Ricordea Florida Dying!?

[ItalCanadaReefer]

I put in a ricordea Florida in my tank about six months ago, and, about one or two moths ago, I noticed it started to spit out some black stuff from its mouth. It then started to progressively lose colour. I am assuming it is bleaching as it is starting to become more white. I believe it may have been getting too much light so I lowered it in my tank. Any suggestions or clue as to what may be happening? Is it likely to die or can I still save it?

Nitrates: 2.5 ppm
Phosphates: 0.00 (Hanna LR)
Calcium: 475 ppm
Alkalinity: 9.75 dKH
Magnesium: 1320 ppm
Salinity: 35 PPT

Thanks in advance!

 

[F i s h y]

Pictures may help to identify the problem.
What type of lighting, what intensity are you using, size of tank, flow, etc.

I'll tag a mushroom junky but he will need more info.
@LRT

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

I will post a good picture shortly. I have a 65 gallon tank, the shroom is in a medium flow spot, and my lighting schedule (Radion XR30 G3) can be seen attached. However, since the recorded has been in the tank, the lighting is slightly more intense. The point in the photo that shows 40% is actually at 44% currently and all other nodes are adjusted upward proportionally. The tank is a Red Sea Reefer 250 (54 gallons display, 65 gallons total).

Also, it may be worth mentioning that although it does open up quite a bit, it does not open up as large as it used to since the issues have been occurring. It was once fully extended and looked really good.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

Pictures may help to identify the problem.
What type of lighting, what intensity are you using, size of tank, flow, etc.

I'll tag a mushroom junky but he will need more info.
@LRT

Here are photos. Above are answers to details you had requested. Thanks again to you both!! @LRT

 

[LRT]

Here are photos. Above are answers to details you had requested. Thanks again to you both!! @LRT

One thing that sticks out is 0 phosphates. Your going to want to get those detectable asap.
Rest of your params look good.
Watch your Nitrates if you dose phosphates you may have to dose Nitrates with it.
You mention raising intensity of lights.
How did it look before you upped intensity?
Here's the crazy thing that I've learned recently. There really isn't a one size fits all when it comes to intensity and shrooms. They will expell zooxanthellae and bleach and act the same exact way if you totally fry them in too much light or don't give them enough light.
Also are you feeding it? Florida rics love mysis shrimp and reef roids and basicly everything your fish eat that ends up falling on them during feeding.
My Nitrates are sitting around 10ppm
My Phosphates between .05-.1
Make sure you maintain a detectable level each.
From there move the shroom to a lower lit area with less flow see if it responds positive.
Feed it and give it a cpl weeks.
If you dont get response you want after a cpl weeks. Raise it to a little more light than it had previously to lowering it.
Good thing is I haven't been able to kill one yet without enough light. But too much will cook them almost instantly
Go slow

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

One thing that sticks out is 0 phosphates. Your going to want to get those detectable asap.
Rest of your params look good.
Watch your Nitrates if you dose phosphates you may have to dose Nitrates with it.
You mention raising intensity of lights.
How did it look before you upped intensity?
Here's the crazy thing that I've learned recently. There really isn't a one size fits all when it comes to intensity and shrooms. They will expell zooxanthellae and bleach and act the same exact way if you totally fry them in too much light or don't give them enough light.
Also are you feeding it? Florida rics love mysis shrimp and reef roids and basicly everything your fish eat that ends up falling on them during feeding.
My Nitrates are sitting around 10ppm
My Phosphates between .05-.1
Make sure you maintain a detectable level each.
From there move the shroom to a lower lit area with less flow see if it responds positive.
Feed it and give it a cpl weeks.
If you dont get response you want after a cpl weeks. Raise it to a little more light than it had previously to lowering it.
Good thing is I haven't been able to kill one yet without enough light. But too much will cook them almost instantly
Go slow

Ok thank you so much for your help!!

1) I did feed once/twice per week using Fauna Marin LPS Pellets and I occasionally broadcast feed Fauna Marin Coral Dust. For the last couple of weeks I have begun a more regimented feeding schedule to my corals (spot feeding Wednesdays and Sundays and broadcast feeding with the coral dust on Mondays). I also feed my fish once to twice per day.

2) Regarding increasing phosphates: rather than dosing phosphates, can I just start feeding a little more and throwing the coral dust in there a little more often? I do notice that some of my zoas, namely the utter chaos, are not as colourful as when I first purchased them, which made me start to think that low phosphates were an issue. Also, corals are really not growing, which leads me to believe that low phosphates are the issue as well. Would you agree?

3) I have noticed that my orange recorded is also not accepting food as well as it originally did. Honestly, I went through a roughly two-month period where I really fed a lot less than I usually do, and ever since I started feeding again, I have noticed that it does not eat as aggressively as it used to.

4) I had no corals before I upped the intensity. The recorded, along with all of my other corals have never experienced any change in lighting whatsoever. I never mess with the schedule or intensity.

Do you think the poor thing is toast or will I be able to salvage it?

Thanks again for all of your help! I really appreciate it.

Matt

 

[LRT]

Ok thank you so much for your help!!

1) I did feed once/twice per week using Fauna Marin LPS Pellets and I occasionally broadcast feed Fauna Marin Coral Dust. For the last couple of weeks I have begun a more regimented feeding schedule to my corals (spot feeding Wednesdays and Sundays and broadcast feeding with the coral dust on Mondays). I also feed my fish once to twice per day.

2) Regarding increasing phosphates: rather than dosing phosphates, can I just start feeding a little more and throwing the coral dust in there a little more often? I do notice that some of my zoas, namely the utter chaos, are not as colourful as when I first purchased them, which made me start to think that low phosphates were an issue. Also, corals are really not growing, which leads me to believe that low phosphates are the issue as well. Would you agree?

3) I have noticed that my orange recorded is also not accepting food as well as it originally did. Honestly, I went through a roughly two-month period where I really fed a lot less than I usually do, and ever since I started feeding again, I have noticed that it does not eat as aggressively as it used to.

4) I had no corals before I upped the intensity. The recorded, along with all of my other corals have never experienced any change in lighting whatsoever. I never mess with the schedule or intensity.

Do you think the poor thing is toast or will I be able to salvage it?

Thanks again for all of your help! I really appreciate it.

Matt

I have to be honest without being knowledgeable of your exact light I'd hate to give any other reccomendation other than get source a par meter and take readings. Most shrooms will thrive in 50-100 par. Start there with your light.
Yes feeding is natural approach to raising nutrient levels. I dose Nitrates and Phosphates because I don't have the bio load that can keep up with the amount of food needed to do that yet.
Don't over feed your tank food unless critters and livestock can consume the food unless you want nutrients and nuisance algae to grow out of control.
Your shrooms are most likely discolored from lack of Nutrients would be my first guess. Would really be beneficial for you to get ahold of a par meter and map your tank.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

I have to be honest without being knowledgeable of your exact light I'd hate to give any other reccomendation other than get source a par meter and take readings. Most shrooms will thrive in 50-100 par. Start there with your light.
Yes feeding is natural approach to raising nutrient levels. I dose Nitrates and Phosphates because I don't have the bio load that can keep up with the amount of food needed to do that yet.
Don't over feed your tank food unless critters and livestock can consume the food unless you want nutrients and nuisance algae to grow out of control.
Your shrooms are most likely discolored from lack of Nutrients would be my first guess. Would really be beneficial for you to get ahold of a par meter and map your tank.

Thank you so much for your help! I will try to get ahold of a par meter. @tang_man_montreal Do you know where or if I can get ahold of a par meter here in Montreal? Thanks!

 

[LRT]

Thank you so much for your help! I will try to get ahold of a par meter. @tang_man_montreal Do you know where or if I can get ahold of a par meter here in Montreal? Thanks!

No problem. You know since they expelled zooxanthellae you may want to also move them to lower lit area and see what they do. They don't usually expell zooxanthellae unless they are stressed. And you don't want them to continue to do that. Hopefully you get par meter and nutrients up while you observe in lower lit area.
Low flow lower light and see what they do.

 

[tang_man_montreal]

Thank you so much for your help! I will try to get ahold of a par meter. @tang_man_montreal Do you know where or if I can get ahold of a par meter here in Montreal? Thanks!

Looks like reefsolution has in stock, but beware, they are pricey.
I don't have one or know of anyone who may have one that you can borrow unfortunately.

I would start by placing your Ricordea lower in the tank, like where the sandbed meets the rock.
Changes won't happen over night, so you will need to monitor for a while and see how it responds to it's new placement.

Your alkalinity is really high by proportion to your nitrates (google redfield ratio). You may want to consider lowering your alkalinity slowly over a week to the 8.2 range. Not more than 1 dkh in a span of 24 hours.
and CA down to 425

Low phosphates may be the culprit as already mentioned.
You may be asking for trouble by overfeeding, especially coral dust as it is very concentrated and could contribute to a cyano bloom.

Other possibilities could include low iodine.
It may be worthwhile getting an ICP test as well to rest your mind at ease as well by confirming results you know and those you cannot test for.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

No problem. You know since they expelled zooxanthellae you may want to also move them to lower lit area and see what they do. They don't usually expell zooxanthellae unless they are stressed. And you don't want them to continue to do that. Hopefully you get par meter and nutrients up while you observe in lower lit area.
Low flow lower light and see what they do.

Got it thanks so much again

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

Looks like reefsolution has in stock, but beware, they are pricey.
I don't have one or know of anyone who may have one that you can borrow unfortunately.

I would start by placing your Ricordea lower in the tank, like where the sandbed meets the rock.
Changes won't happen over night, so you will need to monitor for a while and see how it responds to it's new placement.

Your alkalinity is really high by proportion to your nitrates (google redfield ratio). You may want to consider lowering your alkalinity slowly over a week to the 8.2 range. Not more than 1 dkh in a span of 24 hours.
and CA down to 425

Low phosphates may be the culprit as already mentioned.
You may be asking for trouble by overfeeding, especially coral dust as it is very concentrated and could contribute to a cyano bloom.

Other possibilities could include low iodine.
It may be worthwhile getting an ICP test as well to rest your mind at ease as well by confirming results you know and those you cannot test for.

Yeah, I know they are pricey, but I I heard BRS rents them out, so I figured that maybe some LFS around the city may have offered a similar service. Noted all other points thanks a lot for your help! Much appreciated

 

[LRT]

Looks like reefsolution has in stock, but beware, they are pricey.
I don't have one or know of anyone who may have one that you can borrow unfortunately.

I would start by placing your Ricordea lower in the tank, like where the sandbed meets the rock.
Changes won't happen over night, so you will need to monitor for a while and see how it responds to it's new placement.

Your alkalinity is really high by proportion to your nitrates (google redfield ratio). You may want to consider lowering your alkalinity slowly over a week to the 8.2 range. Not more than 1 dkh in a span of 24 hours.
and CA down to 425

Low phosphates may be the culprit as already mentioned.
You may be asking for trouble by overfeeding, especially coral dust as it is very concentrated and could contribute to a cyano bloom.

Other possibilities could include low iodine.
It may be worthwhile getting an ICP test as well to rest your mind at ease as well by confirming results you know and those you cannot test for.

Great advice it really is so much easier to dose and much more precise raising nutrients at first until the tank and bio load catches up.
Lol feed the fish and critters. Not the tank. It will eventually keep up.
Agreed move it to sand and will most likely bounce back.
Getting those nutrients up is going to help with alot more as well.
0 Phosphates typically = Dinos

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

Great advice it really is so much easier to dose and much more precise raising nutrients at first until the tank and bio load catches up.
Lol feed the fish and critters. Not the tank. It will eventually keep up.
Agreed move it to sand and will most likely bounce back.
Getting those nutrients up is going to help with alot more as well.
0 Phosphates typically = Dinos

What is an acceptable level for phosphates? 0.5ppm? My tank will hit the one year mark in mid-December.

 

[LRT]

What is an acceptable level for phosphates? 0.5ppm? My tank will hit the one year mark in mid-December.

The million dollar question.
Alot of reefers reccomend to start out at .03.
I've found its easy to bottom out from there.
I shoot for .05-.1 just for ease of mind knowing its in there and harder to bottom out.
For your age tank I think thats perfectly acceptable.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

The million dollar question.
Alot of reefers reccomend to start out at .03.
I've found its easy to bottom out from there.
I shoot for .05-.1 just for ease of mind knowing its in there and harder to bottom out.
For your age tank I think thats perfectly acceptable.

Thanks a lot guys. Super helpful

 

[LRT]

Thanks a lot guys. Super helpful

Let us know how you end up raising phosphates. It does bind to rock and substrate so dosing it can be tricky. You can dose .05 every day and rocks will soak it up until eventually reaching that peak and balance and then start leaching it. Slow and steady wins the race. Took me 3 weeks of dosing .05 to get it to stick on .05. Dont overdose when you get 0 readings every day before dosing. Its totally normal until that day you test before you dose and its sitting at .05

 

[tang_man_montreal]

Thanks a lot guys. Super helpful

You're very welcome! Wish I could help more. @LRT is a wealth of information and has great advice

While you're at it, I noticed that you have some bubble algae in your pics. You may want to get ahead of that before it spreads more.
Pry them off with a pick trying as much as possible not to let them burst and remove them from the rock.
Bursting those bubble algae will release more spores.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

You're very welcome! Wish I could help more. @LRT is a wealth of information and has great advice

While you're at it, I noticed that you have some bubble algae in your pics. You may want to get ahead of that before it spreads more.
Pry them off with a pick trying as much as possible not to let them burst and remove them from the rock.
Bursting those bubble algae will release more spores.

Ok thanks!! Yes, I bought some emeralds but ok will manually remove then. I also have some aiptasia growing that I need to get rid of, but I hear that Aiptasia X just makes matters worse, so I’m waiting for berghias to come in at RR.

 

[ItalCanadaReefer]

Let us know how you end up raising phosphates. It does bind to rock and substrate so dosing it can be tricky. You can dose .05 every day and rocks will soak it up until eventually reaching that peak and balance and then start leaching it. Slow and steady wins the race. Took me 3 weeks of dosing .05 to get it to stick on .05. Dont overdose when you get 0 readings every day before dosing. Its totally normal until that day you test before you dose and its sitting at .05

Yes, thanks a lot for the advice. Will keep you guys updated