Starting a new ric tank

jandlms · Jul 4, 2007

Thanks to the generosity of Fosters and Smith I find myself with a brand new aquapod. I have kept ricordia florida for years with varying degrees of success and now want to dedicate the aquapod to ricordia (or at least have them as the primary coral). My question to the forum would be what parameters should I set the tank to? I'm looking for thoughts on everything from water parameters to lighting color (I am limited to the pc lights that come with the aquapod). Any advise would be appreciated.

fishes2889 · Jul 4, 2007

Awesome idea!

Ric & shrooms can stand dirrty water & are probably the most hardy invert/coral out there.(except for yuma's upon shipping

)

As for lighting rics LOVE intense light. Using PC's and putting them on the sandbed will make them loose color and start to "cup" (stretch) for light. IME

Good luck! I hope to see some pics when set-up!

kharn101 · Jul 5, 2007

haha great idea tell me how much all the rics will cost

.. hahah

jandlms · Jul 5, 2007

A lot. I'm not just gonna put just any rics in this baby! I expect $400-500 to start out with.

Azurel · Jul 5, 2007

Shou;d beable toget some nice rics for that kinda money, I have seen that Floridas have gone up in price that last year or so anywhere from $5-$15 per polyp more then in the past. Can't wait to see some pics, I am changing mine over to rics and zoa/palys as well......

storrisch · Jul 6, 2007

blue ricordia typically prefers more subdued lighting so them being placed in the sandbed should help them retain their color and not gray out.

I have found yuma to be hardier than FL ricordia...IME both at home and at work (LFS)

here is my front and center piece in my BC14

Azurel · Jul 6, 2007

My experiance has been the complete opposite to that, I have never had problems with Florids ricordeas but couldn't keep a yuma to save my life.....Untill the past 3 weeks that is....

jandlms · Jul 6, 2007

I have the same lluck with yumas - none. Florida have always been pretty good for me. Any thoughts on keeping the two of them together????

fishes2889 · Jul 6, 2007

I have had great luck with both, i have recently purchased more yuma's, but still rics outnumber my yuma's 20 to 1. lol

ReeferRob · Jul 6, 2007

Ya know yumas are a complete coin toss. Some thrive some dive. I have noticed that the bigger they are the more likely you'll be able to keep them.

Anyone else notice this?

Reef Goddess · Jul 15, 2007

hmm

I have lost yumas of all sizes, hehehe. I'm only meant to keep ricordia I guess. My tank has perfect conditions and I've kept them in all areas (shady, hi light, low light, low flow, med flow) you name it and after a few weeks they just shrivel up. All my creatures are coral safe too so u got me.

I've had to satisfy myself with rare colors of sanctithomae mushrooms and pretend they're yumas.

Ricordia are very easy to keep and proly will even do well under pc's depending on the size of your tank.
I have found that when storing a whole bunch of ricordia in my 75 at one time they tend to get stressed out and I think its because that tank doesn't have a good skimmer on it. But I'm talking like 20+ 5x4" ricordia rocks. Other corals in the tank also tend to get stressed out when I have lots of ricordia in one tank, so I think they must put out quite a bit of toxins compared to other corals.

Other than that, I've never had any problems with them. They will do well in high - med light, high - low flow, it doesn't really matter. Some morphs even prefer lower lighting to higher lighting. They come in a rainbow of colors, every time I think I've seen it all, then I find something crazy.
They grow fast, most of mine just get really fat instead of splitting. Here's my all time favorite one that I saved for my husband's personal collection.