Ricordea Disappearing

[hrdneglcry]

I HAVE SOME RICORDEA IN A 33 LONG. I HAVE ONE 4 INCH PIECE THAT WAS COVERED WITH RICORDEA. I HAVE A FEW OTHER MUSHROOMS SCATTERED AROUND THE TANK. MY MAIN PIECE SEEMS TO BE MISSING SOME MUSHROOMS. A BRITTLE STARFISH HITCHHIKED IT'S WAY INTO MY TANK WITH THE ROCK THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. COULD IT BE EATING THE SHROOMS? WHY IS MY RICORDEA DISAPPEARING? THE ONLY OTHER INHABITANT IS A MAROON CLOWN. MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR A WATER CHANGE.

 

[BrokkenTWolf]

It is unlikely that your brittle star or clown are messing with the ricordeas. A more likely cause might be the condition of your tank - water parameters or lighting. Do the rics show any sign of distress such as not opening up fully or closing up completely ? (if so, you'll likely see the green foot tissue of the ric)

 

[hrdneglcry]

New Ric

New Ric

My newest Rics are closing completely. Somebody told me that Rics are easy to care for,a nd can survive in many lighting schemes including regular lighting. I am finding out a bit that my new ones at least require more light. I am working on purchasing a new light. I removed the Brittle Star, but I agree that he was not the problem. thanks for the input. Also it was said that Ricoedea is some of the hardest shrooms to care for. How hard are they to care for?

 

[hrdneglcry]

Rics too

Rics too

I took down the 36 watt total lights from the tank, and set up 120 watts by using 3, 40 watt bulbs. The close Rics opened up almost instantly. I have some other Rics in the tank that I believe were completely covering a rock. Now there are noticeable bare spots on the rock. I guess that could be attributed to lighting too. It was said that Rics were low demanding, and could surivive in low light. Hopefully the lighting adjustment will solve all of the problems. I did a water change two nights ago just to be safe. This tank has been established for 3.5 months now, so it has fully cycled. Thanks again.

 

[BrokkenTWolf]

3.5 mo is cycled, but hardly established. It is possible that parameters aren't stable enough for them yet. The key is constancy: If you keep your photo-period constant and do regular water changes, they should start thriving. Sounds like the two changes you've made have already helped some.

 

[hrdneglcry]

Rcis too

Rcis too

After I added 3, 40 watt bright light bulbs, and after the Ricordea initially opened back up I noticed that one closed up completey. While I was disconnecting the light I noticed that the shrooms opened back up when the light was off. So I replaced my bright lights with Marine Glo Actinic lights, and now they are all open. They glow too which is cool!

 

[BrokkenTWolf]

If you keep changing your lights around, this will shock your rics and all the other corals though. Make a lighting decision and stick with it. Most corals will tolerate less-than-ideal conditions, but at least they require that you keep things constant.

 

[hrdneglcry]

Actinic

Actinic

I'm sticking with this. I have always loved Marine Glo Blue Actinic lights, and I used them on my freshwater tanks for 6 years. They make the shrooms glo. It is also said that it is important that you like what you have. In other words that you like the way things look. I like this look the best, and the shrooms seem to like it too. Thx.

 

[hrdneglcry]

BrokkenTWolf
Hey, I want to buy at least one feather dusters, and many more than one if it turns out that I can keep them. It has been said that the Christmas tree one are very hard to keep. I would like to keep some in the same tank with my regular mushrooms that will survuve under the same conditions that my mushrooms do. Any suggestions? I do not want to starve the feather dusters either, so keep that in mind.

 

[THB]

One other thought on the rics. When I first got mine one of them totally disappeared. A friend told me that I had placed them in too much flow and that they would sometimes just turn loose from their rock and float away if the flow wasn't to their liking. I relocated to less flow and had no further problems. The theory was further supported when I found the awol ric a month later on the other side of the tank. I remounted him and we have lived happily ....yada yada.
Just one more possibility.

 

[j_chu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9124939#post9124939 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hrdneglcry
BrokkenTWolf
Hey, I want to buy at least one feather dusters, and many more than one if it turns out that I can keep them. It has been said that the Christmas tree one are very hard to keep. I would like to keep some in the same tank with my regular mushrooms that will survuve under the same conditions that my mushrooms do. Any suggestions? I do not want to starve the feather dusters either, so keep that in mind.

feather dusters are non-photosynthetic, they are filter feeders and as with any other inverts are sensitive to sudden changes in water parameters. your 3.5mo old tank might not be established enough to provide them with the proper food but IMO you can supplement with brine shrimp (as i've done before), phytoplankton, etc. good luck!

 

[hrdneglcry]

Thank you. My tank is more than 3.5 months now. This is an old thread that I started in June. I just revisited it because I has good response before.