gig disc support

[akida]

My large green gig was doing great but stretching upwards so I decided to purchase a large unique rock that fit the area he was in (wasn't easy since it needed to be curved). He hasn't moved ever since he found his spot, just stretched. Once I placed the new rock and surrounding rocks as I thought best he still hasn't laid flat on the surrounding rocks I created and looks like he could possibly be moving his foot placement (unsure about that though). Should I remove the large rock I added or allow him to crawl up the bottom rock a bit and see what happens?

 

[Daniel62]

It sure looks like he is stretching for light. or maybe more current?

 

[marc price]

Let it be.

Fwiw, I was recently faced with just the opposite dilemma.
The rock my gig came on/with from the LFS was infested with aiptasia followed by the appearance of bubble algae.
Peppermint shrimp didn't touch them.
Kalk paste use was limited, most were so deeply planted in the twisted up spaghetti rock that I couldn't bury them in paste and or was only a temporary fix.
I made a supercharged majano wand (upped the Amperage), they retracted deep out of reach at first touch of the wand. Nothing worked.
As luck would have it, over the months, they only continued to populate that specific rock. First sighting of bubble algae cluster was easily removed. A few months latter another patch developed elsewhere on the rock. Removed as much as I could reach, again large nooks and crannies.
Two weeks ago during a water-change I noticed the cluster growing again, then found it to be massive around the other side of the open structured twisted spaghetti like rock. I had to lift the rock to get at it and thru the process kept pulling the rock away from the anemone until (with some prying of the foot with my finger), the S. gigantea released its grip on the rock, clinging onto the glass bottom which the column was sandwiched between.
Now the gig was only attached to the glass bottom of the tank so I put two small rocks on the sand around the column. Was thinking I'd bleach its spaghetti rock and return it to the tank. but it moved ever so slightly enough to where there is no longer room to place the rock without it being up against the glass of the tanks 36"x18" footprint. The anemone never detached from the glass bottom, just held on stronger and shifted itself to have its oral disc directly above the point of attachment. Not much I can short of placing the now Clorox bleached spaghetti rock on the side facing the front of the tank, in which case I end up on the wrong viewing side seeing the rock and little of the anemone/clownfish.
Moved a water pump to redirect flow but the gig is still out of direct firing range from the Vortech and not getting the flow it was.
Nevertheless I decided to leave it be for now.

Will likely buy either another Vortech or a Maxispect as soon as I get around to it.

Really, I'm mulling larger tank options, am limited size wise due to a second floor location and orientation of floor joist in relation to the window I want the tank in front of.

 

[akida]

It's not stretching for light and it shouldn't stretch for flow since you can see I'm running 2 mp40's at 55% each. I run a 250w de MH/t5 4 bulb combo that is around 850 par at the water surface. That is plenty of light for any animal. I think he just likes to stretch out but I figured I'd add a nice rock to set his disc on but guess he has other plans. I'm going to let him be for now and see what happens. I thought the rock was a good idea at the time but he was happy.

 

[akida]

Here are some photos under new Giesemann 12k bulb (not a fan of). It's quite bright however I don't like the spectrum even with 3 blue+ & 1 purple+ t5 bulbs. I enjoyed the look of the 14k Phoenix bulb better but I may check out a Reeflux 20k or 12k bulb or Reefbrite 20k bulb. My gonzo yellow sunburst bta doesn't look nearly as vibrant as it did under the Phoenix. I may add a reefbrite xho but I want to see how a 20k bulb looks first.The Phoenix really had a good look and jived well with my T5 bulbs. On a side note, my purple gig has been doing great lately and really starting to recover it's zooxanthellae.

here is the purple when I purchased it 3 months ago on the day basically (july 9th)

 

[marc price]

- yeah I read your tank info, never said lighting or flow was sub par.

Your purple gig looks like mine did when new -

Timeline from day 2, 6/21/15

7/4/15 settled in with column sandwiched between rock and glass botton

7/22/15 Eating a urchin...guess I no longer need to manually spot feed, just keep buying more urchins

9/16/15 percula moved in

10/10/15 without large aiptasia and bubble algae infested supporting spaghetti rock

 

[D-Nak]

Are the MPs creating some sort of undercurrent that's pulling the nem up? If not, then I'm not sure what it could be. FWIW, my old large tan gig did this from time to time, and people would mistake it for a toadstool. It was fine nonetheless, I just preferred it hugging the rocks.

 

[D-Nak]

If you completely turn off the flow, does the gig settle back down?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Marc Price, did it really eat the urchin? WOW I bet it had a stomach ache for a while after that prickly meal. :lmao:

 

[marc price]

Marc Price, did it really eat the urchin? WOW I bet it had a stomach ache for a while after that prickly meal. :lmao:

Yes it did and it's not a first. In the past I observed my H. crispa consume a rock urchin.
A few more pix:

...what remains of the expelled urchin test found the next morning hint at how fast these animals process their meals, as I find no remains of some food items such as the smallish size (San Francisco Bay Sally brand), krill I spot feed every second or third day -

*Interestingly a tuxedo urchin (Mespilia cf globulus), in the aquarium which from my p.o.v. has gotten much to close for comfort has thus far avoided being catch of the day.

 

[akida]

Are the MPs creating some sort of undercurrent that's pulling the nem up? If not, then I'm not sure what it could be. FWIW, my old large tan gig did this from time to time, and people would mistake it for a toadstool. It was fine nonetheless, I just preferred it hugging the rocks.

That is a very good observation Nak and yes once pumps are shut off he settles down but he is placed lower and stretches upwards so it seems he chooses to be up there. I figured by placing the rock there he would be more comfortable but now it seems like his foot is twisted like I've never seen before and I'm second guessing my decision of the rock. What do you think should I remove the $30 rock or just see what happens? I really don't like how his foot is twisted now although I've seen anemones do this before but not this severe.

 

[akida]

- yeah I read your tank info, never said lighting or flow was sub par.

Your purple gig looks like mine did when new -

Timeline from day 2, 6/21/15

7/4/15 settled in with column sandwiched between rock and glass botton

7/22/15 Eating a urchin...guess I no longer need to manually spot feed, just keep buying more urchins

9/16/15 percula moved in

10/10/15 without large aiptasia and bubble algae infested supporting spaghetti rock

I was replying to Daniel's comment.

 

[marc price]

That is a very good observation Nak and yes once pumps are shut off he settles down but he is placed lower and stretches upwards so it seems he chooses to be up there. I figured by placing the rock there he would be more comfortable but now it seems like his foot is twisted like I've never seen before and I'm second guessing my decision of the rock. What do you think should I remove the $30 rock or just see what happens? I really don't like how his foot is twisted now although I've seen anemones do this before but not this severe.

I've never seen a clownfish hosting anemone's column twisted like that before...I suppose if you were located in the southern hemisphere it would be twisted counterclockwise, lol.

Good luck with it.

 

[akida]

Yeah it doesn't seem right and it started happening when I placed that rock there. I really don't get it. dnak do you think I should move one of the pumps?

 

[akida]

I see articles about severe conditions of twisted anemone columns that lead to them detaching or ripping it and dying. Worries me to the point where I'm seriously considering moving the rocks he is on and build a new area away from the vortechs where some corals currently are.

 

[D-Nak]

Yeah it doesn't seem right and it started happening when I placed that rock there. I really don't get it. dnak do you think I should move one of the pumps?

I would move it. You definitely don't want the column to be twisted as badly as it is in the photo, and I don't think nems are"smart" enough to untwist themselves fighting against a current to do so -- they probably detach and move. None of my gigs ever completely detach, which is what I think it would take to completely untwist.

 

[marc price]

Tough one.

Thinking out loud here...given your tank's 30"x30" footprint cube dimensions and the gigs size as well as potential size. Is it possible the back flow aspect of a maxispect gyre would make more sense for this particular application?

 

[akida]

Yeah I've been thinking about buying a Gyre 150 and seeing how it goes. I turned my MP40's down to around 40% until I get home and move the nem and rocks further away from the pumps. When it rains it poors. By the way Marc, your anemone looks amazing job well done man. Also, which way do you think I should install the Gyre, horizontal or vertical? Do you think 1 Gyre 150 would be enough for my 30x30 cube and support my gigs? Since it's a cube, most of my gigs are nearby meaning I don't need a huge spread.

 

[marc price]

^ as close to the surface as you can place the Gyre and horizontal. Adjust input output angles to create a undertow back flow.
Then perhaps experiment with a mp40 placed on the clear glass pane by the wall switch. Thinking mid way between the corner and overflow. Play with flow strength and set on a long pause between shorter burst to occasionally and randomly break up the flow pattern.

Also, you may wanna consider buying a small pack of frozen cyclops fish food. A cloud of it can't hurt anything and the tiny dots of the small individual cyclops zooplankton will remain in suspension long enough for you to get a clear visual on flow patterns.

On a side note, more food for thought. Been wondering if allelopathy is in play, multiple things working against it?

90 gallons is not a large volume.

I wouldn't discount E. quadricolor potential punch, plus the additional S. gigantea and your soft corals.

Two forms of E. quadricolor in the wild, small cloning massive clusters (shallow) and large solitary individuals (deeper), said to reproduce sexually. Although mine would max at ~15" ø oral disc, I've seen 24" ø oral disc BTA's returned to the LFS for resale. Well known how destructive direct contact can be to our SPS corals.
When I foolishly purchased a E. quadricolor (RBTA), to replace a thriving but bland straw colored H. crispa, the two shared a 100gallon aquarium for iirc about a month or so prior to literally giving the beautiful 15"-18" ø oral disc H. crispa away to the then LFS who sold me the RBTA ($15 store credit for the crispa after having purchased the rbta from them which at the time ~12 years ago, prior to the market being flooded with rbta's, where fetching $200+), sorry for the rant!
Getting back OT, during their time together the H. crispa refused to eat, although it still looked good. Finally got it to consume a whole table shrimp a day prior to giving up on a private sale and bringing it to the LFS. No doubt chemical warfare was in play!

Additionally, in past threads some here have noted when keeping two S. gigantea together (in systems much larger then yours), in the long term one becomes dominant growing large while the other remains small...chemical?
And we know softies with their lack of sweepers are masters of chemical warfare, allelopathy! I for one never kept them, don't like most them, exception being sea fans. A well seasoned aquarist in my aquarium society became horribly ill, flu like and then some, from his softies!

And yes we do see others mixing it up, like I said, "food for thought"...

 

[marc price]

Idk, I've only seen my neighbors Gyre 130 on his 75. Try one first see what happens. If one is not enough and I were to use two, I'd place them horizontally as I described in the prior post and side by side.

Thx for the encouragement regarding my gig.