Ricordia help...please! *pics*

[sharper]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the marine world, and I have a 12 gallon nano. I've got about 13 lbs of live rock, snails, hermit crabs, some xenia and some GSP.
One of our live rocks have a spread of what I could only guess is Ricordia that came as a hitchhiker. I really would like to see the ricordia thrive and be as beautiful as the ones I see in all of the ricordia pics I see online.
Is there something I could feed it? Any tips on how to care for them?
Here's pics of all sides of this one rock. As you can see it's covered in really small ricordia mushrooms.
Thanks for any help you could give me!

 

[jpgwold]

I am no expert but I think that they might be actinodiscus sp. and really not ricordia. The only reason I think I know anything about it is I have a thread on here of my mushroom that I could not identify and they look pretty similar to yours. Check out my thread and see what I'm talking about. "Help Identify Unknown Mushroom" posted by yours truly.

 

[sharper]

I looked at your pics and I looked up Actinodiscus and I'm not sure if that's what I have. I do think that there is a possibility that it might be a shroom of some type. But all of them are white with glowing little green dots. It might be turning red to be a red shroom, but I was thinking the reddness meant that it is getting sick. I was thinking it might be getting too much light, so I've moved it down in the tank a little.
are shrooms supposed to change colors? Or is mine supposed to be white?
Anyone else think its an Actinodiscus, Ricordia or some other type of shroom?
Thanks!

 

[Sk8r]

To keep them healthy, watch your alkalinity and ph. They eat anything that floats through the water. Food that stays suspended and that is very fine is what they need. Mine grow quickly, and I feed Cyclopeeze.

 

[Me No Nemo]

They also look like mushrooms to me. The white is bleached out and the red is good. Keep them in lower light for about a week and slowly move them into about moderate light and they should color back up. Any shroom/ricordea/yuma that is white is not healthy but can certainly be brought back to good health with some adequate food and lighting. GL!!! Marcye

 

[sharper]

SK8r-
Thanks. We are still having trouble keeping our PH up, so this may be causing them to look so sickly. We keep putting buffer in it, and the PH goes up over 8.2, but the next day, it's back down to 7.6-7.8. We are a little confused about that right now.
I fed the ricordia/shrooms some mysis shrimp last night, not really sure if they ate. Can't really tell. One of them started to close up on one for a little bit, but didn't get far. It didn't take long for the snails and hermits to come by and take it from them.
I'll def will have to get some cyclopeeze and see what happens.

Marcye-
Good to know! I thought since it was the very top rock in the tank it was getting too much light, so I moved it down in the middle last night. All of them started out white, and just recently started to turn red. I thought since it looked shriveled on the red part, that it was getting sick, but I guess that means its getting better. Woohoo! Something is going right! LOL

 

[Me No Nemo]

I know this will sound crazy, but if you get some time when it's cool enough (probably not too much chance of that at this time of year in Texas), try opening up your house for a while. It may help to get fresh air in to raise your PH level. Some say that's bunk, but I do it regularly and it seems to work. Also, what is your calcium level? If that's too high, it can hamper the ph as well.

 

[sharper]

Hmm, we don't have a calcium test in our saltwater test kit. So I have no idea.
I'll definately let the hubby know to test the calcium, maybe, just maybe that is the hidden secret to solve our puzzle.
Yeah, with our 1-bedroom apartment's electricity bill at $290, we won't be opening our doors any time soon. Should I put an air stone in one of the chambers maybe?