Ricordea Health?

[Dlhirst]

Last Summer, there was a week of really warm weather during a time that I was out of town. As my wife doesn't use the AC anywhere near like I do, my tank got quite warm. The water was probably in the mid-80s for a week or more, before I noticed that ALL my ricordeas were just melting away. Well, all save one colony of blues. I started keeping RODI water in the fridge, and would replenish with that cool water to keep the temp down, and also kept the lid off the tank when the lights were on. Still, I lost all my rics except that one colony.

All of the tank parameters were in line with where they have always been. Except of course, the temperature.

pH ~8.2
Alk ~2.8
NH3 < 0.25
NO3 < 2.5
Ca ~430
Mg ~1300+


I really love the ricordeas, so of course, I was crushed by the loss. Until that time, they had all been thriving quite well. Ironically, I had considered them my most (re)productive corals. Now, I am wanting to put some more back in the tank, but I am worried that I am missing some other part of the equation. Is there anything thing that ricordeas might need that other corals would not? A trace element, or perhaps something else that I need to solve for, first?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[rogersb]

I think they like a little iodine(iodide would be safer) but I don't really put any in my tank and mine have been reproducing pretty well. The ones higher in the tank look nicer but reproduce slower than the ones at the bottom. I have no solid evidence but I would venture that the ones higher up get less food than the ones on the sandbed, hence the better reproduction rates.

 

[drawman]

I wouldn't be worrying about a trace element. As with other corals, maintain your Ca, Alk, pH, and Mg. Consistent water changes should be enough to keep trace elements that you aren't testing for in check.

In my experience, Ricordea florida love higher light (than other mushrooms). You can also feed them and the tank a little more (as long as your nitrate and phosphate don't suffer as a result). If you can't keep up with the AC it might just be best to save up for a chiller (and controller if you don't already have one) to circumvent any issue in the future. No sense putting that money towards more coral if there is a risk of it happening again.