Getting a pair of S. Gigantea....need some advice!

[Nanook]

I ordered a pair of S. Gigtantea from Dr. Mac today and am having them delivered next Tuesday. I got them from the WYSIWYG part of his website and while I could not see their mouths, their tentacles were full and well extended. I had a Haddoni a few years back that did well for about 3 months and then stopped feeding. I have read that the S. Gigantea can be more miss than hit, but I still wanted to try it again.

Tank specs are 2 large tanks (1000 gallons total) on one system. Current anemone in the 470g tank this is going in is a M. Doreensis that has been doing well. I also have a trio of RBTA and Sebae in the 375g tank. I run two 6"x27" media reactors full of carbon 24/7 and alternate them every two weeks.

Lighting for the 470g is 4 400 watt Radium 20K bulbs. Flow is 2 Tunze 6200's and 2 Tunze 6100's. Prams are all in normal range without major fluctuations.

I am looking for advice on placement within the tank, whether or not to put them close together. I have a spot that i would like to put them in but know they will wander until they are happy.

Also looking for advice on acclimation to my tank, if lighting needs to be adjusted and when to start feeding.

Thanks.

 

[Nanook]

Here is a picture of the side of the tank that I am wanting to add them on. The M. doreensis is now way back in the long groove to the right side of the tank and has not moved for a couple weeks.

 

[CaliReefer12]

Tank looks good. Keep in mind gigantea's usually prefer to have their foot on rock, i've personally had the best luck giving them a rock with a relatively flat surface for their foot much like you would for a H. mag. If you give them a good spot with decent flow and good direct light they shouldn't move too much, at least mine didn't. I wouldn't recommend putting them close together. Of course they should be fine if they are about 1 ft away from each other or more. You definately have plenty of room to work with in that tank. Also keep in mind when you choose a spot that they grow quite fast and will get big. I wouldn't put any corals within about a 1 ft radius. Mine went from 4"-5" to about 17" in a little over 2 months. As far as acclimation I suggest drip acclimating them in separate buckets for between 1-2 hrs. Lighting acclimation really depends on what lighting they were under in the place you bought them from but chances are that it was not as strong as yours. You can either put 3 levels of window screening over the section of the tank with the anemone and remove 1 piece every 5-7 days or you can start off running 2 of your 400W's then after a week or so running a 3rd and then finally a 4th. Your SPS may not be very happy with light acclimation so you may be okay without light acclimation. I would start feeding the day after they seem to have settled in and stopped moving. I believe getting these guys to start eating once in the tank is a major key to success. I would try either a thawed out piece of shrimp, scallop, silverside or whatever you wish but definitely try to keep it eating and happy once in the tank. Good luck with your new nems!

 

[sugartooth]

Are they both going in this particular tank you show? They really like smooth surface rock and adhere quickly if healthy. Too many nooks and bumps on a large rock, they seem to wander. This is just my observation since I tried a couple of different rocks as anchors.

Do you know how long Dr. Mac had them in his system? That would let you know if you should light acclimate. I would say yes, you would have to tone it down for a little bit.

Good luck!

 

[Nanook]

Thanks, CaliReefer12!

 

[Nanook]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14648037#post14648037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth
Are they both going in this particular tank you show?

Do you know how long Dr. Mac had them in his system?

Good luck!

Yes, I was going to put them both in the cube tank.

Dr. Mac emailed me back today and said they were in his tank for two weeks before he put them up for sale. He said he has 7 in total. He said he was feeding them daily and they were showing a good feeding response and appear healthy to his eye.

 

[sugartooth]

That's great to hear! I still think light acclimation is a good idea, especially if they look a little bleached when they arrive. I acclimated over a month's time for mine.

My personal preference would be to not feed for about a week after you get them.

When I feed, I prepare a mix of cyclopeeze, mysis, ova, oyster eggs, some rod's food, rotifers. I enrich with products like selcon, vitachem, spirulina and rotate them. I've been feeding about 2X a week or 1X a week.....but many people feed much more than I do. I feed using a pipette or turkey baster.

There are others that are more experienced so hopefully they provide advice before you get them.

 

[Nanook]

Thanks. I will ask Dr. Mac what he is using over them as well. I was thinking of feeding large mysis and bits of krill or table shrimp cut up, didn't consider a mixture. Do you spray the foods at the mouth or just on the anemone?

 

[CaliReefer12]

I give mine full chunks of shrimp in one piece without the shell but its fully grown. I used to just cut a small square of shrimp and giv it to it as a whole. I feed it shrimp about 2-3 times per week and it gets some mysis with a turkey baster every day.

 

[sugartooth]

Nanook, I think many people give larger pieces vs. people that don't. This is just based on what I've read here.
My personal feeling (and other's) is that it takes a lot of effort for these nems to process bigger foods. Kind of like if you swallow giant pieces of a sub sandwich instead of chewing it into smaller pieces. Your stomach will process that food a little easier when chewed properly.
That's why I use a mix of smaller bits. I spray on tentacles first closest to mouth, then towards the outer edge as the nem closes around the food. I also cut the flow while doing this.

 

[CaliReefer12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14648917#post14648917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth
Nanook, I think many people give larger pieces vs. people that don't. This is just based on what I've read here.
My personal feeling (and other's) is that it takes a lot of effort for these nems to process bigger foods. Kind of like if you swallow giant pieces of a sub sandwich instead of chewing it into smaller pieces. Your stomach will process that food a little easier when chewed properly.
That's why I use a mix of smaller bits. I spray on tentacles first closest to mouth, then towards the outer edge as the nem closes around the food. I also cut the flow while doing this.

I agree this is a very smart thing to do especially for at least the first month or so. Probably until you can tell it is healthy and growing with a tightly closed mouth.

 

[Nanook]

Do you think a flat smooth rock would be best, or a round one?

 

[adtravels]

I hve only ever fed mine mysis and polychete worms I also subscribe to the not feeding large items, in the wild their stomach contents are zooplankton and detritus. never large items (not to say they dont occasionally eat larger items). I do feed every other day and have really seen a huge growth rate and have a very healthy vibrant anemone (abount the equivalent of a hikari mysis cube and the same of worm every other day)

Mine attached to the coralline covered glass at the bottom of the tank an is surrounded by rocks, it has never moved in 5 months.

and when I got it

 

[CaliReefer12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14649897#post14649897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanook
Do you think a flat smooth rock would be best, or a round one?

I personally recommend a flat smooth rock possibly positioned higher up on some other rocks. Make sure the rock is a somewhat on the larger side compared to the foot because it will most likely move around on the flat rock a little bit until it finds a spot it likes.

 

[Rod Buehler]

Both of mine have their foot in a crevice of rocks. They usually only receive bits of food that make it past the fish. I do feed heavily enough so the anemones get a few lil morsels every day. MAybe once a year or more, Ill give them a large piece of shrimp just for the heck of it. My oldest is over 14, and my other is over 4.. 3 healthy mags receive the same feedings

 

[BonsaiNut]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14648917#post14648917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth
My personal feeling (and other's) is that it takes a lot of effort for these nems to process bigger foods. Kind of like if you swallow giant pieces of a sub sandwich instead of chewing it into smaller pieces. Your stomach will process that food a little easier when chewed properly.
That's why I use a mix of smaller bits. I spray on tentacles first closest to mouth, then towards the outer edge as the nem closes around the food. I also cut the flow while doing this.

I agree. Keep the food small. You can grow a gigantea quite large with no food at all. (Or at least, no direct feeding of large chunks of food)

 

[Nanook]

OK, great advice! Thanks everyone.

NOW, on the acclimation.....east coast to midwest overnight shipping. Float in my sump to equalize and then I assume a drip acclimation for how long?

 

[Project Reef]

When did you get water in that tank Dave!? :lol:

 

[maxxII]

Dave,
When are they coming?

Andy at Andy's Animals does a different sort of acclimation than most, but his anemones always look better than anyone elses here in the area.

He accclimates them for temp, then removes them from the shipping water, and places them into a bucket or container with fresh ASW. He doses the water with 100 mgs of doxycyclene per 5 gallons of water, adds an airstone and a heater to maintain temp, (sections off heater with eggcrate so anemones dont get burned), and keeps them there for at least 4 hours.

His theory is that prevents bacterial infections from shipping.

Someone else here might have better ideas of how to acclimate Gigantea anemones though.....(Rod, etc).

Nick

 

[Nanook]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14658543#post14658543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxxII
Dave,
When are they coming?

This Tuesday morning. You are welcome to come over!!