coral of the week { Ricordea florida }

[shred5]

week #13 coral of the week { Ricordea florida }. This coral is pictured on page 324 thru 328 of the book the reef aquarium vol 2 by Julian Sprung and Charles Delbeek.

Every week I will post a new coral and I want you to post everything you know about this particular coral. Everything from common names, how hardy they are, water temp, water flow, lighting, water parameters, fraging, spawning, related corals, scientific names, feeding, best ways to ship, etc. Post your pictures for identification. Please tell us about your system so others can duplicate your success. Also email me for request on which corals you would like to see in this section.

Dave

[shred5]

Come on some one has to have some info on ricordea. I would hate to see this thread die, there are alot of people who rely on this info. So those who have some please share. I do have to thank all those people who have posted and made this thread a success in the past, because with out you the coral of the week section would be nothing. I also Have to thank all the people who have emailed me with request or just to say how much they like this thread.

Thanks
Dave

[Clyde]

Sorry Ididnt notice this yesterday, RC was prtty down a bit and I didnt feel like posting too

anyway I have TWO batches in 2 tanks

both came from same guy, same color.

2x250W + 4 VHO ricordias way under rock expands GREAT and its greenish

in prop tank, under 1 150W MH directly - tanish colors

I've read they do better in lower light, as they come from 60 feet under or something.

correct me if I m wrong.

I like my ricordias they get BIG.

[Bomber]

Dave, These are some of my favorite Corallimorphs. Here are some of the color morphs found in our area. Usually collected in 20-35' of water.

Jerel

Needed to edit that last address.

Ken, check with Bob at eTropicals, he carries it. Oh, looks like you have yuma.

Sorry, guys just messing around, trying to post pictures.

Whoa, can somebody tell me how to get those things smaller?

[Edited by landescaper on 02-22-2001 at 09:33 PM]

[Salt Creep]

Is this species becoming more available again? I remember when we couldn't get any more ricordea rock since collecting them with the rocks they come on was banned. I sure haven't seen single polyps being sold here in the west coast since the ban.

Anyway, I think I have some ricordea, but they're certainly not R. florida. This one came from the Solomon Islands, I think.


I sure had to trade a lot of xenia for it!
Any idea what species it is?

Ken

[Skipper]

I've had this ricordea for a couple of years. It is in a medium flow and fairly high light area of my tank, being located approximately 15" under a 150wt 10k bulb as well as 3 140wt VHOs. It has been very hardy and a few have migrated several inches in all directions. I have not noticed any reproduction, however.

[Playfair]

nice pics!

SC, I belive you have the pacific R.Huma. Great color

Ricordea are one of my favorites. They are becoming more available, though the orange are still rarest. Last I checked, Inland Aquatics wanted $50 per polyp, and there was a long wait.

This pic was taken several months ago, I'll update soon. To my surprise, they are growing well and spreading on the bottom, 2' under 175w 10k's and vho actinic.


edited for newer pic

[shred5]

Thanks for all the quick replies! I was getting a little worried. I love this coral I think it is one of the best looking corals. Its seems to come in a wide variety of colors. I would actually like to collect all the different color ones and make a wall out of them. I do not own any of them right now. they seem to command pretty high prices.

Salt creep it looks like yours could possibly be ricordea yuma, but its hard to tell from that picture for sure. But that is one of the best colors I have seen. Well worth the trade.

By the way all those pictures are sweet.
I have seen them available a lot lately even attached to rock. Jeffs had some and aquacon also had some.


Dave

[Edited by shred5 on 02-22-2001 at 09:37 PM]

[Drillbit]

Here is a pic of mine. What a great blue color.

I cant get it to come up on the page for some reason, here is the link:

http://www.geocities.com/bcassens/Ricord.html

[Bomber]

Ok guys, this is the first time I've posted pictures. I went to the vB code and thought I had it figured out. Obviously not!
Can someone tell me how to make them smaller?

Dave, don't shoot me.
Jerel

[shred5]

Originally posted by landescaper
Ok guys, this is the first time I've posted pictures. I went to the vB code and thought I had it figured out. Obviously not!
Can someone tell me how to make them smaller?

Dave, don't shoot me.
Jerel

Jerel
I use photo shop to reduce the size of my pictures. Hey the size does not bother me I just got my dsl installed tonight.

Dave

[Bomber]

Just got my DSL tonight! ok, showoff.
Well, if you don't mind, I'll leave them this time. Next time, I'll try to figure out Photo Shop.
Thanks,
Jerel

Do more Caribbean stuff!

[LiquidShaneo]

Well, I thought I'd join in the action and post a couple shots too.

Green r.florida:


Green/orange r.florida:


Blue/Purple/Brown r.yuma:


I've also got some sweet fluorescent pink r.florida as well. I'll try to get a shot of that tomorrow...

Lighting is 250 watt PFO ballast 6500 K Iwasaki bulb supplemented w/ 190 watts VHO actinic. Circulation is probably 800 gph in a 40 gal tank. I've got the shrooms located at all depths in the tank...low...halfway up...etc.

liquid


[Edited by LiquidShaneo on 02-23-2001 at 11:04 AM]

[Evets]

It's not Ricorea florida, but Salt Creep (very nice color, BTW) opened the door to Pacific Ocean varieties so here is mine:



The photo was taken when only the blue PC's were on, but the coral color is still fairly accurate. This one is showing unusual expansion. Usually, the green "bulbs" are packed together. It has creeped as far away from the 250W Iwasakis as it can, but it is happy enough(?) to reproduce.
-Steve

[dragon0121]

I purchased my ricordia florida (sp), green variety, as a single polyp. In 10 months it has multiplied to 8 polyps, on the sand under 400W Iwasakis. The original polyp walked off of the top of the rock to the side away from the light, but this didn't seem to slow down how quickly that polyp divided. The rest seem to love were they are at. Also get very high current, and because of how the current flows, get a lot of food blown on them!

[dendronepthya]

I have blue and green ricordia florida.

I have had trouble with them in the past. They would shrink and shrink. I have 400W halides, so I tried moving them to higher light, lower light, it didn't matter much. They still kept shrinking. As a last ditch effort, I started feeding them aggressively. Since that time, they have grown to their original size and started to multiply.

[Skipper]

Please tell us how you are feeding them.

[JG]

here's mine


Had it for about 5 months.

[dendronepthya]

I feed them with a turkey baster. I mix up some krill along with a frozen cube, and feed. They do not eat as readily as some of the other corals, but I do think the feeding has done a great deal of good in my case. I was worried for a while that I was going to lose them.