Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Hehe......just got the email from SWF.com....I have a toadstool leather and some ricordia polyps on the way.....tips or advice????? I know, or so I've read that leathers like low light, and rics are more higher light likers.......I've got 260 watts of pc....so...put the leather on the bottom....the rics half way up.....and work em up from there????

Don't forget good water flow around the toadstool. This will help it release it's film when it sheds.

ok, cool, thanx. Should it be directly in the flow of a powerhead, or indirectly, and maybe just gently swaying? I've got him on the bottom, and he opened up nicely, but when I woke up this morning he had fallen a few inches to my sand bed. I then just turned him upright and pushed his stalk a little into the sand. Came home tonight and he was closed up. Kinda looked like a "peeod" fat starfish, but that's just my imagination. I put him back up on the rock and he already looks better a few hours later. I guess he definetly doesn't like the beach....go figure.

I would go for good indirect flow. No corals really like constant direct flow IMO. Maybe face your powerhead at the center front glass. I found that placing powerheads on opposite sides of the tank...facing the center creates a really good counter current flow in the tank. You can adjust the placement and water the currents change to get it just right. I would not bury the stalk in the sand. Placing it on a rock might be a better idea, just remember todies get really big, so closer to the bottom with some elbow room might work out best.

Good luck,

SaltnLime wrote:I found that placing powerheads on opposite sides of the tank...facing the center creates a really good counter current flow in the tank. You can adjust the placement and water the currents change to get it just right.

I actually designed my main circulation this way... I have about 1800GPH or so coming out on each end of a 8 foot tank (Im' running tow Mag24's), pointed towards the center... lots of flow, and seems to keep everybody happy!

thanks......yeah, he is much happier off the sand, opening up to at least 8 inches..(got him off swf.com)..and I've got him recieving the brunt of a mag 5 from my fuge, off the front of my glass . All my little ric polyps seem to be adjusting well...got them split up around the tank. What is their growth rate? I also bought a star polyp today, . I know they are fast growers. Anything special to feed any of these corals? I only dose with Kent's a&b, and phytoplankton or marine snow a few times a week.

SaltnLime wrote:I would go for good indirect flow. No corals really like constant direct flow IMO. Maybe face your powerhead at the center front glass. I found that placing powerheads on opposite sides of the tank...facing the center creates a really good counter current flow in the tank. You can adjust the placement and water the currents change to get it just right. I would not bury the stalk in the sand. Placing it on a rock might be a better idea, just remember todies get really big, so closer to the bottom with some elbow room might work out best.

Good luck,

How big do they get?

It depends on the species which is nearly impossible to be certain of but Terry had one that was at least 15 inches across and Brandon has a devil's hand that may be a little larger than that.

ok......now I'm scared....he-he..........actually, if it gets that big, what a great excuse to get a bigger tank. .....what about ricordia polyps?

Belothesurf wrote:ok......now I'm scared....he-he..........actually, if it gets that big, what a great excuse to get a bigger tank. .....what about ricordia polyps?

Ricordia takes a while to grow. But if you do see two mouths on one polyp, you can actually cut it in the middle between the two mouths. Make sure it is a entirely clean cut and keep them seperated by pushing the now seperated mouths away from each other. This will prevent the polyp to grow together again. After a while you will have two polyps.

I am pretty sure that unless you paid a great deal for the leather it will be less than 5 inches across and they don't grow like weeds so you may be ok for a while.

I like ricordia, they are pretty much like mushrooms but don't grow and multiply as fast (that is a good thing). They do have fairly strong stinging cells so don't let them touch anything. Most people usually have them on or near the sand bed.

Then SWF gave me a good deal, cause the leather is easily 8 inches, at it's widest point, fully open. Now the rics they sent, I got 5, were only quarter sized or so, one was a little bigger. Anyway, I thought rics like stonger lighting. I've got 260w pc for a 55g. Would they be ok on the bottom?