Pacific Reefs
New member
How's it looking?
An experiment in gavage feeding an unhealthy H. magnifica
- Thread starter WrinkleFreeZone
- Start date
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
My 3 larger ones made it up onto the slab. The smaller specimen that has been the subject of this thread has remained on the rockwork where I placed it well away from the others. It's licking its wounds. If that rock hadn't cycled, I don't think it would have made it. Since moving it, I've seen an improvement in it's condition in a relatively short period of time. I've gone back to feeding it a few pieces of mysis and will do so every few days. It's going to have to get a lot healthier before it's going to be strong enough to withstand another trial of habituation if that's what is going on.
-B
-B
Pacific Reefs
New member
Best of luck and hope it pulls through!
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
It's still hanging in there. The bleaching has not resolved though. I'll post again when things change.
-B
-B
patriots81
New member
glad to know and good luck!
elegance coral
They call me EC
Are you still force feeding it or will it feed on its own?
DarkStar76
New member
I've been keeping an eye on this thread for some time...
Just to share my experience in case it provides you with any thoughts... I've got a Ritteri that has had its ups and downs over the past year... I discovered that it enjoys eating table shrimp, but overall health declines if this is the only food it gets. I am noticing more growth and better color when I alternate Krill and Silversides as food. I've since put the shrimp away. Also, I feed small pieces about an inch in length (my anemone is about the size of a basketball), and it will happily eat a chunk of food every day whereas most people suggest 1-2 feedings per week.
Just to share my experience in case it provides you with any thoughts... I've got a Ritteri that has had its ups and downs over the past year... I discovered that it enjoys eating table shrimp, but overall health declines if this is the only food it gets. I am noticing more growth and better color when I alternate Krill and Silversides as food. I've since put the shrimp away. Also, I feed small pieces about an inch in length (my anemone is about the size of a basketball), and it will happily eat a chunk of food every day whereas most people suggest 1-2 feedings per week.
skyrne_isk
Member
when acclimating unhealthy giganteas, I have used a similar approach for some time. the OP did a pretty good job of spelling out the disconnect here: where the feeding responses are not coordinated from cnematocyst firing to tentacle ensaring, followed by contraction of the tentacle and oral disk to get the food into the mouth. IME, even very weak anemones are still strong enough to spit anything out of their mouth they don't want. However, watching the mouth itself on weak anemones during an attempt at feeding the tentacles will often show the mouth to begin a feeding response (swelling of the actinopharynx)......and placing another piece of food directly on the mouth has led to a successful feeding. The mouth itself is sticky, when feeding. And the OP definitely had some insights about conspecific aggression. Of the two giganteas I have in my 120 at the moment.....one is hunting the other.
In any event, placing food on the oral disk after first stimulating the tentacles can often help "complete the circuit" of the feeding response in probably all anemones. And feeding bleached nems is essential to keeping them alive, as we all know. And as posted above, the bleached carpet I have has not improved color in the month I have had it - but I do feed it almost every day, and this time I have moved off of tilapia and more towards krill and some mysis. I would agree keeping bleached specimens "overfed" is probably appropriate, IMO. I'll update on my progress as well.
In any event, placing food on the oral disk after first stimulating the tentacles can often help "complete the circuit" of the feeding response in probably all anemones. And feeding bleached nems is essential to keeping them alive, as we all know. And as posted above, the bleached carpet I have has not improved color in the month I have had it - but I do feed it almost every day, and this time I have moved off of tilapia and more towards krill and some mysis. I would agree keeping bleached specimens "overfed" is probably appropriate, IMO. I'll update on my progress as well.
plancton
Active member
Hi, do you say the best method was to use the turkey baster at night time?, or what time?.
Three years ago I talked to the LFS guy and he told me that way long time ago he kept an H. Magnifica under T8s, I know it sounds silly but he told me he would feed it with a turkey baster full of a mixture of shrimp, brine shrimp, flakes, pellets, etc. Any food he could find well mixed.
I suggested that on this forum and everyone tried to kill me, but now it seems it does work!
Three years ago I talked to the LFS guy and he told me that way long time ago he kept an H. Magnifica under T8s, I know it sounds silly but he told me he would feed it with a turkey baster full of a mixture of shrimp, brine shrimp, flakes, pellets, etc. Any food he could find well mixed.
I suggested that on this forum and everyone tried to kill me, but now it seems it does work!
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
I was thinking the same thing. I have a couple suggestions that are in line with your current treatment of theis anemone.
I have an anemone in a similar condition and was thinking of feeding the same way; though my reasons were a little simpler in context.
I plan to start off by using a syringe (not with a needle.) The type of syringe has a blunt tip like your turkey baster but is smaller in diameter. I was planning on feeding with cyclopeeze but see no reason not to use mysid shrimp. The only difference being that I think it would be better with an anemone in this weakened state to put the shrimp through a blender to maximize surface area and the amount of work that would be required to swallow and digest the food. I would be happy to post pics here but not if you feel that it will take away from this thread.
The current condition of the H. mag that I have is a semi-closed mouth, severe bleaching, no feeding response and is only attached by about 1/16" of it's oral disc. If you'd like to see pics, I'll shoot one now and post a during and after shot if it survives.
... and I +1 your philosophy on feeding early and often but think it's best to use very finely chopped food items.
What do you think of feeding fish or shark liver?
fix my ritteri!!!!
fix my ritteri!!!!
As much as I wish someone could, I have one that is way beyond the point of no return. That being said, it still once a day shows a glimmer of hope which brings me to my question......
At what point do you call it quits? It's a big anemone 8"-10". If it dies in the tank, I know I'm in trouble. It wasn't terribly expensive $50 maybe, but I hate to throw it out if it might somehow pull through.
It was in rough shape when I got it, but it has only gotten worse since. So again, when do you just pull it?
Any help would be great.
fix my ritteri!!!!
As much as I wish someone could, I have one that is way beyond the point of no return. That being said, it still once a day shows a glimmer of hope which brings me to my question......
At what point do you call it quits? It's a big anemone 8"-10". If it dies in the tank, I know I'm in trouble. It wasn't terribly expensive $50 maybe, but I hate to throw it out if it might somehow pull through.
It was in rough shape when I got it, but it has only gotten worse since. So again, when do you just pull it?
Any help would be great.
Sad day!
Sad day!
Well, mine didn't make it. Started losing tenacles this morning. It was dying anyway, but I probably accelerated the process. It was getting worse everyday, so I set up a "isolation tank" if you will using main tank water. Used a Magnum 350 for filtration and current. The also added a Koralia power head for added water movement. I tested the water several times and all matched the big tank.
I moved the anemone over yesterday morning. There were no signs of change all day, but this morning the water was "milky" and there were tentacles on the bottom of the tank. It was probably the stress of the move that did it in, but I didn't want it to happen in the big tank so I felt like I had to.
It sucks because I really wanted to be able to keep a Ritteri, but appearantly they just don't work out for everyone. I tried to create a perfect tank for it.
150 Gallon Main Tank
80 Gallon Sump/Refugium
4" Sand Bed
200+ Pounds of Live Rock
1 1920GPH power head (throttled back to about 3/4 flow)
1 1250 Koralia Power Head
3 1250 MagJet Power Heads on a Wavemaker (purchased specifically for "intermittent" flow for Ritteri)
1 Mag 350 Cannister Filter
1 CPR Protien Skimmer (Main Tank)
1 Coralife Protien Skimmer (Sump)
1 Mag 9 pump for sump return
1 Auto Top Off unit
1 Phosban Reactor
1 Calcium Reator (not hooked up yet, but don't think it would have mattered)
Lighting:
(3) 400w 20,000k MH (These could melt the sun)
(4) I think they are 25w flourescent bulbs (Standard house bulb, I just use them for color, they give everything a more natural look) They give off ZERO heat.
Stats on tank:
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Amonia 0
PH 8.2
Calcium 480
Temp: 78F
Salinity 1.025
Fish:
1 Foxface
11 Osc. Clowns
2 True Perc Clowns
2 Black Clowns
2 Clarki's
1 Blue Hippo (small 2")
1 Royal Gramma
2 Blue Spot Jawfish
1 Diamond Goby
6 Emerald Crabs
Some snails and hermits
Corals:
Hard and Soft
Anems:
Rose
Green Bubble Tip (looks like rose, but different color) SPLIT TWICE 2 clones
Green Bubble Tip (looks NOTHING like rose, lots of bubble tips)
Pink Bubble Tip (looks about 1/2 way between the other ones, kinda bubbly, kinda not)
There was plenty of room for the Ritteri, nothing was crowding anything. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't buy 1/2 dead anems and hope to fix em up.
Sad day!
Well, mine didn't make it. Started losing tenacles this morning. It was dying anyway, but I probably accelerated the process. It was getting worse everyday, so I set up a "isolation tank" if you will using main tank water. Used a Magnum 350 for filtration and current. The also added a Koralia power head for added water movement. I tested the water several times and all matched the big tank.
I moved the anemone over yesterday morning. There were no signs of change all day, but this morning the water was "milky" and there were tentacles on the bottom of the tank. It was probably the stress of the move that did it in, but I didn't want it to happen in the big tank so I felt like I had to.
It sucks because I really wanted to be able to keep a Ritteri, but appearantly they just don't work out for everyone. I tried to create a perfect tank for it.
150 Gallon Main Tank
80 Gallon Sump/Refugium
4" Sand Bed
200+ Pounds of Live Rock
1 1920GPH power head (throttled back to about 3/4 flow)
1 1250 Koralia Power Head
3 1250 MagJet Power Heads on a Wavemaker (purchased specifically for "intermittent" flow for Ritteri)
1 Mag 350 Cannister Filter
1 CPR Protien Skimmer (Main Tank)
1 Coralife Protien Skimmer (Sump)
1 Mag 9 pump for sump return
1 Auto Top Off unit
1 Phosban Reactor
1 Calcium Reator (not hooked up yet, but don't think it would have mattered)
Lighting:
(3) 400w 20,000k MH (These could melt the sun)
(4) I think they are 25w flourescent bulbs (Standard house bulb, I just use them for color, they give everything a more natural look) They give off ZERO heat.
Stats on tank:
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Amonia 0
PH 8.2
Calcium 480
Temp: 78F
Salinity 1.025
Fish:
1 Foxface
11 Osc. Clowns
2 True Perc Clowns
2 Black Clowns
2 Clarki's
1 Blue Hippo (small 2")
1 Royal Gramma
2 Blue Spot Jawfish
1 Diamond Goby
6 Emerald Crabs
Some snails and hermits
Corals:
Hard and Soft
Anems:
Rose
Green Bubble Tip (looks like rose, but different color) SPLIT TWICE 2 clones
Green Bubble Tip (looks NOTHING like rose, lots of bubble tips)
Pink Bubble Tip (looks about 1/2 way between the other ones, kinda bubbly, kinda not)
There was plenty of room for the Ritteri, nothing was crowding anything. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't buy 1/2 dead anems and hope to fix em up.
the_real_brian
New member
Any updates?
Similar threads
