Getting a pair of S. Gigantea....need some advice!
- Thread starter Nanook
- Start date
Nice to see some old friends posting again ;>)
Nook' much depends on how they are shipped, lots of water, no water, etc. Not sure how much value there could be in a drip method when the anemone is shipped "dry".
Old re-post of one of the early doxy advisers:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=5664888#post5664888
Since these have been at Dr Mac's for a few weeks, not sure I would treat them as new imports. Would eyeball them on arrival, check the shipping water, and proceed from there.
Nook' much depends on how they are shipped, lots of water, no water, etc. Not sure how much value there could be in a drip method when the anemone is shipped "dry".
Old re-post of one of the early doxy advisers:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=5664888#post5664888
Since these have been at Dr Mac's for a few weeks, not sure I would treat them as new imports. Would eyeball them on arrival, check the shipping water, and proceed from there.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Here are pics of Dave's anemones. They arrived at 0945 and were acclimated to temp by floating in the sump for 30 minutes. Acclimation water parameter acclimation began at 1030.
They were both packaged very well triple bags on the blue, 4 bags on the green.
The blue one was upside and down and floating in the bag on arrival. When the bag was opened, the mouth was gaping open and everted to approx 3 inches in diameter. The water was cloudy and the anemone appeared to have reguritated several items up from a previous feeding. Once in the bucket the anemone immediately tightened up the mouth. This picture was taken less than 3 minutes after being placed in the bucket.
The green one was in perfect health and looked only to be mildly inconvienenced by the whole shipping thing... Water was clear, and there was no reguritation. I took a picture of the anemone in teh acclimation bucket as well, but it turned out badly....
The green one was sticky right out of the bag. Interestingly enough, there was a small rock the anemone was attached to in the bag. IMO, this was a good thing for two reasons:
1...obviously, the anemone attached to it while in Dr Mac's care, and rather than stress the anemone out and possibly tear the foot by removing it from the rock, they just shipped the whole thing, (this is the most logical reason for the 4 bags on this anemone)
2...This gave the anemone something to attach to during the shipping which may very well have reduced stress on the anemone...I dunno, I'm not an anemone psychologist, this is just conjecture on my part.
Due to the blue one being distressed, we did a fairly quick drip feed from the main tank to the bucket the anemone was in. Every 10 minutes or so, water from the bucket was removed. Salinity for the two anemones shipping water was 1.027. Dave's reef is kept at 1.025. After 2.5 hours, the water in the bucket with the blue Gigantea was at 1.025, so the anemone was transferred over to the tank.
The anemone was not sticky while in the bucket. It was responsive, and its tentacles were writhing, but it was not sticky.
The bucket was drained almost completely of water and detritus, and the whole bucket was lowered in to Dave's tank, and water from the tank was allowed to wash over the anemone. The anemone was not directly exposed to air at all.
The anemone had attached to the bottom of the bucket while acclimating. I slowly peeled it off, being very careful not damage the foot. Once the anemone was free of the bucket, I lowered towards the bottom of the tank. Oddly enough, the anemone immediately got sticky when it was peeled from the bucket. It attached immediately to my hand and required several minutes to decide to let go.
Nick
They were both packaged very well triple bags on the blue, 4 bags on the green.
The blue one was upside and down and floating in the bag on arrival. When the bag was opened, the mouth was gaping open and everted to approx 3 inches in diameter. The water was cloudy and the anemone appeared to have reguritated several items up from a previous feeding. Once in the bucket the anemone immediately tightened up the mouth. This picture was taken less than 3 minutes after being placed in the bucket.
The green one was in perfect health and looked only to be mildly inconvienenced by the whole shipping thing... Water was clear, and there was no reguritation. I took a picture of the anemone in teh acclimation bucket as well, but it turned out badly....
The green one was sticky right out of the bag. Interestingly enough, there was a small rock the anemone was attached to in the bag. IMO, this was a good thing for two reasons:
1...obviously, the anemone attached to it while in Dr Mac's care, and rather than stress the anemone out and possibly tear the foot by removing it from the rock, they just shipped the whole thing, (this is the most logical reason for the 4 bags on this anemone)
2...This gave the anemone something to attach to during the shipping which may very well have reduced stress on the anemone...I dunno, I'm not an anemone psychologist, this is just conjecture on my part.
Due to the blue one being distressed, we did a fairly quick drip feed from the main tank to the bucket the anemone was in. Every 10 minutes or so, water from the bucket was removed. Salinity for the two anemones shipping water was 1.027. Dave's reef is kept at 1.025. After 2.5 hours, the water in the bucket with the blue Gigantea was at 1.025, so the anemone was transferred over to the tank.
The anemone was not sticky while in the bucket. It was responsive, and its tentacles were writhing, but it was not sticky.
The bucket was drained almost completely of water and detritus, and the whole bucket was lowered in to Dave's tank, and water from the tank was allowed to wash over the anemone. The anemone was not directly exposed to air at all.
The anemone had attached to the bottom of the bucket while acclimating. I slowly peeled it off, being very careful not damage the foot. Once the anemone was free of the bucket, I lowered towards the bottom of the tank. Oddly enough, the anemone immediately got sticky when it was peeled from the bucket. It attached immediately to my hand and required several minutes to decide to let go.
Nick
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
It was placed in the left front corner of the tank. It receives a fair amount of flow, (sand is blown away from this corner), and is a relatively well lit area, but is not directly under the lighting. The anemone has two belached out areas which caused me some concern....
Here is the anemone in the tank, w/o lights...lighting is from onboard camera flash. This is pretty representative of the anemone's color. You can see one of the bleached out areas on the upper right.
Here is a pic of it under the tank's full lighting (400 watt Radiums, with VHO Actinic supplementation) You can see the bleached areas better, one above and one below on the right side. This is also as tight as the mouth was while I was there. It did tighten up completely once or twice while I observed it, but never stayed completely tight.
As I told Dave, I'm not too concerned about the blue Gigantea at this point since this is what I would expect to see from an anemone that just got arrived from shipping.
The green one was another matter....that anemone looks perfect.
Nick
Here is the anemone in the tank, w/o lights...lighting is from onboard camera flash. This is pretty representative of the anemone's color. You can see one of the bleached out areas on the upper right.
Here is a pic of it under the tank's full lighting (400 watt Radiums, with VHO Actinic supplementation) You can see the bleached areas better, one above and one below on the right side. This is also as tight as the mouth was while I was there. It did tighten up completely once or twice while I observed it, but never stayed completely tight.
As I told Dave, I'm not too concerned about the blue Gigantea at this point since this is what I would expect to see from an anemone that just got arrived from shipping.
The green one was another matter....that anemone looks perfect.
Nick
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Once the blue gigantea was in the tank and attaching to the rock work, we began concentrating on the green one.
It had initially also been placed in a bucket, and every 15 minutes, once quart of water had been removed from the bucket, (shipping water) and was replaced with one quart of water from Dave's reef. Once the blue one was in the tank, the bucket with the green gigantea was placed under the drip set up, and water parameter acclimation began steadily. By now it was also 1 pm.
At 2 pm, the water in the bucket with the green one was at 1.025, and the anemone was added to the tank the same way the blue one was. However, the green anemone had been sticky in the bucket, and did not need to be peeled from the bucket as it was still attached to the rock it was shipped with. Dave put this one in the tank. He immediately stated it was the stickiest anemone he had ever touched, and he previously owned a Haddoni carpet. The anemone instantly glommed onto to Dave's hand and it took several minutes for it to decide to let go. Dave also stated the anemone was stinging his pinky. He said it felt like a burning sensation. He didnt seem too bothered by it, but for all I know, his hand fell off after I left his house.
This anemone was placed on the front right corner of the tank, again good flow, and bright lighting, but not directly under the bulbs. No bleached areas, I only got to see part of the mouth, as the anemone was covering it all up. What I saw was nice and tight.
Under actinics
Under full lighting
Full tank shot showing anemones and placement.
The only clowns in this system are a pair of Clarkii clowns. The female is about 4+ inches. The male is a recent addition and is only about 1.25 inches. They share a larger (9 inches) Purple M.doreensis anemone that can be seen in the full tank shot in the valley behind the green gigantea.
Overall, I have to say, I'm completely jealous of Dave and his wonderful tank...hopefully, the blue Gigantea recovers fully from shipping and gets as stunning as the green one is.
Nick
It had initially also been placed in a bucket, and every 15 minutes, once quart of water had been removed from the bucket, (shipping water) and was replaced with one quart of water from Dave's reef. Once the blue one was in the tank, the bucket with the green gigantea was placed under the drip set up, and water parameter acclimation began steadily. By now it was also 1 pm.
At 2 pm, the water in the bucket with the green one was at 1.025, and the anemone was added to the tank the same way the blue one was. However, the green anemone had been sticky in the bucket, and did not need to be peeled from the bucket as it was still attached to the rock it was shipped with. Dave put this one in the tank. He immediately stated it was the stickiest anemone he had ever touched, and he previously owned a Haddoni carpet. The anemone instantly glommed onto to Dave's hand and it took several minutes for it to decide to let go. Dave also stated the anemone was stinging his pinky. He said it felt like a burning sensation. He didnt seem too bothered by it, but for all I know, his hand fell off after I left his house.
This anemone was placed on the front right corner of the tank, again good flow, and bright lighting, but not directly under the bulbs. No bleached areas, I only got to see part of the mouth, as the anemone was covering it all up. What I saw was nice and tight.
Under actinics
Under full lighting
Full tank shot showing anemones and placement.
The only clowns in this system are a pair of Clarkii clowns. The female is about 4+ inches. The male is a recent addition and is only about 1.25 inches. They share a larger (9 inches) Purple M.doreensis anemone that can be seen in the full tank shot in the valley behind the green gigantea.
Overall, I have to say, I'm completely jealous of Dave and his wonderful tank...hopefully, the blue Gigantea recovers fully from shipping and gets as stunning as the green one is.
Nick
One thing to really watch for at this point is movement and the collapsing cycle.
A small amount of movement is ok as the nems settle but wandering all over is not good.
Phender put me on to this next point but it definately holds true imo.
If the nems start to collapse and expand regularly, i.e once a day or more then this is a very bad sign and its something a healthy nem should not do.
All the above points relate to giganteas only its not a general group of staements on all anemone species.
They are great I love the greens hope they do well.
A small amount of movement is ok as the nems settle but wandering all over is not good.
Phender put me on to this next point but it definately holds true imo.
If the nems start to collapse and expand regularly, i.e once a day or more then this is a very bad sign and its something a healthy nem should not do.
All the above points relate to giganteas only its not a general group of staements on all anemone species.
They are great I love the greens hope they do well.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
looks fantastic!
what type of Anthias?
what type of Anthias?
CaliReefer12
New member
Wow, both looking nice. The blue is a little shakey but with proper lighting, and feeding should def regain that color and pull through. That green gig looks as healthy as can be!
Thanks to MaxII for coming over this morning and helping me get these anemones acclimated to the tank. It was a HUGE help having two people to handle these creatures and getting them into the tank safely. So far, the blue Gigantea is holding its own, but the mouth is slightly protruded from this morning. The blue is definitely not as healthy looking and is slightly bleached in a few spots so I hope it pulls through.
On the green Gigantea, the foot is just attached to a small piece of liverock in that picture holding on for dear life. I don't think it is damaged....crossing fingers.
If the green looks good the next few days, any ideas on when to start feeding? I was thinking about feeding some jumbo mysis on Friday.
As for the blue, any idea on when to feed it?
Thanks for the comments, this has been a really fun day.
On the green Gigantea, the foot is just attached to a small piece of liverock in that picture holding on for dear life. I don't think it is damaged....crossing fingers.
If the green looks good the next few days, any ideas on when to start feeding? I was thinking about feeding some jumbo mysis on Friday.
As for the blue, any idea on when to feed it?
Thanks for the comments, this has been a really fun day.
CaliReefer12
New member
I think if the green continues to look as good as it looks now I would start feeding it mysis in the next few days. Do you just have them sitting on the sand? I know most prefer to be up on the rocks. I would start feeding the blue soon also. I believe feeding is the best way to keep them from starting their bad sign of the inflate-deflate process. Although I definitely wouldnt rush the feeding if you don't feel they are ready yet.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
I dont have any experiance with S.gigantea, but I do have experiance keeping H.magnifica (3 years now) and other anemone's. IMO/IME feeding to soon after shipping is not a good thing. It actually causes stress to the anemone when its already stressed. I told Dave to wait a few days on feeding the green one, and at least a week before feeding the blue one.
If there are valid reasons why this species is wildly different than H.magnifica in this regard, I'd love to hear them. I'm genuinely jealous of Dave's new anemone's and want them to survive as much as he does, if only to live vicariously through his experiances...
Regarding the foot of the green. I saw nothing showing any signs of trauma to the foot of either anemone. What you are seeing in this photo:
is the anemone holding on to the rock it shipped with. The rock contained some sponge filled areas, and appeared to have crumbled at somepoint either while being packed for shipping or during shipping, and one larger piece broke off and was also held onto by the anemone. No idea why that one area above the crumbled piece is wrinkled up like that.
The decision was made to allow the anemone to move off the rock it shipped with on its own to avoid possibly damaging the foot and stressing the anemone out.
I also told Dave that I expected the blue one to deflate and inflate periodically while it acclimated to his system. This was based on my H.magnifica doing exactly that while acclimating to my lighting in my system. Initially, it deflated/inflated 2x daily for about 3 days, then just once daily for successively shorter periods. After a few weeks, it ceased doing it all together.
I agree that it is not the behavior of a healthy anemone, but with it having shipping stress, I would not be surprised for the blue one to inflate/deflate at least once initially. Again, I have no personal experiance with S.gigantea, so take my comments for what their worth...
I'm assuming the anemone didnt deflate last night at all, or Dave would have commented on that.
No problem on helping you out yesterday, Dave...wouldnt have missed it for the world.
Nick
I woke up this morning to find the blue carpet's mouth gaping open about 2" and droopy to one side. I turned on the VHO's to get a better look and it tightened up as soon as the light came on. The green one looks great still. My photoperiod doesn't start until 4pm so I turned the VHO's off again.
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