Bringing back a bleached Gigantea

[Curt2199]

I switched to LEDs about 5 months ago (Reefbreeders Photon 32) and then about a month later had a crash due to using some silicone that I later found had mold inhibitors in it. During that process my awesome blue Gigantea carpet bleached along with other bubble tips. I also lost a lot of corals before I discovered the culprit.

My parameters have been very stable since (temps 76-77, PH 8.0-8.3, Nitrates at or near 0, and phosphates around 0.03) but it does not seem to be showing many signs of recovering. It is still much smaller and very pale with short blue tipped tentacles. The mouth is pretty tight and it will eat large pieces of krill. It will awesome open quite a lot with the lights on but the color and size have still not returned. What is a common recovery period for these anemones? I've thought about trying to supplement T5 to see if it is the LEDs that it is not adjusting to properly but I have heard of others keeping carpets under these LEDs with no issues.

 

[davocean]

Smaller foods like mysis are usually best.
LEDs are very hot off the bulb, some corals and nems need to be acclimated, a shade screen sometimes is best.

 

[D-Nak]

If you can, bring your temp up to 80-82. My gigs seem to like warmer temperatures. Definitely keep feeding it. Adding T5 bulbs is a good idea since they may provide a bit more of the UV spectrum that may help the gig recover quicker.

In terms of time, it varies. I had a partially bleached gig come back in a few weeks, and I've seen completely bleached ones take months to fully recover. Just keep in mind that speed is not really that important, so long as it's constantly making progress you should be fine.

IME blasting a gig with light doesn't have any negative affects. Keep in mind that gigs are found in tide pools and areas where they are exposed to direct sunlight for hours.

 

[davocean]

IME blasting a gig with light doesn't have any negative affects. Keep in mind that gigs are found in tide pools and areas where they are exposed to direct sunlight for hours.

True for a healthy one, but a bleached one simply may not have the zooxanthelle built up to be able to absorb and make use of that energy just yet IMO

 

[Curt2199]

I ramped the leds up pretty slowly when I switched over and started at like 10-15%. I'm still only at 40% peak on them because the tank height is 22" and the light is mounted about 7" off the water. I'll try raising the temp to 80 starting out.