When I saw a rock at my local fish store with two dying Ricordea corals bleached to practically zero color, I knew I had to try to rehabilitate them.
Intake: Acclimation, Inspection, and Dips
Upon arriving at my home, I worked through my typical inspection, dip, and quarantine processes on these two dying Ricordea corals. Although hard to tell, this retracted Ricordea coral was nearly colorless (bleached) (March 14, 2012), but there was fluorescence. The mouths weren’t gaping, and the corals were intact (no damaged tissue). The bleaching severity led me to react to these corals as an “urgent” situation. The “usable diagnosis” (I’m not a medical professional, but this helps me create a care plan) was bleaching due to high light. (I saw where these two corals were physically located in the aquarium, so it was pretty obvious that they were receiving excessive light.)
Then, I had to assess the corals’ overall health. Since bleaching is often due to excessive light, wherein the zooxanthallae leave the coral, the coral has an increased chance of starvation. Note that the coral is surrounded by colorful coralline algae, which can typically tolerate higher-light conditions. This particular Ricordea coral was stressed but appeared in relatively good health (not quite starving). However, the other Ricordea (not pictured – I can’t find a photo) was extremely small and appeared on the brink of starvation.
Next, I removed the dying Ricordea corals from the substrate as much as possible to reduce introduction of parasites and nuisance algae. I continued through my dipping process, which included both a hydrogen peroxide-based dip and a CoralRx dip. Afterward, I glued each coral to a frag plug and placed both corals in the quarantine aquarium.
Quarantine: Care and Feeding
Although “soft corals,” like these dying Ricordea corals, can have a higher saturation point (level of light for optimal photosynthesis) and possibly photoinhibition point (level of detrimental light) than their stoney counterparts, they can still get stressed and expel their zooxanthallae. With proper water conditions and lower light, they will frequently heal on their own. Supplemental feeding helps replace the energy source previously provided by the zooxanthallae.
Therefore, the solution for these corals was a healthy tank, low lighting, low flow, and a bit of feeding. Ricordea are not the most apt to taking food directly, especially when unwell. But, within a few days, the larger coral was eating well (very very small particulate food.) Once the corals went through 30 days of quarantine, were eating well, and did not have any concerning indicators, I used the dip process again before moving the Ricordea corals into my grow-out tank.
(Coral shown on 13 May 2012)
The second Ricordea was not recovering as fast as the larger one, but it was starting to regain color.
(Coral shown 14 May 2012)
By 22 May 2012, the larger Ricordea coral had almost fully recovered. The smaller one still had a ways to go.
Conclusion: Ricordea Rehabilitation Success
By 30 June 2012 (only slightly more than three months later), the larger Ricordea was fully rehabilitated. The smaller Ricordea made a full recovery as well.
References:
For more information on light saturation and photoinhibition in corals and clams, see this link. (It’s a bit dated, but it still contains some interesting information.)