According to a book by Ron Shimek, (marine biologist), gigantea will on occasion experience water temps down to 73 F within their natural range. I believe he came to this conclusion by superimposing record water temps with the known range of the various species of host anemones, including gigantea. Anyway, 67F isn't too much lower, so hopefully a brief stint at that suppressed temp won't be a fatal blow to your nice gig.
Gary, I soooo hope that will be the case. My biggest concern is that the nem was just settling in. I've never been of the school of thought that an animal "still alive and looking better" is established after a month. Soooooo
I know he's not as strong as he would lbe in his home tide pools.... But
I hope you are right!!!!
Lloyd, was this with a gig in your tank?? How did he react, and how long was the 65 maintained? I left Friday evening, and came home Sunday night, and the tank was at 65. The house was in the low 50's. So I know it was gradual, but prolonged
BL1
Hey man!!!!! Thanks for the offer, but honestly these pics are the before pics. I have Friday, Saturday, and last nights pics on a memory card, but the dang reader here at the office isn't working!!!! GRRRRRRR Just to give credit, where credit is due though, I got the nem from Joe at CRG, not from Josh. I don't know if he does the larger carpets. And was THRILLED with it, still am to tell you the truth. I just need to save him now! Thank you for the offer, but I think I have as good of a chance as anyone at this point.
Conrad! Hey, thank you so much for your advice and encouragement on Friday. Here's where we sit.
Friday I got home and put the vortech in the tank on a lowish setting, pointed with the majority of the flow passing about 3 inches in front of his cave.. He immediately retracted. He'd also expanded considerably during the day (he really looks best when the lights have been on....)
Sooooooooo I did it. I tore the whole right side of my tank apart. Fortunately, my CUC has been doing a good job, and although I stirred things up, there was nothing all that bad at all. Long story short, the new aquascape allowed me to establish a "rock island" for him. He was still hunkered down in the cave, and I didn't move that rock, it's a boulder and the foundation for the middle, and left side of the tank. So, I used a couple ice cubes in a baggie and convinced him to let go. My arm is still numb, it took probably 30 minutes to do it, as I was trying to be completely gentle.
I set him in the corner while I was rearranging the rockwork to it's final- ish spot.
His mouth looked ..... not happy. Even more scary, his color is not good in the center. I took pics I wish I could post them. I think I will go find a memory card reader at lunch. I also hooked up my chiller, and have maintained the tank at 80-81 this weekend. I also ran the lights on a 10 hour schedule rather than 8.
Once I put him close to his "island" he footed within probably seconds. I was AMAZED.
I'll let the pics speak for themselves this afternoon. My opinion, I'm glad I tore the rock work apart. I'm glad that I removed him from the cave. I think he was just going to deteriorate. What I could see while he was in the cave wasn't as alarming as what I saw afterward. His body is still firm, but the mouth really really really is scaring me. In fact, I'm hesitant to post the pics, because of what I'm sure I will hear. But I am a glass half full kind of girl.
