Propagating ricordia yuma

[Mike A]

Has anyone tried cutting ricordia yuma with a sharp razor to get them to split ?

I was trying to move one of my yumas out of the way to make
room for a recently acquired sps coral. The yuma had started to move
off the rock it came in on, and had partially attached to a larger rock
in my tank, so it was halfway across. I tried pulling it away, but it was
pretty strongly attached to both rocks.

I used a new razor to cut it in half in order to move it. I got it right across
the mouth, so both halves have a partial mouth.

Has anyone tried this ?
Was it successful ?

 

[Yaktop]

I heard that that is the way to do it but never have personnally. let us know.

 

[Tstone]

Mike as long as you got some of the mouth then it will regrow. So in this case you should end up with 2 new Rics.

Good luck.

 

[Mike A]

Thanks Ed and Marvin. Marvin, good to see you posting here again.

I cut the yuma earlier today and right after, neither piece was looking too good.

Now that some time has passed, they're both open, a little mishapen, but they
both look good.

Looks like I'll have some captive propagated ricordia yuma available soon

 

[Tstone]

Mike I lurk a little. When I see something interesting I jump in. I will mostly stay on the fringe.

Take care.

 

[denvig]

You know you hear that you can do this but to actually take the knife and slice it is a whole different thing. Mike let us know how it finally makes out. Hey Marvin it is nice to see you posting. Hope you make the meet.

 

[Yaktop]

marvin lives! see you at the meet?

Mike, it was beat up pretty bad. it willl take awhile.

 

[NateHanson]

Mike I lurk a little.

I thought that got you in trouble a few years ago, with that cute neighbor.

 

[RobboT]

Mike I had great success by cutting them. Never had any concern for whether the mouth was included or not and they always came through.

 

[NateHanson]

Nice Avatar Rob!

Looks like I'm going to start slicing up the ricordia. Do the parts need to be separated physically after cutting? Or can they be left in place on the same rock, and still form two daughters?

 

[RobboT]

I always sliced completely through trying to split the part where they were attached but left them on the same rock. That way I didnt have to worry about attaching it since they dont glue easily.

 

[Mike A]

Nate, the one that had started moving between rocks is now two separate
corals, but I've also cut some green yumas I have that were on the same
rock. When those were cut, they moved in different directions to make two
new ricordia on the same rock.

 

[reefnroll]

Hey Mike -

I tried this a bunch of times after it was suggested by Calfo at the meeting the BRS attended with Borenman a few years ago. (He also suggested trying the razor blade slice thing with rose BTAs, but I didn't go that far). I had about 90% success with rics. I lost a few pieces here and there, but most of the frags came through fine. In my experience there are some types/color of ricordia that do better than others. I have some deep blue/purple ones that just didn't like the process at all, so I didn't push it. I did always try to keep a part of the mouth on the new frag... they seem to grow back faster that way.

I put all the pieces into a plastic/glass dish at the bottom of the tank.filled with rubble, then let them attach themselves naturally. Turkey baster some food into the dish every few days... 'cause they'll rejuvenate even faster when they eat. Works great.

What colors can I sign up for?

b

 

[Mike A]

The ricordia I cut was a bright pink one.

Now I have two, and more importantly, I have some confidence I can do this
without killing the coral (which was pretty damned expensive).

 

[reefnroll]

Sign me up!

Feed it and keep it clean, Mike. Those yuma have more of a tendancy to get brown jelly crud than the floridas - IME. If you keep it in decent flow, without risking the pieces blowing all over the tank, it should stay debris free.

b

 

[Mike A]

Thanks bec,

Judging by how long it took to grow this yuma to the point where it was ready
to cut - it'll be a while before they're ready.

 

[Tstone]

I thought that got you in trouble a few years ago, with that cute neighbor.

I got time off for good behavior.

 

[reefnroll]

Yeah... those Yuma's can be frustrating...
but so good to look at! I can wait

Good luck Mike.

b

 

[SteveDola]

I was talking to a vendor at Macna (yes I said the dreaded name) and he was telling me how he reproduced his corals. He said that the Ricordia was very easy to reproduce because all you need was a pair of kitchen shears. He said to have a small tupperware container with small pieces of LR (rubble) and cut up the Ric into little fragments . He said not to worry about slicing the mouth either. Cut some holes into the tupperware (or what ever cheap knockoff you can find) and sit it in you tank. After a couple of days the ric will start to adhere to the pieces of rubble and you have yourself Ric frags. They will grow out quickly too. I suppose if you were intending on keeping these for your own tank you could interchange the rubble rock with a more suitable rock for you display. I havent tried it yet but im going to soon as I can motivate my lazy arse.

Needless to say I dont believe you will have any problems with your new pink yumas. Good luck!