Ricordea follow up

[Henn]

Hi all, the photo attached shows the Ricordea that were Pinned. They finally got the hint and attached. They were not hurt in any way by the pins. The two additional frags ( acid Green Dual ricordea at back, and odd lump of a Ricordea in front ) were picked off the bottom of a LFS Frag Tank. Volunteers are fantastic. They started wild and grew fast.

 

[Tahoe61]

Interesting, what did you use to pin them.

 

[Henn]

They get pinned with Art Supply Pins. They have a Colored Ball and don't get lost in the tank. There is a Thread about how to get different results. They are not Stainless pins and they are one use. It may be that the corrosion stimulates the growth. A Stainless Pin might not effect it the same. A hole in the Mantle holds position and will Cold Flow out. A hole through the Mantle and Foot will Hold and Possibly make a New Mouth. It will not Cold Flow out ( easily ). Never poke a mouth. It can die and leave a hole.
PS>> Always Twist the Pin Head gently to free any Growth before pulling it out.

 

[sawdonkey]

What’s going on here? What’s pinning? What’s cold flow? What are you trying to achieve? Just get them to attach, or are you propagating them?

 

[Henn]

Howdy there Sawdonkey, In answer to your somewhat particular question... Yes, Yes , an Yes :>). There is a Marine Pond System here ( 750 gallons ) that supports some Soft Corals very well. Sun light and large areas of open water and Crushed Coral. Ricordea, Mushrooms, Sponges, and Gorgonia all do so well that they get cloned and propagated regularly. I wrote a piece on Ricordea Wrangling that explained how to Tame Them ( Pinning ) and how to make new Mouths or replace a missing Mouth ( how the pins are placed ). After making a New Mouth ( 2 nd ), the Ricordea can be split into two. The pictures below show that once a Ricordea has attached to a Crushed Coral Bit, it can be Unpinned and will stay. All Three Ricordea that were Pinned and attached were moved today by careful lifting of the Ricordea and the Attached Rock Fragment. From now on they will stay put. Several have extra mouths ( Mantle and Foot Pin ).

They are above the awesome Aqua Marine Mushroom Frag my LFS just put out. They also had the last two Green Duncan needed for the Patch ( But Honey, it's just one frag... )