buying a ricordea

[evw2k]

Okay, so I think tomorow i will go to the lfs and pick up a ricordea and the start of my cleanup crew. Ricordea seem to be pretty easy to keep and would hopefully make a good first coral for my tank. I have a 55 gal thats been done cycling for about 2 weeks. I have had fish in it for about a week and the nitrate and nitrites are very close to 0. I have 4 55W pc actinic lights, but will have 2 150W mh in addition hopefully in a few weeks.

Does anyone have any tips for picking them out? Which do you recommend? How do you tell if they are healthy?

Any tips are helpful


Oh, and how much do they usually cost relative to size and specie? I always feel like i'm getting ripped off by the lfs.

thanks

 

[Steveabg]

What part of California are you in?

Ricordea prices are all over the place, but around here, I see green and blue ricordeas for as low as $10. I paid around $20 per mouth for two orange ones. Some places charge much, much more, like $25-50 per mouth, regardless of color, and that's a bit ridiculous, IMO.

 

[currentking]

they are very hardy and like alot of light

 

[kiknchikn]

Make sure to adjust them to the MHs slowly when you get them. Ric floridas are pretty hardy but you dont want to stress them out if you can help it. Start out with the MH lights on for just a few hours and slowly increase it by 15 minutes or so each day until you reach your normal schedule.

 

[evw2k]

okay, i got two heads of ricordea. I am pretty sure they are florida. One is orange the other is green

This is the only shot of the orange that would come out. For some reason the camara just can't focus on them. It is really annoying! Also the colors are all washed out and crappy. :mad2: o well. I put them on opposite sides of the tank. The orange one has 2 mouths, maybe it is splitting? $25 each

The green one was not attached to a piece of rock, so i put it on the side where there is little flow. I had to handle it sort of roughly and part of the pods are squished. They are starting to come back, I don't think i hurt it. Also, it is starting to attach itself to the rock!