Experienced Ricordia Propagators

[RBuddha]

Anyone that has prop'd rics with a fair amount of success could you chime in on your routine and whats the best way to get 'em splitting?

[sambo123]

Take the ric, cut it off the rock, leaving the "foot" attached to the rock ( I know its not a foot but couldnt think of what to call it) this will groe out to a polyp but takes a while, then take a razor blade and slice the ric in half ( if the ric already has 2 mouths cut between the mouths and it will heal faster) then place the two half in a small cup with LRR in your prop tank, they will attach in a couple of weeks and in alittle over a month you will have three new rics. You can also cut them in four peices, but I think they take way to long to grow back to full sized polyps.

 

You can also just let them split naturally in you tank, by giving them food svery once in a while, low flow, and med light, along with normal trace element dosing ect. They wont reproduce as fast as fragging them IMO, but its alot easier

 

I usually split mine when they have multiple mouths, it always seem to work better for me. Im not the best at keeping rics, so wait till people like propagator chime in ( he's got a ridiculous amount of rics) with some real expert advice. Anyway, good luck propagating them!!!

[RBuddha]

Do you think rics split faster under PC as opposed to MH? I know putting them in a shaded area they'll naturally stretch out to the light which can increase their diameter.

[zzpw3x]

Leave it attached, only one mouth is needed. Then get your razor blade and split it down the center - now you have 2 rics that will heal within weeks. If you detach and cut, you need to go into the process of attaching them to rubble, which isn't that hard but is a pin in the arse.

 

They will not grow back together (unlike mushrooms).

 

Propagation by feeding is too slow.

 

Dale

[mvite]

Dale knows what he's talking about----he infected me with reefaholism.

 

Cut em on the rock--otherwise it is a total PAIN to get them to attach. I have used bridal veil, fishing line, pressure, keeping them in a container of rubble, etc---and they are only gonna hold on when they wanna.

 

Don't give em the chance to walk away. Cut em and then feed them every day--with a nice meaty food. They will grow.

 

I have mine under MH and they are lovin it.

[Neal]

I agree with what everyone has said about them being a pain as far as attaching. I put some in a cup of live rock rubble and it took them forever to attach to anything. And when they did, they attached to the smallest little particles of live rock. At least now I can superglue the tiny rock to a larger rock. I tried supergluing the frags, but they were so slimy they wouldn't attach. Another problem I had fragging them was that they shrunk up so much after I made the first cut from the "foot" that I couldn't identify the mouth area. I cut them up kind of randomly and they all healed, so I guess it's not essential that there be a piece of the mouth in the frag. It was cool to see how they contracted up and pulled the cut edges together to form a circe again, though

[sambo123]

I agree its a pain, but if you want to Propagate them so you can sell and trade them, its nice to have them on small peices of rock, but if you just want them for you tank leave them attached

 

I think mine grow faster under MH, but I left them pretty shaded

 

It not essential to have a mouth on the frag, it just helps them heal faster, I like it b/c they will take peeze, and that makes them heal really fast for me

[mvite]

I have become a master with a dremel----you could--and I have---shaved the rock under the ric--wafer thin. I then glued the piece to another rock. I only cut the ric in half when I did that, but I suppose you could smash it from there.

 

I stepped on a bag full of montipora confusa today.....instant frags!!