How long for Ricordea to recover from high heat? Crew, I have had a thriving reef aquarium for about 6 years.  Over the past couple of years I have introduced a number of different colors of Ricordea in my system.  I have around 10 colonies, many are great morphs colors.  About 3 months a go I decided I wanted to introduced stony corals as well.  So I went through the process of adding a calcium reactor and went up to 250/20,000 XM metal halides.  I have and continue to run blue actinic VHOs. In the process of the change, I raised the tank temperature to 80-84.  My Ricordea colonies suffered.  The size of the polyps shrunk dramatically.  I installed a chiller about a month ago so I am maintaining 76-77.  Most of the polyps are returning to close their original size.  However, not all of the polyps are bouncing back as well.  It seems the blue and blue hue Ricordea are the ones that are still having the most trouble. << Unfortunately I don't think there is anything you can do to expedite the process. >> Although some other color varieties are struggling as well.  Oddly some polyps in the same colony have different bounce back characteristics.  Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. << I think adding phyto and zooplankton is a good move.  At least keep them well fed and happy as they recover.  The only other thing to do, is to give them time. >> Thanks, Mike <<  Blundell  >>
Hoping my Ricordea will recover. Blundell, Thanks for the response.  << That is why I'm here! >> It confirms I am on the right track.  I do regular feedings of both phyto and zooplankton. << That is good to hear, too many people don't. >> I will hang in there and give them time.  It is a puzzle why some are recovering faster than others. << I guess it is part of what makes this hobby so interesting. >> Great site!!  Thanks again. Mike <<  Blundell  >>

Ricordea on Ice? Don't try This at Home! Hello there WWM Crew, <Hello, Jim> What I am about to describe is most definitely not one of my shining moments:  Earlier today my girlfriend and I purchased a nice little Ricordea piece from a LFS. After dropping her off at work I made my way home where I proceeded to totally forget about the little guy. The Ricordea then sat in my car for a good 6 hours with an outside temp around 45 degrees.  Only after I went to pick up my girlfriend did we realizing the situation, and as soon as we were home we started to acclimate the piece back to aquarium temperature by letting the bag with the polyp inside sit in the tank. What I really would like to know is does this poor Ricordea have a chance?  It is shrunken up quite a bit and it has retained some of its original green color. It is also still attached to its rock and looks like it is " mucusing" a bit. Considering what it just went through it doesn't look all that bad, but that isn't saying much. Thank you for your time and any words of wisdom you can offer would be greatly appreciated!  <Sure, it has a chance. God only knows what happens at airports when live goods are sitting around in below average temperatures and yet most seem to make it to their final destination. James (Salty Dog)>