tear/parasite on ricordia

[scitz]

Just bought this small 'ric' at a lfs for $2.99 yesterday. Was nice and opened at the store (infact it looked like 2 in the last stages of a split) They bagged that frag and 2 others in the same large bag w/ lots of water than placed in a box. The other frags (brown w/ green mouth zoo's and brown/purple w/ orange mouth zoo's) look fine and most of the polyps have opened up. This shroom hasn't opened up and looks damaged. I have noticed a small tear in the upperleft portion of the 'cap' as well as lots of coiled white stuff over the surface [think small intestines] neither of which was there when I bought it. Here are some pics:

 

Damaged area circled

 

another angle

 

pulled back shot [the tonga looks funny in my all fiji rock tank]

 

 

Anyone know what the white stuff is and if they think the mushy will recover.

[scitz]

hmm, no body has an answer?

[TroyT]

I watched my ricordia split a couple times already and mine did not look like that. Even during the splits the ric looked healthy. Yours on the other hand doesn't appear to be doing so hot.

 

I would try to help it recover from the injury. If it is in a low flow area, move it to mid flow area. Sometimes the extra current helps during healing.

 

Is it expelling any slime? Does it feel like a ricordia, all soft a slippy, or does it feel like a flat mush? Has it improved any?

 

I am not an expert at any of this, I am just trying to give you a couple ideas. Good luck.

[jtsam]

yeah, that is the ricordias "intestines". looks like it got torn in some way. you also see this (the white ribbony stuff) if you frag a ricordia by cutting it in half. i would say keep it in a low flow area (low, not dead) and let it heal, you dont want to handle it or mess with it too much, and if you could it would be nice to keep hermits or anything else that could cause harm away. ricordias are pretty resiliant little fellas, and even though that guy is small i think he'll make it. the one on the bottom looks like the best bet, but it's a possibility that you could have 3 new rics come out of this. one thing that will make it more clear which and if any will live, which parts are attatched to the rock (that could make a big difference). and just remember-it takes time. some parts may disenigrate off and others may attatch, if a larger chunk comes off with the current and the piece looks fairy healthy put it in a very low flow area with some rubble (a small cup or film canister w/ rubble in it works great) and it might attatch and heal.

 

well, i wish you luck. keep us updated on progress, and sheesh great deal. 3 bucks is nice for a ric of that coloring. haha, it even looks pretty nice now and it's torn up! too bad you had that mishap bringing it home. if it heals up and all turns out well sell me a frag!! ha

[scitz]

Assuming they all don't rot, it looks like at the end of this I could have 3 (faint possibility for 4) frags. The bottom section was the largest of the 2 lobes when I bought it and has remained basically intact. There is a big chunk that is now its own seperate entity to the upper right in the pictures, then a very small piece to the upper left. The biggest chunk looks like it was in the process of a split, the lines of knobs isnt nice and radial in a 1/3 of it. Hope that made sense. As soon as I find my battery charger I will update pics.

 

Also today I noticed that the whole thing isnt as 'neon green", but I would probably be darkened/dull if I got ripped up by something. The day I posted this thread, I noticed some of the green stuff stuck to the bottom of one of the other frag's base rock, so I am assuming the 2 rocks hit each other and messed up the ric. Last time I let lfs employee's bag more than one frag in the same bag. The zoo's are looking awesome though, every day a few more polyps open up (even some that looked closed at the store). I will have to post those pics.

 

jtsam, can u thermos trade rics, or will that just make em really pissed off?

[scitz]

TroyT, just moved the ric today to a higher flow, higher light place and she still feels like a ric, all slimy and bumpy.

 

Need to quit stalling and get my AC500 fuge so I can have a place for frag santuary. Right now I think my peppermint shrimps are picking at it because all the torn up tissue is gone and they look 'cleaner'. Would it be of any benifit to use lugols iodine topically to prevent a bacteria infection?

[scitz]

 

 

 

 

Looks like 3 frags, if the biggest one survives. It looks like it has a lot of damage right through its 'mouth'.

[MrKrispy]

just keep mild flow on it and keep an eye out for slime or scavengers. If some cleaning crew start picking at it (they shouldn't), cut the bottom off a solo cup and throw the ric in with some sand and cover it with plastic mesh and let it heal.

 

 

Good luck!