that would nice especially if the Rics are really nice looking

I like the ones I've got. :)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7620/16411847313_bf172fa6e5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r1g1qH)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7614/17030554082_b2b964ae4c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rWW3oN)

One of the ricordea floated out of that crevice, and to keep it from eternally floating about the tank, I moved it up high in a shallow area, and then covered it with netting to keep it there until it attaches. It has only been a few weeks, but those two are nearly finished splitting already.

[bacon5]

Wow these look sweet! I am going to have to make these one of the first corals I get :D

[NTP66]

Does anyone have recommendations on where to buy Ricordea online - specifically, Ricordea that are attached to rubble rock at the very least? The two that never attached for me wound up coming out of their containers, and I cannot find them; I'd like to avoid that.

So far, I've found Spike's Corals and Pacific East Aquaculture, and am waiting on a reply from Cherry Corals about the rubble rock question.

[NTP66]

Well, I can ignore my own question. Ordered a bunch of Ricordea from Spike's Corals and couldn't be more pleased. They didn't even slime in the shipping back, and were completely open when I opened the box.

The first two are some of the new Ricordea from Spikes, while the other two are just better shots of others.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8844/17945268385_1258db37dd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/tkLc64)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8898/17324753533_04b1a1f6ca_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/soVTD8)

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5455/17757667150_d0f141ee09_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/t4bFM1)

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7746/17324754983_acafe6f65f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/soVU58)

[JamesHolt]

Well, I can ignore my own question. Ordered a bunch of Ricordea from Spike's Corals and couldn't be more pleased. They didn't even slime in the shipping back, and were completely open when I opened the box.

The first two are some of the new Ricordea from Spikes, while the other two are just better shots of others.



https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7746/17324754983_acafe6f65f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/soVU58)

What is that last one ??

[NTP66]

What is that last one ??

That's an umbrella mushroom. Got that one at saltwaterfish.com, and can't recall seeing it anywhere else online.

[JamesHolt]

Just went there and put my name on the list

[NTP66]

So you know, swf.com ships all of their mushrooms and ricordea as loose polyps, not mounted on frag discs or anything. The one I got was massive, but did have 4-5 pieces of rubble rock attached at the bottom, which is what I ended up using as a base for the superglue when I attached it to my love rock.

[NTP66]

Here's a better shot of that mushroom:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8691/17030555522_23728589dc_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rWW3PC)

It's at least 4" in diameter fully open, and still growing.

[JamesHolt]

Very Nice

[Ixodes]

I'm totally okay with that. In fact, my goal is to have every inch of the rock covered in shrooms, like this tank (which I saw on FB today).

Holy cow, that's crazy!

[cbm369]

Those are nice looking.

Anything special you do to feed them? (shrooms & ricordea)

[NTP66]

Thank you. With regards to feeding, I only target feed the coral (Reef Chili from BRS) once every 2 weeks or so, and that's when I remember. I feed my fish NLS pellets in the morning, and LRS frozen foods (Fish Frenzy and Reef Frenzy blends) at night, so I'm sure they get a little of everything.

[DropTheB]

Nice pics thanks for sharing!