Tatumj96
Community Member
First of all, I should note that I have never had a Ricordea before. I only have zoas and GSP, plus some sun corals I kept for a while.
I was at my LFS the other day, as they were unpacking a new shipment I spotted a small piece of rubble with what I was pretty sure was a Ricordea Yuma, but in a color I've never seen before. It had rows of tentacles that radiated outwards from the center. It was about the size of a nickel, mostly whitish/pale green, and the tentacles were a pale yet fluorescent pinkish orange. It reminded me very much of an opal. I asked for a price before they even had a chance to look at it, and snagged it at $35. Hopefully, that'll turn out to be a great deal on a beautiful coral.
The problem soon ensued. It looked great after acclimation, amazing coloration, and was opened up. But this was as the lights were ramping down for the night. I went to sleep, woke up the next day, and went to work. When I arrived home, I saw it was almost completely detached and shrunken a little. I added some reef glue, and went back to bed. Woke up the next day, and it was gone. It had detached from the rubble, and I couldn't find it. I had to get to work, but when I returned home I found it and glued it to a frag.
The next morning, the same thing occurred. I found it when I got home that night, but did some quick research and saw that they don't glue easily. I sunk a floating breeder box, added some gravel, and dropped it in. I moved it to a dimly lit, low flow corner for the meantime. It's been about 36 hours now, it's moved around a little and I can see some color coming back, but it's very closed up.
After more research, I guess either light or flow was too high. And now I know that their slime coat makes gluing rather difficult. Hopefully it will attach to a bit of gravel soon. Can I relax and hope it comes back? What should I look out for? Any tips? I attached some half-hearted hurried attempts at photos before my moonlights shut off. It's more of a pinkish-orange than the orange in the pictures.
I was at my LFS the other day, as they were unpacking a new shipment I spotted a small piece of rubble with what I was pretty sure was a Ricordea Yuma, but in a color I've never seen before. It had rows of tentacles that radiated outwards from the center. It was about the size of a nickel, mostly whitish/pale green, and the tentacles were a pale yet fluorescent pinkish orange. It reminded me very much of an opal. I asked for a price before they even had a chance to look at it, and snagged it at $35. Hopefully, that'll turn out to be a great deal on a beautiful coral.
The problem soon ensued. It looked great after acclimation, amazing coloration, and was opened up. But this was as the lights were ramping down for the night. I went to sleep, woke up the next day, and went to work. When I arrived home, I saw it was almost completely detached and shrunken a little. I added some reef glue, and went back to bed. Woke up the next day, and it was gone. It had detached from the rubble, and I couldn't find it. I had to get to work, but when I returned home I found it and glued it to a frag.
The next morning, the same thing occurred. I found it when I got home that night, but did some quick research and saw that they don't glue easily. I sunk a floating breeder box, added some gravel, and dropped it in. I moved it to a dimly lit, low flow corner for the meantime. It's been about 36 hours now, it's moved around a little and I can see some color coming back, but it's very closed up.
After more research, I guess either light or flow was too high. And now I know that their slime coat makes gluing rather difficult. Hopefully it will attach to a bit of gravel soon. Can I relax and hope it comes back? What should I look out for? Any tips? I attached some half-hearted hurried attempts at photos before my moonlights shut off. It's more of a pinkish-orange than the orange in the pictures.
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