Anyone have a way of moving a ‘Ric that’s solidly attached?

[Oldsalt01]

I made the mistake of gluing a rubble piece with 1 1/2” orange florida ricordia at the very top of my flat rock at the top of the tank about 6 months ago. Since then it has crawled off the rubble piece (and actually looked like it was trying to crawl under the rubble piece, which has since been removed with a small black sponge attached). Over the past month the ‘ric has shrunk to about 1/2 it’s size and I’m thinking it's getting too much light. It seems to be well attached but I’d like to move it to a lower light area with the others. Anyone have a suggestion? I suppose I could chisel the piece it’s attached to, but the rock it’s on is 10” long and probably weighs in around 3-4lbs and has some struggling zoas on it. I’ve slowly dropped my Hydra 26 levels to see if that helps out the zoas but I’d really like to see this ‘ric survive. The last time I tried something like this I ended up tearing another ‘ric in half 🤬. Fortunately both pieces survived. 

[Oldsalt01]

Here’s a pic of the ‘ric involved:

[seabass]

Chipping off the small clump of rock that it's on sounds doable.

[Oldsalt01]

4 hours ago, seabass said:

Chipping off the small clump of rock that it's on sounds doable.

Yah. It sounds doable, BUT, the last time i tried that I shattered the rock the ric was on, and this rock is a beautiful table rock which basically holds another rock full of ‘shrooms in place. I’m actually hoping the lower light settings help this guy come back. If not, I may just write it off and get another one. It’s not like they’re super expensive. The lower settings seem to be helping the zoas open more and so i may have been blasting everything with too much light. Time will tell. 

[teenyreef]

I've had success with just peeling them off with a scalpel. They're pretty tough, and it might be worth a try if it's a cheap one you're not too worried about anyway.

[mcarroll]

All the ideas on moving or removing him sound fine, but another thing to consider is that if he's moving, it's to try and find better conditions.  Is there anything going on with the tank that would cause it?  (Or anything that could be done to help?)

 

We might have some ideas along these lines.

 

Can post a little more about your tank, including test results for nitrates, phosphates and whatever else you are testing for?

[ninjamyst]

try using a bone cutter and cut below the ric?  

[Oldsalt01]

Fed some Roids last night and got a positive feeding response from the ‘ric. I’m going to have to move the tank (which will mean emptying it completely) to accomodate some flooring replacement in the next couple of weeks so I’m going to hold off doing anything and see if the lowered light settings have any effect. My zoas seem to like it as they have started opening more than in the last 3 months. Thanks to all, for your thoughtful and considerate input.

[Frag Factory]

12 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

try using a bone cutter and cut below the ric?  

Yes, that's the best idea.

 

A bone cutter will break the glue joint.

 

Failing that, a razor blade.

[jservedio]

You could put a piece of rubble right up against where the ric is attached and then make a little "sunshade" out of epoxy (or just another rock) on the other side to force the ric to move onto the rubble to get some light. That's how I move my maxi-minis without damaging their foot.