westohooligan
New member
Ugh...double post.
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Finally in the Club...My new Nem!!!
- Thread starter westohooligan
- Start date
D-Nak
Active member
The inflate/deflate cycle is not a good sign. Has it been releasing any sort of dark colored gunk?
A couple other things to consider:
1. What is your pH? I've talked to a few folks and the consensus is that it should be at 8.3 and the less fluctuation the better. HOWEVER, if you're way off the mark right now, it would probably stress out the nem more if you quickly tried to adjust it to 8.3.
2. What are your calcium levels like? Based on my experience (and only my experience) I don't think gigs like changes in calcium, such as those that occur when dosing kalkwasser. I don't think it's due to the calcium itself, but the results that occur due to dosing (primarily pH increase).
3. Others may disagree with me on this one, but I believe that gigs should be acclimated to light, especially when partially bleached or when spewing zooxanthellae. I had a gig that would retract at the same time every night. I attributed this to too long of a photo period. I would start with a shorter time with the lights on, shading if possible. If the gig wants more light, it'll either try to move to expand more. The drawback to this, is that it requires energy on the part of the anemone, and if it's already weakened, this may cause more harm then good (hence the controversy).
Keep us posted. I lot of us are keeping tallies on the success rate of gigantea. Good luck!
A couple other things to consider:
1. What is your pH? I've talked to a few folks and the consensus is that it should be at 8.3 and the less fluctuation the better. HOWEVER, if you're way off the mark right now, it would probably stress out the nem more if you quickly tried to adjust it to 8.3.
2. What are your calcium levels like? Based on my experience (and only my experience) I don't think gigs like changes in calcium, such as those that occur when dosing kalkwasser. I don't think it's due to the calcium itself, but the results that occur due to dosing (primarily pH increase).
3. Others may disagree with me on this one, but I believe that gigs should be acclimated to light, especially when partially bleached or when spewing zooxanthellae. I had a gig that would retract at the same time every night. I attributed this to too long of a photo period. I would start with a shorter time with the lights on, shading if possible. If the gig wants more light, it'll either try to move to expand more. The drawback to this, is that it requires energy on the part of the anemone, and if it's already weakened, this may cause more harm then good (hence the controversy).
Keep us posted. I lot of us are keeping tallies on the success rate of gigantea. Good luck!
westohooligan
New member
Thanks for the reply. No it's not spewing anything or melting. I didn't even think of checking my PH! Duh...haven't done that in a LONG time. There is kalk in my top off. Maybe I'll clean that out. I'm running home over lunch to see what it looks like. On a personal and professional level; this weekend has been terrible...
reefbooger
New member
My gigantea turned into a complete weirdo when i upgraded my lights from VHOs to LEDs. Too much of a shock I guess. That was almost a year ago and i still have to adjust my photoperiod to accommodate him. Could be your water params though. definitly one or the other.
westohooligan
New member
Well, I'm pretty sure it's a goner... This morning it looked pretty bad. It was shrunk quite a bit and the mouth was opened to about the size of a quarter. It was still attached to the rock, but I'm sure when the MP40 went out of night mode, it will probably get blown off. I should have taken it out this morning, but didn't have time... Terrible I know.
What a craptastic weekend I've had as a hobbyist...
What a craptastic weekend I've had as a hobbyist...
D-Nak
Active member
The unfortunate part about this is that the mortality rate for gigantea is probably close to 90%. We just haven't figured out an acclimation process that consistently works. Many believe that they are on their deathbed due to the collection process and nothing can be done once we receive them. I've spoken to a few LFS and they simply choose not to bring them in for customers.
I only know one person who gets gigs on a regular basis and quarantines them before selling. He has a three week+ process to acclimate the gigs and only ships via airport to airport to keep the transportation time to a minimum. This may very well be the type of dedication needed to bring these into a captive environment.
I only know one person who gets gigs on a regular basis and quarantines them before selling. He has a three week+ process to acclimate the gigs and only ships via airport to airport to keep the transportation time to a minimum. This may very well be the type of dedication needed to bring these into a captive environment.
charleneatkins
New member
good luck with your new baby!!! gor gi ous!!!
westohooligan
New member
That's the consensus I've pretty much come to. I can't seem to find any conclusive info online from anyone as far as a fool proof way to keep them alive. I know it was flown here from Sea Dwelling Creatures though. The owner of my LFS went and picked it up. I may just have to get a nice colored haddoni and call it good. I already have a "mint greenish" one and it is doing great.
D-Nak
Active member
On the scale of carpet anemone level of difficulty, if gigantea rates a 10 for being the hardest to keep (mostly to acclimate actually, once established the consensus is that they are hardy), then haddoni probably rates at a 3 or so. They acclimate fairly easily, and unlike gigs which come in looking decent, then last about a month and die, sick haddoni usually look bad from the beginning.
To me, this is what is most frustrating about gigs. They actually look "okay" when they arrive at the wholesaler and even the LFS. In terms of color, when they don't show signs of bleaching the color actually looks better to me, since the brown tinge given off by the zooxanthellae isn't visible (of course, lack of zooxanthellae is not a good thing). It takes a week to a few weeks for them to really take a turn for the worse.
IME, now that I know what a healthy gig looks like, I can tell you that I've never seen a healthy gig come into a LFS, they all just look "okay". Most have short, stubby tentacles that resemble a haddoni and often have slightly gaping mouths, which gets worse over time. Sometimes the siphonglyph is visible.
To me, this is what is most frustrating about gigs. They actually look "okay" when they arrive at the wholesaler and even the LFS. In terms of color, when they don't show signs of bleaching the color actually looks better to me, since the brown tinge given off by the zooxanthellae isn't visible (of course, lack of zooxanthellae is not a good thing). It takes a week to a few weeks for them to really take a turn for the worse.
IME, now that I know what a healthy gig looks like, I can tell you that I've never seen a healthy gig come into a LFS, they all just look "okay". Most have short, stubby tentacles that resemble a haddoni and often have slightly gaping mouths, which gets worse over time. Sometimes the siphonglyph is visible.
westohooligan
New member
Well it's not dead...yet. I'm actually surprised, but it still isn't looking good.
westohooligan
New member
No pics... I just checked and it was melting away...not even attached. Adios my friend.
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