Reef Discussion

[Dean Lovett]

Two weeks ago I got a little Ricordea from the LFS.

Since then, it hasn't opened to its full extent and now, I woke up this morning and it was on the floor. The flower had come off of its rock that it came with.

First of all, what's the best care for these guys? And second, how might I reattach it?

Thanks all!

 

[Buddy]

Try placing it an a different area of the tank. Usually my rics and morphs will grab hold of a surface as soon as I put it there.
If it is being stubborn you can place it in a small container with some rubble. This will prevent it floating away and give it a chance to attach.
Should be pretty easy to care for. Medium light and flow. Can be fed but will be just fine without direct feeding.

 

[Savage Henry]

There are some great articles on other websites with clear instructions in this matter Dean. I will try to find one for you.

Google precisely "THE STUDENTS WILL LEARN TO COMMERCIALLY PROPAGATE MUSHROOM ANEMONES" and click on the first result.

There is one method involving sewing rics on to rocks using cotton wool. I tried this but it failed for me (it didn't harm the ric though so worth trying). Another method is to use super glue. This has worked for me about 30% of the time.

As Luke has indicated, if you can place the rics in a favour position, but one where it won't be washed away, it will bond to the rockwork itself. You can use plastic flyscreen place over the ric and tied onto a rock to keep the ric in position as it bonds to the rock.

I have had most success with what Luke has suggested - buy one of those fry-savers for livebearer (ie guppies) that you can float in your tank and put your rics inside sitting on small rock frags. Once the ric is bonded to the small frag you then use aqua kneadit or other to bind the frag to a spot in your tank.

I have found with mushrooms and with one or two rics, that if they are in a spot they don't like, they will drop off the rock. So, if you try to put it back from where it dropped off, understandly your ric will leave.

With ric care, in my experience, some are more demanding then others, but they are usually no harder to keep then other mushrooms. In my experience they don't grow as fast as other mushrooms. However, all my rics have liked to eat food placed on them, but I have had to stop the water flow for half an hour or so to allow them time to eat.