This is a stunning color variety of Ricordea florida from the Florida Keys.  The main body is a dark, fluorescent green with a bright green mouth in the middle, and the outer ring of tentacles is a deep purple.   The colors on this ricordea are very rich and intense, and the polyps really glow in the right light.  These are larger polyps, averaging about 1.5” in diameter for the single mouthed polyps.

 

Most ricordea will eventually attach to any clean substrate in your tank, or you can epoxy or superglue them to what ever you want.  They can take intense light, but will thrive in medium light conditions as well.  Sometimes you just have to experiment with the placement to get the best color results.

 

All of the ricordea we sell are extremely hardy and are great for any level of reef keeper, from the novice to the pros.  They are primarily photosynthetic, but should be fed some sort of supplemental planktonic foods.  In the wild they eat the organic dust and silt that settles on them, so when feeding them, dust them with food.

 

Ricordea reproduce primarily by division, so eventually the polyp will form two mouths and begin to divide.  Many people help this division process along by cutting them in half between the mouths. This may seem radical, but it works and they almost always survive the process.  If you are pondering doing this, I would suggest you do some more homework before you try it.

 

The two species of anemone shrimp from the Caribbean, Periclimenes yucatan and Periclimenes pedersoni, will readily take up residence on these ricordea polyps and provide an interesting show in your tank

 

Ricordea ship very well by priority mail and can easily survive a three or four-day ship time.