So over the last couple of days I have noticed that acouple of my rics looked like they were dying and sure enough I have now lost 8. The weird thing is none of them are oozing or secreting anything one day they look good and then boom there will be a small piece or a hole in the ric and then from there it dyes what the hell is causing this? I wil get a picture up soon.
Help My Ricordea Are Dying!!!!!!
- Thread starter phathead
- Start date
I have been checking all over the internet other people have had this same problem It is alittle bug but no name or pic but described as eating away at the bottom of the polyp and they are the size of a pinhead and are whatever color they are eating the pigment is somehow going into the little bug I am trying to locate a nicer camera from local reef club to get a pic of these guys mine will not cut it. I am now trying to find a scientific name for them.
JMCAquarium
They are among us!!
Saltwater baths in iodine just for a minute or two then back into fresh salt water if it is the bug.
Otherwise it's a bacteria infection and nothing you can do about it but get the "healthy" looking ones from the other side of tha tank out and hold them somewhere and pray they werre not infected as well.
Otherwise it's a bacteria infection and nothing you can do about it but get the "healthy" looking ones from the other side of tha tank out and hold them somewhere and pray they werre not infected as well.
JMCAquarium
They are among us!!
I to will be back to see what these bugs are and how you cured them. I have dealt with both before with 50- 50 success so it will be good to find out a sure fire thing.
Azurel
In Memoriam
Hey Phathead,
When I had this issue I lost about 20 ric total over 3 weeks and a second infection, they looked just like yours does in the picture. By that time it was to late for them to be saved. What I noticed is they only came out at night I have talked to a couple of ricordea collectors and aquaculturist that deal with ricordea and they told me that it is a protozoa in alot of the same as red bugs for SPS.
During the day light hours I found them to hide in the rock rubble that the ric is on and under the pedal foot of the ric in the sand. One of the tell tale signs I found was also the the edge of the ric would pull in and look as though it had gotten stung by another coral. The only way I found them was some of my brightest orange rics that were being eaten had these bright orange little dots around them. Come to find out that is the protozoa and they tend to take on the pigments of the rics they are eating. I was also told it seems they come from with in the ric as well and spew out the mouth and then infect other rics, I was told this by a person that deal with aquaculture ricordea. He also said that alot of times this problem comes up when people who sell aquaculture ricordea don't keep the wilds and aquaculture separated and there is cross contamination.......Here is what I found out that worked and saved the rest of the rics I had.....
I started to use saltwater dips w/ iodine that didn't work so forget about that. Use Ro/Di water with iodine and don't worry about getting it to ph or any of that stuff. Put them in a bowl let them sit for a minute or 2 and then take a turkey baster and blow on them vigorously with the turkey baster. They will slime up alot and that is natural for them to do because of the stress. This will only work on ones that are in the beginnings of the infection. If it gets to far along like in your pic throw them out as they will become prey and continue the infection and keep the protozoa alive that is left in your tank. I then instead of putting them back where they were I moved them up higher in the rocks away from where the infection and other rics were. I kept the healthy ones and the sick ones separated from each other in the tank. This seemed to work as the protozoa don't, from my observations have the ability to swim but crawl on the substrate. There were rics that were on rocks that were right next to the infected ones and they didn't get infected the only thing I could see is that they were to high away from the substrate for the protozoa to crawl up on......I dipped the ones I saved every other day for a week and still have them today. I also came down with a second infection about 3-4 weeks ago and caught it in time to save another 5 but lost another 5 rics to it because I didn't catch it in time to save them......In total I have lost about 20 ricordea over the 2 infections with this protozoa, so now I dip all ricordea except for yumas as they do not seem to be the target of the protozoa so it seems they are species specific in their destruction.
I got the infection from a shipment of rics from a wholesaler that deals in aquaculture ricordea. It seems from some that I have talked to that they are coming in on big rocks out of Haiti since most of the stuff collected here in U.S waters does not have a lot or any rock on them. Good luck with it make sure you dip every other day and keep them separated from the healthy ones.....I still collect them and will continue to collect them till my tank is full but now I know there is a predator out there that we have to watch for just like zoanthids and SPS......Like G.I. Joe says "Knowing is half the battle".
When I had this issue I lost about 20 ric total over 3 weeks and a second infection, they looked just like yours does in the picture. By that time it was to late for them to be saved. What I noticed is they only came out at night I have talked to a couple of ricordea collectors and aquaculturist that deal with ricordea and they told me that it is a protozoa in alot of the same as red bugs for SPS.
During the day light hours I found them to hide in the rock rubble that the ric is on and under the pedal foot of the ric in the sand. One of the tell tale signs I found was also the the edge of the ric would pull in and look as though it had gotten stung by another coral. The only way I found them was some of my brightest orange rics that were being eaten had these bright orange little dots around them. Come to find out that is the protozoa and they tend to take on the pigments of the rics they are eating. I was also told it seems they come from with in the ric as well and spew out the mouth and then infect other rics, I was told this by a person that deal with aquaculture ricordea. He also said that alot of times this problem comes up when people who sell aquaculture ricordea don't keep the wilds and aquaculture separated and there is cross contamination.......Here is what I found out that worked and saved the rest of the rics I had.....
I started to use saltwater dips w/ iodine that didn't work so forget about that. Use Ro/Di water with iodine and don't worry about getting it to ph or any of that stuff. Put them in a bowl let them sit for a minute or 2 and then take a turkey baster and blow on them vigorously with the turkey baster. They will slime up alot and that is natural for them to do because of the stress. This will only work on ones that are in the beginnings of the infection. If it gets to far along like in your pic throw them out as they will become prey and continue the infection and keep the protozoa alive that is left in your tank. I then instead of putting them back where they were I moved them up higher in the rocks away from where the infection and other rics were. I kept the healthy ones and the sick ones separated from each other in the tank. This seemed to work as the protozoa don't, from my observations have the ability to swim but crawl on the substrate. There were rics that were on rocks that were right next to the infected ones and they didn't get infected the only thing I could see is that they were to high away from the substrate for the protozoa to crawl up on......I dipped the ones I saved every other day for a week and still have them today. I also came down with a second infection about 3-4 weeks ago and caught it in time to save another 5 but lost another 5 rics to it because I didn't catch it in time to save them......In total I have lost about 20 ricordea over the 2 infections with this protozoa, so now I dip all ricordea except for yumas as they do not seem to be the target of the protozoa so it seems they are species specific in their destruction.
I got the infection from a shipment of rics from a wholesaler that deals in aquaculture ricordea. It seems from some that I have talked to that they are coming in on big rocks out of Haiti since most of the stuff collected here in U.S waters does not have a lot or any rock on them. Good luck with it make sure you dip every other day and keep them separated from the healthy ones.....I still collect them and will continue to collect them till my tank is full but now I know there is a predator out there that we have to watch for just like zoanthids and SPS......Like G.I. Joe says "Knowing is half the battle".
this sucks all I have is ricordea LOL well at least I was able to figure it out I was about to take my frustration out on my farmer peppermint shrimp but now that I did the dip he is hard at work cleaning the white ozze off the rics from being stressed. I will try to keep posting pics and updates on what happens next. Just a thought but if I get rid of the sand and have bare bottom do you think this would stop future problems?
Azurel
In Memoriam
Probably not as the rubble the ric is on can hide the protozoa, and they can still move around on the glass. It is easier for them to hide till night fall with sand though.....I would just dip and keep dipping till you see improvement. It took some a week or more to start showing their oldselves again after the final dip.....
JMCAquarium
They are among us!!
You use Ro/Di salt water or freshwater when doing your dips ???
I never measure my iodine either drip stir drip stir until nice color
I never measure my iodine either drip stir drip stir until nice color
Helfrichs Chic
New member
Huh weird for sure. I have lost well over $1000 in rics this year and mine doing exactly the same. Starts as a hole and within a day or 2 any ric left is gone. I too figured bacteria, and to be honest I am having a real hard time swallowing this whole bug thing. I would love to get a name or some more information on what these bugs are. The thing that makes me wonder is that my rics all are from n aquacultured source as well, and adapt perfectly to my tank conditions which are always testing perfect but after about a month or 2 they start getting the holes and then are gone within a couple days. I would really like to figure this out honestly I set up this tank specifically for rics lol and now no rics at all 
Here are some pics of my past rics 2 seperate batches all lost from the same affliction
Just to add an after thougt..... I did ric group buys, my ricordeas all died and a couple other peoples did as well but there are several people who had no effects and their rics look great an happy to this day. So I wonder how rics that are shipped together, then seperated, mine dont make it and others do? This is my main question, if it was bacteria or bugs then it would effect all the ricordeas, not just mine. IMO this has to be something enviromental present in my tank alone and nothing to do ith the rics as they came in. I will follow this thread for sure as I have not added any ricordeas in over 6 months now, and thinking about experiementing with a few. I would really like to see a few pics of these "bugs".
Here are some pics of my past rics 2 seperate batches all lost from the same affliction Just to add an after thougt..... I did ric group buys, my ricordeas all died and a couple other peoples did as well but there are several people who had no effects and their rics look great an happy to this day. So I wonder how rics that are shipped together, then seperated, mine dont make it and others do? This is my main question, if it was bacteria or bugs then it would effect all the ricordeas, not just mine. IMO this has to be something enviromental present in my tank alone and nothing to do ith the rics as they came in. I will follow this thread for sure as I have not added any ricordeas in over 6 months now, and thinking about experiementing with a few. I would really like to see a few pics of these "bugs".
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Helfrichs Chic
New member
Azurel
In Memoriam
LOL....Yea just ask my wife and the bad mood I was in for more then a week I am sure....
Helfrich’s Chic, I thought the same thing that it had to be a nutriant or water issue. I even looked into stray voltage and none of that turned out to be. All the test I ran came back within parameters on multiple test kits. The thing that got me was it was so random some were or would show signs of it and some right next to them wouldn't.
While no other coral in the tank was having issues so I know it wasn't a water condition issue. The only way I found them was because there were some that took on the bright orange pigment and I could see them move around on the sand next to the orange rics they were eating....
When I moved the rubble the ric was on there they were underneith it....I looked all over the net for answers and looked for research data and could only find a single sentence the gave the name of a protozoan parisite that feeds on rics. Once I searched that name absolutly nothing came up. Why? probably because nobody has done research on them enough for it to have been published....
I don't have the camera equipment to have taken pictures because these things are slightly larger then a pinhead....About the same size as red bugs that effect SPS.....Except these are black before they get the pigment on them.
Here is a link to where a person that aquacultures them talks about them....
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1366922
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