I am trying to figure out the best placement for my new additions and that is proving to be somewhat difficult with the nano tank. I just read that the ricordea mushrooms don't do all that well under MH lights. I have mine sitting on the bottom of the tank, but they aren't really "shaded" Should I relocate them to a more protected area?
Ricordea and lights
- Thread starter DSR
- Start date
From my experience, the more light you throw at them, the better they do. I just pulled a big one out of the very top my tank a couple weeks ago when I did my "softy removal" and it was easily 5" diameter. I also have about 4 babies still at the very top of my reef and they are doing great, unfortunately for me since I don't want them in my 75G anymore. I started with ricordeas in my 29G under PC lighting and progressed over the years, each time the mushrooms got bigger and spread faster the more light I threw at it. To start it off though, down in the sand is the norm for them to get acclimated, then if you want to, move it up a little with time.
I've seen rics do well in poorly lit tanks and just as well in higher light tanks. I would start them down on the sand and somewhere that they won't be directly under the MH bulb. I wouldn't necessarily put them under a ledge or anything. It's been my observation that they're really adaptive to lighting conditions.
In my experience the only ric I have had to be careful with was a light colored Yuma. It is white with more rainbow type colors in the center, it is the only one I have that really doesn't like bright light. The Florida Rics seem to adapt to what ever you give to them.
thanks for the info. I will wait a bit and move it up toward the light. Funny how just an inch of difference an make. My candy cane was not doing all that great. After seeing reefbum's nice candycane I moved mine to mid level and it is doing very nicely. Filling out more, etc. Hopefully the new location will encourae some growth.
ricordea are finicky in how much light they like....ive found that blues and greens do better toward the bottom of the tank, whereas reds, yellows, and oranges can handle waay moar light....
i dont know if you guys use this rules around here, but its a good one:
1) ANY TIME you get anything new, do a freshwater dip. take 1g RO water, mix in 20ml of iodine and dip your coral in it for 5 mins. before you take it out of the dipping solution, shake it vigorously in the water (to remove any pests or disease.) after the dip, put the coral in the shade for 24hrs to recouperate(sp?)....
ALWAYS DO THIS! especially with ricordea and yumas!
Ricordea's, and similar mushrooms carry microscopic parasites called protozoa. if not dipped and killed, the protozoa will multiply into the millions and literally eat the footing out from under the rics/yumas.....yumas are the most vulrenable.
i lost about $150 werth of yuma's / rics to those little bastages...(i thot it was just light bleaching...i was wrong)
jm.o2
also, fyi...yumas in particular, hate bad water quality. it makes them melt.
i dont know if you guys use this rules around here, but its a good one:
1) ANY TIME you get anything new, do a freshwater dip. take 1g RO water, mix in 20ml of iodine and dip your coral in it for 5 mins. before you take it out of the dipping solution, shake it vigorously in the water (to remove any pests or disease.) after the dip, put the coral in the shade for 24hrs to recouperate(sp?)....
ALWAYS DO THIS! especially with ricordea and yumas!
Ricordea's, and similar mushrooms carry microscopic parasites called protozoa. if not dipped and killed, the protozoa will multiply into the millions and literally eat the footing out from under the rics/yumas.....yumas are the most vulrenable.
i lost about $150 werth of yuma's / rics to those little bastages...(i thot it was just light bleaching...i was wrong)
jm.o2
also, fyi...yumas in particular, hate bad water quality. it makes them melt.
I have to disagree with quite a bit there, but the biggest thing is NEVER EVER FW dip an SPS coral. You want to kill a $100 coral real fast, dip it in FW.
missed the part about FW...what I have read calls for dipps in salt water with either iodine or another commerically available chemical additive. I wouldn't dip in fw... speaking from experience... a dramatic change in Kh and pH is the sure way to make sure your sps and lps dissolve pretty much right before your eyes. My Raspberry chalice literally melted away in just a short amount of time.
Yes, saltwater/iodine dips are fine.. key is saltwater. FW dips are for fish IMO, not corals, although some corals can survive it, I don't think it is worth the risk trying.