Ricordias and Yuma Rare and Common colors?

[flricordia]

OK, sorry for boring eveyone, but I thought I would put all together though it has already pretty much been said here.
Yumas are from the Pacific and a deep water ricordia that IMO should not be removed from the water and does not stand nitrates. Both can cause them to melt. Also not acclimating them to lighting and high flow will cause them to melt and sometimes just because, will cause them to melt.
Once they are established you can cut them up and grow them out, but they are pretty good about dropping babies, much like a common mushroom, so cutting them really is not needed.
Ricordia FL are from the Caribbean are pretty much indestructable. You can mash them, cut them, leave them out of the water for up to 1/2 hour and longer and they will be fine. Halving a FL ricordia and even quartering one will result in double, quadruple your stock in a weeks time. They heal fast. But there again, they don't like high nitrates. They do like high lighting. I have never in all the time I have kept FL ricordias, killed one. I have cut them, accidently crushed them, left them out on the frag plate and forgotten about them, just bought them from places that have kept them under low PC lighting and placed them directly under MH and they have done fine.
I worry about my yumas all the time checking on each one daily, my FL ricordias I don't even think about except to notice when they are getting too large and covering some other coral. I don't worry if they cover each other, they can and will move.
I have found that yumas touching other yumas, and even touching FL ricordias have a better survival rate than single polyps off by themselves. That is unless they are of the same rock from the start and begin melting, 9 times out of 10 it was in the collection/shipping process that initiated thier oncoming demise and not much you can do about it.
I only buy yumas locally that have been in the LRS for at least a week or from people I know to have grown them out themselves.

[vdituri]

No boredom here flricordia.

Great info. I know alot of times we blame ourselves on the demise of our salty friends. It is good to know that it may have started before we even met them.

Class everyone paying attention?

Nitrates = not good for Yumas.

[Craig Manoukian]

Awesome information, note the nitrates and Yuma performance!

[kathywithbirds]

Thanks for all the info guys, especially Flricordia. I see some around here (the other coast, way over here) sometimes, mostly oranges and greens. I don't think I have ever seen any rainbow or even anotehr color variation. Witty got some recently from a store local to us, they're really nice. He said he snapped 'em up quick. So I"m thinkin' they get bought up before I ever get to the store by insiders like him.

[Kazzy]

Originally Posted by Cassette87

the R. florida's always have a "bubbly" appearance to them, where as the R. yumas tend to have a great variance in the size of the "bubbles" along the sufrace of the disc. They tend to appear more flat, with "stripes" or patterns of larger "bubbles" R. florida have a much more consistent appearance, with equally sized "bubbles" (sorry I don't know the scientific term for those)

R. yuma examples:



R. florida examples:


that yellow one is pretty darn rare around here anyway

Thanks for clearing that up. I was really confused for a second because I thought the rics were the consistent ones and yumas were small and sometimes with different sized bubbles.

[Kazzy]

Originally Posted by flricordia

OK, sorry for boring eveyone, but I thought I would put all together though it has already pretty much been said here.
Yumas are from the Pacific and a deep water ricordia that IMO should not be removed from the water and does not stand nitrates. Both can cause them to melt. Also not acclimating them to lighting and high flow will cause them to melt and sometimes just because, will cause them to melt.
Once they are established you can cut them up and grow them out, but they are pretty good about dropping babies, much like a common mushroom, so cutting them really is not needed.
Ricordia FL are from the Caribbean are pretty much indestructable. You can mash them, cut them, leave them out of the water for up to 1/2 hour and longer and they will be fine. Halving a FL ricordia and even quartering one will result in double, quadruple your stock in a weeks time. They heal fast. But there again, they don't like high nitrates. They do like high lighting. I have never in all the time I have kept FL ricordias, killed one. I have cut them, accidently crushed them, left them out on the frag plate and forgotten about them, just bought them from places that have kept them under low PC lighting and placed them directly under MH and they have done fine.
I worry about my yumas all the time checking on each one daily, my FL ricordias I don't even think about except to notice when they are getting too large and covering some other coral. I don't worry if they cover each other, they can and will move.
I have found that yumas touching other yumas, and even touching FL ricordias have a better survival rate than single polyps off by themselves. That is unless they are of the same rock from the start and begin melting, 9 times out of 10 it was in the collection/shipping process that initiated thier oncoming demise and not much you can do about it.
I only buy yumas locally that have been in the LRS for at least a week or from people I know to have grown them out themselves.

Is it bad if I only light acclimated for like 20 minutes? Because the little white baby yuma (supposed to be one at least) in my tank I have under much dimmer lighting then what it is was under in the LFS and I didn't light acclimate for very long. I am kinda worried because it is still only a greenish white and it hasn't gotten any bigger than what it was in the LFS, while the red common shroom I got has nearly tripled in size and is getting ready to split (obviously a big difference in hardiness and growth but just in case).

[flricordia]

Originally Posted by Kazzy

Is it bad if I only light acclimated for like 20 minutes? Because the little white baby yuma (supposed to be one at least) in my tank I have under much dimmer lighting then what it is was under in the LFS and I didn't light acclimate for very long. I am kinda worried because it is still only a greenish white and it hasn't gotten any bigger than what it was in the LFS, while the red common shroom I got has nearly tripled in size and is getting ready to split (obviously a big difference in hardiness and growth but just in case).

You should acclimate a yuma to higher light intensity over a week or longer. I don't know about putting them in lower light. Going from higher to lower light you should put it up high in low current I would think. I'm sure someone here could give you better advice on that.

[Cassette87]

Good info flricordia! Thanks! I would agree with you on acclimating to lower light, Although In my experience they don't need much TLC when going to lower light, as they just expand out a bit more; provided your not going from 250w HQI to 36w of pc... then more acclimation might be necessary.

[hma]

Animated by the report of “flricordia” I would like to communicate now also my experiences with the keeping of Ricordea Florida. I’m interested in Disk-Anemones, particularly however with Ricordea Florida, already since approx.. 20 years. Ricordea Florida was one of my first animals which I maintained in a aquarium. I come both which stood from nitrate and lighting concern to another realization as "flricordia". Before 20 years we did not have yet the many possibilities to keep the nitrate in our aquariums as low as possible. Nitrate over 20 or even 50 was not rarely, rather standard. The care of SPS/LPS was thus impossible from today's view and was not usually also tried. The "Stars" in our aquariums at that time were Ricordeas. They were naturally not as colored as the kinds maintained today, high nitrate values have them constituted as of were reported however not as much. From many discussions with sea biologists and reefer in almost the whole world I know, ricordeas in the aquarium feel particularly well, if the lighting conditions are correct and are the current in the basin not too strong.

Photosynthesis with the assistance of Zooxanthelle plays an important role for Ricordeas concerning its nutrition. E.g. the available food from the environment of the Ricordeas represents further sources of food (e.g. remainders of the fish feeding, etc.). The Ricordeas is fed by me additionally with Phytoplankton from own breed. The reproduction effected via the polyps themselves, presupposed it feel well. They settle on a stone and begin themselves then to divide, as of “flricordia” were already described.

Like develop them beautiful colors of the Ricordea Florida remain to clarifying. These beautiful colors develop not, like many faiths, in farms by breed, but exclusively they develop themselves in the oceans. Ricordeas are world-wide very rare animals, which exhibit indescribable color splendour. Despite the rarity and difficulty Ricordeas to breed and in the seas of the world find, is very simple the attitude and care, since Ricordeas are in principle little fastidious. This simple handling of the polyps leads to the fact that Ricordeas become ever more popular. But how these mad colors develop?

From my experience and intensive observation of Ricordeas in their natural environment I know that the colour is strongly dependent on the depth, in which they live on the temperature, the season and further influences and can be very different therefore. After extensive biological investigations at different institutes and universities we know that Ricordeas can change the colors of their Tentakeln and its mouth at least three times in the year. This phenomenon is to be observed however mainly in its natural environment and occurs in the aquarium rather rarely. Further distinguishers of Ricordeas are their size and their luminosity, which are dependent on the depth and the water temperature to the largest part again. Besides the duration and the intensity of the sunlight plays a relevant role. With tempests, storms or hurricane bleach Ricordea Florida Anemones coloured out and become partly almost transparency. Thus it becomes clear that Ricordeas adapt like a kind Chamaeleon to the outside circumstances. It requires a whole while, until the Ricordeas recovered from its colorlessness again up to the full coloredness in their whole splendour. During the summer the sun exposure is more intensive and the water of the ocean is warmer and clearer around some than in the winter. At this time the color of the Tentakeln changes extremely. In particular colors such as orange in most different developments and combinations are to be observed. However the situation turned around in the winter almost and for colors such as blue and green develops - similarly as the colors of the ocean at this time, in which the water is less clear and which becomes sun exposure per day shorter and less intensive.

In the time between summers and winters the colors of the Ricordeas develop very differently. During this period one finds many so-called multicolored Ricordeas, which unite partially a whole palette of color in itself beside the most different single colors. As above described acting nature leads to the fact that during the entire yearly polyps in most different colors are found. The natural mutation leads to the fact that there are not always directly many polyps of an identical color.

I hope my notes brought a little „Light in the Darkness„ of the colors, attitude, breed and nutrition by Ricordea Florida. That was at least my request.

[flricordia]

Originally Posted by hma

Animated by the report of “flricordia” I would like to communicate now also my experiences with the keeping of Ricordea Florida. I’m interested in Disk-Anemones, particularly however with Ricordea Florida, already since approx.. 20 years. Ricordea Florida was one of my first animals which I maintained in a aquarium. I come both which stood from nitrate and lighting concern to another realization as "flricordia". Before 20 years we did not have yet the many possibilities to keep the nitrate in our aquariums as low as possible. Nitrate over 20 or even 50 was not rarely, rather standard. The care of SPS/LPS was thus impossible from today's view and was not usually also tried. The "Stars" in our aquariums at that time were Ricordeas. They were naturally not as colored as the kinds maintained today, high nitrate values have them constituted as of were reported however not as much. From many discussions with sea biologists and reefer in almost the whole world I know, ricordeas in the aquarium feel particularly well, if the lighting conditions are correct and are the current in the basin not too strong.

Photosynthesis with the assistance of Zooxanthelle plays an important role for Ricordeas concerning its nutrition. E.g. the available food from the environment of the Ricordeas represents further sources of food (e.g. remainders of the fish feeding, etc.). The Ricordeas is fed by me additionally with Phytoplankton from own breed. The reproduction effected via the polyps themselves, presupposed it feel well. They settle on a stone and begin themselves then to divide, as of “flricordia” were already described.

Like develop them beautiful colors of the Ricordea Florida remain to clarifying. These beautiful colors develop not, like many faiths, in farms by breed, but exclusively they develop themselves in the oceans. Ricordeas are world-wide very rare animals, which exhibit indescribable color splendour. Despite the rarity and difficulty Ricordeas to breed and in the seas of the world find, is very simple the attitude and care, since Ricordeas are in principle little fastidious. This simple handling of the polyps leads to the fact that Ricordeas become ever more popular. But how these mad colors develop?

From my experience and intensive observation of Ricordeas in their natural environment I know that the colour is strongly dependent on the depth, in which they live on the temperature, the season and further influences and can be very different therefore. After extensive biological investigations at different institutes and universities we know that Ricordeas can change the colors of their Tentakeln and its mouth at least three times in the year. This phenomenon is to be observed however mainly in its natural environment and occurs in the aquarium rather rarely. Further distinguishers of Ricordeas are their size and their luminosity, which are dependent on the depth and the water temperature to the largest part again. Besides the duration and the intensity of the sunlight plays a relevant role. With tempests, storms or hurricane bleach Ricordea Florida Anemones coloured out and become partly almost transparency. Thus it becomes clear that Ricordeas adapt like a kind Chamaeleon to the outside circumstances. It requires a whole while, until the Ricordeas recovered from its colorlessness again up to the full coloredness in their whole splendour. During the summer the sun exposure is more intensive and the water of the ocean is warmer and clearer around some than in the winter. At this time the color of the Tentakeln changes extremely. In particular colors such as orange in most different developments and combinations are to be observed. However the situation turned around in the winter almost and for colors such as blue and green develops - similarly as the colors of the ocean at this time, in which the water is less clear and which becomes sun exposure per day shorter and less intensive.

In the time between summers and winters the colors of the Ricordeas develop very differently. During this period one finds many so-called multicolored Ricordeas, which unite partially a whole palette of color in itself beside the most different single colors. As above described acting nature leads to the fact that during the entire yearly polyps in most different colors are found. The natural mutation leads to the fact that there are not always directly many polyps of an identical color.

I hope my notes brought a little „Light in the Darkness„ of the colors, attitude, breed and nutrition by Ricordea Florida. That was at least my request.

Cool. What are your observations with ricordias and calium needs? I know serveral people local that cannot for the life of them keep a florida ricordia alive. I have not tested tank parameters, but have been told that calcium levels are very low.

[hma]

@flricordia

The calium value in the aquarium should not be less than 400mg / L, those are my experiences. Unfortunately, there are few good measurement. Most are too vague.

[Craig Manoukian]

Heinz,

Is cyclopeze a suitable alternative to phytoplankton?

[hma]

Originally Posted by Craig Manoukian

Heinz,

Is cyclopeze a suitable alternative to phytoplankton?

you can feed probably also cyclop eeze. However CE has a much to high portion on carotin, which can affect the colors of a Ricordia negatively to more red.

BTW CE is not Phytoplankton, it is ZOOPLANKTON, only freezingdried and enriched.

[Craig Manoukian]

Thanks Heinz,

My Ricordias loved and plumped up nicely with the enriched zooplankton cylopeeze. My red skunk cleaner shrimp also contributed a monthly supply of shrimp fry. I also fed phytoplankton the the clams/ricordias.

[flricordia]

hma. Have you tryed to simulate the color changes of Florida ricordia in the closed system? Through lowering the duation of lighting and cooler temps? Interesting. Once I convert to all ricordia tank I may try that and see what happens. Though it might be best to leave yuma ricordias out of an experiment like this.