Ricordea - beginner question

pompom · 02/10/2008, 09:49 AM

We are making beginner mistakes - no matter how much we read. We rearranged our rockwork and added some base rock a few weeks ago.

We had to move our ricordia mushrooms. Since then they have been very unhappy. I am assuming its placement but I can't figure out where they would be happy. They are out of high flow, in the middle level of the tank.

15G nano, AC110 fuge, Coralife 96W fixture, using seachem reef salt. Tank is going on its third month.

Yesterday on of the three pink/green ricordias was sucked in on itself. Another is in the process. One of the larger blue purple ricordias in another spot is folding in on its edges. Before we moved them they were all fully expanded for at least a month. The purple/blues were in the process of completely splitting in half.

Tank is supplemented with DT phytoplankton. We have cut this back because nitrates are registering between 5 and 10 and were told we were overfeeding. That being said I was just reading about spot feeding with rotifers etc. Will this help? Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

dileggi · 02/10/2008, 10:02 AM

I am not 100% sure of this, but I have a ric rock in my BC, under PC lights.

From what I understand from reading, the ric's can acclimate to a wide range of lighting. I had my ric rock on the bottom, on the sandbed and it wasn't doing too good.

I then moved mine to the very top of my rock work and it seems to be doing fine and some of the ones that weren't looking so good have recovered.

Mine are under 144w PC's.
As for the nitrates, mine have been between 10-20 and the only problems I seem to be having are algae issues.

While 5-10 nitrate readings are not optimal, I believe from what I've been reading that you're probably OK with it.

As for lowering the nitrates any, have you removed any bio filters that came with the tank in the way of bio balls? That was my main problem. My nitrates seemed to have been dropping since I removed mine.

As for spot feeding, I do not target feed mine. I just shut off the pumps and flow when feeding.

Good luck.

dileggi · 02/10/2008, 10:04 AM

I'm sorry, I also didn't notice at first, but WELCOME to RC.

You may also want to try and post this thread under this forum here on RC. You may get some more experienced advice:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...s=&forumid=202

pompom · 02/10/2008, 10:07 AM

Thanks for the feedback. I don't have mechanical filtration - 17 pounds of live rock (not including newly added base rock), 20 pounds of live sand, cheato and live rock rubble in the fuge. We saw the spike in nitrates after we rearranged the tank. It had been near or at zero for a couple of months. Up until last week there were just the inverts and corals.

pompom · 02/10/2008, 10:08 AM

Thanks for that link. It will be really helpful. I was mainly reading through the beginner posts.

Sk8r · 02/10/2008, 10:14 AM

You might also, due to moving things around, have done a little agitation of the sandbed, which can cause temporary problems.

Rics and zoas are expensive little beggars, worse than stony. If you want to protect your investment, get: a refractometer, an automated topoff if you don't have one; and good numbers-based tests for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, as well as your positive/negative strip tests for nitrate/ammonia. I know that you don't 'need' calcium for softies. But the balance of those three elements [and a reasonably steady ph between 8.3-7.9] are indicators of water stability. Good water, proper light, and you should be fine. I'm taking it you have a 20g with that level of rock and sand. Do put your tank description in your sig line: helps us figure out how to answer any questions, and really saves time in an emergency.
And welcome, welcome to RC.

dileggi · 02/10/2008, 10:18 AM

Here is one other link you may want to bookmark. Unfortunatley, it doens't have a lot of "in-depth" information, but seems to hit the basics of flow, lighting etc for certain species.

At worst, it can be a quick reference site:

Coral Care

IslandCrow · 02/10/2008, 10:53 AM

Did you move them significantly higher or lower in your tank. A change in the amount of lighting they're receiving could stress them. They may just be a little upset with the move in general. Like sk8r said, any time you move stuff around, you tend to kick up a good amount of junk. I doubt your nitrate levels are a problem. That's a little bit high, but although ricordea usually aren't quite as tolerant as other mushrooms, that should be fine.

pompom · 02/10/2008, 11:01 AM

Good thought! We removed the legs off the lighting so the lighting is much closer to the tank. As well the temperature did rise a bit when we did this. We did this because we read that our toadstool leather preferred more light and we couldn't move him off the sandbed. Maybe moving the light back will make a difference. We tried to keep them at the same level as before. Thanks for the ideas.

IslandCrow · 02/11/2008, 11:38 AM

Ricordia can tolerate a pretty large range of light usually. You may want to try raising the light back up and then lowering it over a couple weeks or so, if you can lower it to intermediate positions. Another way people acclimate corals to new light is to use window screen. Put a few layers between the light and the tank and remove one layer each week. That's pretty much what I did when I upgraded from normal T-5s to overdriven T-5s.

02/10/2008, 09:49 AM	#1
pompom Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 56	Ricordea - beginner question We are making beginner mistakes - no matter how much we read. We rearranged our rockwork and added some base rock a few weeks ago. We had to move our ricordia mushrooms. Since then they have been very unhappy. I am assuming its placement but I can't figure out where they would be happy. They are out of high flow, in the middle level of the tank. 15G nano, AC110 fuge, Coralife 96W fixture, using seachem reef salt. Tank is going on its third month. Yesterday on of the three pink/green ricordias was sucked in on itself. Another is in the process. One of the larger blue purple ricordias in another spot is folding in on its edges. Before we moved them they were all fully expanded for at least a month. The purple/blues were in the process of completely splitting in half. Tank is supplemented with DT phytoplankton. We have cut this back because nitrates are registering between 5 and 10 and were told we were overfeeding. That being said I was just reading about spot feeding with rotifers etc. Will this help? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

02/10/2008, 10:02 AM	#2
dileggi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: S. Philly PA Posts: 1,171	I am not 100% sure of this, but I have a ric rock in my BC, under PC lights. From what I understand from reading, the ric's can acclimate to a wide range of lighting. I had my ric rock on the bottom, on the sandbed and it wasn't doing too good. I then moved mine to the very top of my rock work and it seems to be doing fine and some of the ones that weren't looking so good have recovered. Mine are under 144w PC's. As for the nitrates, mine have been between 10-20 and the only problems I seem to be having are algae issues. While 5-10 nitrate readings are not optimal, I believe from what I've been reading that you're probably OK with it. As for lowering the nitrates any, have you removed any bio filters that came with the tank in the way of bio balls? That was my main problem. My nitrates seemed to have been dropping since I removed mine. As for spot feeding, I do not target feed mine. I just shut off the pumps and flow when feeding. Good luck. __________________ Eric "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Usual Suspects Current Tank Info: 90g w/30g sump; skimmer; 2x175w MH & 2x super white actinic...3g w/.5g fuge 1x150w MH Viper

02/10/2008, 10:04 AM	#3
dileggi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: S. Philly PA Posts: 1,171	I'm sorry, I also didn't notice at first, but WELCOME to RC. You may also want to try and post this thread under this forum here on RC. You may get some more experienced advice: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...s=&forumid=202 __________________ Eric "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Usual Suspects Current Tank Info: 90g w/30g sump; skimmer; 2x175w MH & 2x super white actinic...3g w/.5g fuge 1x150w MH Viper

02/10/2008, 10:14 AM	#6
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	You might also, due to moving things around, have done a little agitation of the sandbed, which can cause temporary problems. Rics and zoas are expensive little beggars, worse than stony. If you want to protect your investment, get: a refractometer, an automated topoff if you don't have one; and good numbers-based tests for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, as well as your positive/negative strip tests for nitrate/ammonia. I know that you don't 'need' calcium for softies. But the balance of those three elements [and a reasonably steady ph between 8.3-7.9] are indicators of water stability. Good water, proper light, and you should be fine. I'm taking it you have a 20g with that level of rock and sand. Do put your tank description in your sig line: helps us figure out how to answer any questions, and really saves time in an emergency. And welcome, welcome to RC. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

02/10/2008, 10:18 AM	#7
dileggi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: S. Philly PA Posts: 1,171	Here is one other link you may want to bookmark. Unfortunatley, it doens't have a lot of "in-depth" information, but seems to hit the basics of flow, lighting etc for certain species. At worst, it can be a quick reference site: Coral Care __________________ Eric "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Usual Suspects Current Tank Info: 90g w/30g sump; skimmer; 2x175w MH & 2x super white actinic...3g w/.5g fuge 1x150w MH Viper

02/10/2008, 10:07 AM	#4
pompom Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 56	Thanks for the feedback. I don't have mechanical filtration - 17 pounds of live rock (not including newly added base rock), 20 pounds of live sand, cheato and live rock rubble in the fuge. We saw the spike in nitrates after we rearranged the tank. It had been near or at zero for a couple of months. Up until last week there were just the inverts and corals.

02/10/2008, 10:08 AM	#5
pompom Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 56	Thanks for that link. It will be really helpful. I was mainly reading through the beginner posts.

02/10/2008, 10:53 AM	#8
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	Did you move them significantly higher or lower in your tank. A change in the amount of lighting they're receiving could stress them. They may just be a little upset with the move in general. Like sk8r said, any time you move stuff around, you tend to kick up a good amount of junk. I doubt your nitrate levels are a problem. That's a little bit high, but although ricordea usually aren't quite as tolerant as other mushrooms, that should be fine. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?

02/10/2008, 11:01 AM	#9
pompom Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 56	Good thought! We removed the legs off the lighting so the lighting is much closer to the tank. As well the temperature did rise a bit when we did this. We did this because we read that our toadstool leather preferred more light and we couldn't move him off the sandbed. Maybe moving the light back will make a difference. We tried to keep them at the same level as before. Thanks for the ideas.

02/11/2008, 11:38 AM	#10
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	Ricordia can tolerate a pretty large range of light usually. You may want to try raising the light back up and then lowering it over a couple weeks or so, if you can lower it to intermediate positions. Another way people acclimate corals to new light is to use window screen. Put a few layers between the light and the tank and remove one layer each week. That's pretty much what I did when I upgraded from normal T-5s to overdriven T-5s. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?