Gigantea Question

[JustinReef]

I have had my Green Gigantea for over 2 years now and it seems to be doing great. Its been through some tank moves, a crash and never seems to be bothered. I don't use an ATO so my salinity sometimes does fluctuate a little and the anemone never seems to deflate or look upset (which I assume is because they often get trapped in tide pools where the temperature and salinity change rapidly). I traveled throughout South East Asia and saw a lot of carpets (don't think any were giganteas) and often found many of them exposed to air for hours during low tide.

Ok, Im getting off topic :worried:

My question. I was reading an article on about giganteas on another site that I will leave unnamed but its a well respected and knowledgeable site. First off they were obviously making it sound impossible to keep carpet anemones in general (better than giving the impression they are easy) and one of the things that they said made me think about mine.

They said that if it shrinks down at all, there is a problem and its very unhappy. They did not use the word deflate but shrink so maybe there is a difference but that sounds the same to me.

My carpet shrinks down to about half its size every night. Its done this for two years so I am not too worried but Im now wondering what the deal is with the article I read. To be honest, although the site I got the article from is a great resource, much of what they said about gigantea's was completely opposite from my experience with them.

 

[Toddrtrex]

I have a feeling what site you are talking about. According to them my 12+ year old S. Haddoni should have died 11 years ago.

I hope they meant the consistent inflating/deflating that happens when any anemone is going down hill, and not the NORMAL shrinking that will happen with a lot of anemones during the lights off period.

 

[OrionN]

Your anemone seem healthy. Mine decrease to a little larger than 1/2 size at nigh also. I think this is normal. He certainly eat well and grew a lot. He spawned twice already this year.

 

[TDesaulniers]

What you were reading on that site of yours is a bunch of hoopla. Your Gigantea looks perfectly healthy. I'm jealous. In fact, I'm certain all anemones have some sort of deflation during the night. All my bubble tips do.

 

[jonnybravo22]

Same. My gigantea shrinks at night, every night like clockwork. as the lights dim down it gradually shrinks to be more protected in the rock it's attached to.

seems to be healthy. i think this behavior is normal.

perhaps they intended to convey the "warning sign" when acclimating a new gigantea. If the anemone is shrinking during this time there is reason for concern. Also I was out of town for a while and someone came over and messed with my temperature control and the tank water got really cold. the anemone shrunk up A LOT and was obviously not happy. it was about 1/5 or less of it's current / normal full size. That's another case where shrinking is bad. but the nightly routine is not bad IME.

 

[JustinReef]

I went back to double check and it says nothing about shrinking because its night. They list signs that somethings "amiss" and one of them is if it shrinks down. Upon reading that article again, I actually wouldn't consider them credible at all. I do think they are trying to warn people about how tough these or any carpet anemones can be but they have a responsibility to educate people and let them make the proper choice. They are doing their best to simply make it sounds like an impossibility.

Come to think of it....they do this with almost everything people ask about :crazy1:

It is a large, popular site...


Thanks for the reassurance guys! I wasn't worried but it did get me thinking.

I have another question while all you experts are around. How well do giganteas handle nitrates? It's not a issue with my tank but Im curious.

 

[Guy340]

>40 trates in mine and I'm still fighting to bring it down, but so far, no adverse affects or cause for concern at the moment. Laziness doesn't help.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

my gigantea shrinks nightly

I have another question while all you experts are around. How well do giganteas handle nitrates? It's not a issue with my tank but Im curious.

IME gigantea handles the elevated nitrates (and PO4) often found in closed systems quite well- certainly better than corals such as Acropora.