Interesting Inverts - Ricordea Rising!

So you're walking down the salwater aisle of your Local Fish Store, and you see a few gorgeous bubbly mushrooms in one corner. You feel the money starting to want to leave your wallet, and you know this new coral needs to come home with you. If you're like us, something like this has happened to you before. What you just came across are Ricordea Mushrooms, a very interesting coral indeed. There are really only two species of them as we currently view them in the hobby: Ricordea Florida (from the Atlantic) and Ricordea Yuma (from the Pacific).

First lets start with telling them apart, which is pretty easy if you're snorkeling. But in your LFS, it's a little harder. Luckily husbandry is basically identical for both, though Ricordea florida are widely accepted to be the more hardy of the two. Ricordea florida are usually colored in circle patterns, with evenly distributed tentacles over the disc of the mushroom, with the exception of there being a distinct naked area around the mouth of the coral. Ricordea yuma usually have tentacles in lines radiating out from the central mouth; this mouth will not have the same bare patch around the center that floridas have. Yuma are also sometimes patterned more wildly and frequently in more colors.

Husbandry is pretty straightforward, especially for the very hardy R. florida. Since they lack a skeleton of any kind, they don't have specific requirements for calcium. On a water quality level keep them between 75-80 degrees, specific gravity within a thousandth of 1.025 with minimal nutrient loads and consistent pH / alkalinity. Regular water changes with quality salt like Tropic Marin will be more than adequate to keep them happy without any kind of supplementing. Ricordea like stability, gentle, non-laminar flow, and moderately bright lighting; acclimate them to very high par locations slowly. If your Ricordea lets go of the substrate it is attached to, find it a more sheltered location. Placement can make a huge difference in how well your Ricordea do, as they are very sensitive to flow and to nearby neighbors that are chemically aggressive or have long sweeper tentacles.

Like most corals, Ricordea are both dependent on light for food via their zooxanthellae and on actual feeding. Husbandry wise, they are much like small anemones; they will not thrive without appropriately sized meaty meals. These meals need to be small enough for the Ricordea to eat, but large enough to grab. Watch them when you feed them, and the right size will quickly become apparent. Meals that are too small won't be noticed, and meals that are too large won't fit in their mouths. If you have very aggressively feeding shrimp or fish, you will need to find a mechanism to lock them out or keep them busy while you feed your Ricordea. We feed them once or twice a week depending on size.

Ricordea mushrooms offer gorgeous form and stunning coloration. In good conditions they will reproduce and spread over adjacent rockwork. Good husbandry and patience will have your display looking out of this world faster than you think. If you're interested in having some Ricordea in your aquarium, ask your LFS about getting you a few from Quality Marine today!