RICORDEA experts: What are the rarity of colors?

[Sylock]

I'm looking to come up with a list of colors that ricordea come in, and how rare/special/valuable those colors are. Could people put down which colors are rare and which are 'rarer'. An example is that Green would be considered very common. Thanks for your time!

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Here is a link to info on them:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...002/06/4/95662

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/ricordea.htm

Here is a pick of a pink one I found on the internet:

http://theaquariumcity.com/Displays/...k_ricordea.jpg

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Here is a pic of a common one in my tank:

[Big Dave]

Well, your orange, reddish, and pink are your hardest to get, and of course the most expensive. It's not uncommon to see the orange go for $40- a polyp!! Once in a while you get a brighter color morph and it goes for a ton of cash, but can make you the envy of your reefing buddies! Check out this blue ricordia on ebay. Worth it to some though.

I have some of the bright green, some that are blue-green, and some that are a sweet baby blue! Don't have any pics here at work but can post one later. I haven't seen the baby blue too much in other tanks or LFS. I had a yellow ricordia polyp a ways back but unfortunately it dissappeared. Not sure what ever happened to it. HTH

-Big Dave

[neenish]

Check this link out. They usually have a bunch of different Ricordia's on their website with cool pics:
http://www.roesmarineworld.com/newrareunusual.htm

[Sue Truett]

My LFS, Aquatic Design, has been getting some wild colored ricordia lately. He has a great coral importer and what I have seen just in his shop are blue and red in one, orange and pink in one, solid orange and solid pink. He also had a green with purple mouth and purple rim. I never noticed these corals til he started getting in these wild colors. I can't wait til tomorrow as he was getting some in he said would make those others look plain. They are really cool looking though.

Big Dave, maybe the yellow one will come back for you. I had some that did all but die off and I forgot about them all together and the next thing I knew something was growing out from under a rock. Turned the rock over and there were like 4-5 polyps of the green and purple.

my 180 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html

[MUCHO REEF]

I've been an avid collector and grower of ricordea for the past 6 years. Their colors are endless traverse the spectrum from one end to the other. Brownish and green are the most common and least expensive. Your aqua, teal colors are a little higher on the color chain however they are also common and not too expensive. Light blues, medium blues are a bit more expensive. Orange ricordea and dark blue ricordea are even more expensive and they are a little higher as well on the color/cost scale. They are very striking to say the least in a well light system with blue actinics. The color morphs and variation of orange ricordea are endless. I have collected at least 25 different orange ricordea and yes, they are very expensive. I would say that purple ricordea would rank a bit higher in rarity and cost than the orange ricordea. Reds, yellows and pink ricordea are very hard to find. If you happen to find one, buy it on the spot. Chances are you will never see one again. If a web sights boast of there $ 29 per polyp red, yellow and pink ricordea, don't even bother to purchase it. They are either crazy or running a serious con to steal your money.

If you are trying to create some sort of color chart more specifically than this, you will spend a lot of time making changes. I have seen at least 12 variations of each of the colors I just listed and I am sure there are dozens more.

As a grower/collector of Florida and Pacific ricordea, I would like to share a few points of interest. I'm sure I will get some flack over this but this observation is based on my system and my experience and everyone I know who has tried both successfully and unsuccessfully to grow or maintain them. Ricordea are typically slower growers. The key to maintaining them with great expansion is having a good current flow. I have seen many system fail because of a simple lack of current which delivers the nutrients to this jewels of the sea. The expansion will be very noticeable with a slight current brushing over them very gently. To much current will cause them to cup, contract or detach. I concur with Eric Borneman's book, "Aquarium Corals", on page 199, that they will not thrive in metal halide lighting. They will live, however, every person I personally know have never had great expansion, growth or division in their system with MH lighting. The final key in my opinion is light feedings and iodine. When I began using them in my soft coral reef many years ago, the growth was explosive. No other changes were made to the daily upkeep of my system. Therefore, I attributed the improvements solely to the bi-weekly feedings and the iodine. You guys are the pros, I'm just a rookie who knows what works for my system and I have had remarkable results and success with it. Hope I didn't over step my boundries.

Chow, Mucho

[DennisW]

Dave.....BABY BLUE???????? I'm gonna have to take another look at that tank!!!!!!!!!

Dennis

[DennisW]

Mucho....we posted at the same time. I agree with you about the halide issue. I have halides and have never really had any luck with ricordia (ya..ya..ya..blame the lights ).

Dennis

[Junkzoo]

i've only have green at this time , would live to try reds,pinks, or any other colors,,,i hear that some people have them split very well and often,,,i have 2 400W-10K MH's on mt 75,,,ricordia's are on the bottom , they do OK,,,but no explosive growth,,,mebbe the Mh's....

[big t]

Here is a pic of some brownish/purpleish ricordia that a friend gave me, it looks like they are starting to drop some daughters so I guess they must be happy. They are in a low flow area on the side of my tank and are currently under 1 12k 110w VHO in my 55. As soon as I get my new ballast I will have 4 vho's, maybe next week

[big t]

ya here is the pic

[Stang69]

Here are my blue ones

Jeff

[Junkzoo]

NICE! , Jeff and bigT!!!!

[big t]

Ahh jeff, very nice.
So can I have one? hehe