This weeks coral of the week is Ricordias. They are fairly common in the trade and have some awesome colors!
Lighting Requirements- These can take moderate to high lighting. If they have too much lighting or too little then they are known to just melt away.
Waterflow- Ricordias don't like waterflow, they can take a light flow across them but nothing that is going to blow them around.
Colors/Types- These guys come in many different colors and types: orange, blue, purple, red, yellows etc. There are Ricordia Florida and there is Ricordia Yuma. There is just a basic appearance difference between the two. Ricordia Yuma generally has a larger mouth and is bumpier. In my experience the Ricordia Yuma likes more light than the Ricordia Florida.
Feeding- These corals are mostly photosynthetic but can take extra frozen foods and will benefit from this.
Aggressive- They aren't that aggressive as they don't have sweeper tentacles, but anything they touch can be stung. After handling a ricordia it is recommended to wash your hands as the skin has some toxins on it.
They are relatively hardy once in an established tank and in a good spot in the tank. Most of the time they will come to you in single polyps. 95% of these come from Florida where the rock is illegal to take so they take the ricordia off and ship it as a single polyp.
Ricordia Florida-
Ricordia Yuma- (these pictures are not mine)
Feel free to post pictures of your ricordias and ask questions!
Ask away!
Matt