Heteractis magnifca tank build

[adtravels]

Mesenterial filaments coming out of the foot= massive foot trauma and I would say definately a gonner as the mesentaires will be mangled, all pulled away from the outer wall. You have done your best here and the husbandary seems to be sound. It is so so easy to rip the foot in handling and collection, in fact near impossible to not rip the foot when collecting given the circumstances.

 

[Gig 'em]

bummer. I pretty much knew that was the situation, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. :sad1: We'll see if it survives the night

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

How is it doing?

 

[Gig 'em]

well it's still alive.... still looks like poo, but alive

 

[Gig 'em]

This is a crazy idea (but as an up and coming scientist it's my job to think of and test different crazy idea's) but I wonder if it is viable to create a nutritional solution to soak magnificas in after they've arrived to give them the much needed energy they require to live and heal after shipping. The solution could be made up of a proper dosage of glucose and other dissolved organic substances that the anemone naturally needs in it's diet. The gastrodermis cells lining the gastrovascular cavity could easily absorb the sugars without having to use energy to digest and break down solid foods. I'm not sure exactly what would be in the solution, or even if it would work, but any thoughts or variables I missed that would causes this to fail would be appreciated

 

[CaliReefer12]

If you could create that solution I think it would become very popular in the reefing hobby fast. Im not sure exactly how you could do it but it sounds like a great idea. Maybe something that could be used in a lesser intensity for shipping. I hope you pursue it.

Btw, I hope this mag pulls through. This has been a fun thread to follow. Don't be too discouraged if this one doesn't make it. Its really tough too find a healthy one

 

[Flighty]

I would be more interested in having an infectious disease doc look at culturing the necrotic tissue to see what is eating it.

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14701711#post14701711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gig 'em
This is a crazy idea (but as an up and coming scientist it's my job to think of and test different crazy idea's) but I wonder if it is viable to create a nutritional solution to soak magnificas in after they've arrived to give them the much needed energy they require to live and heal after shipping. The solution could be made up of a proper dosage of glucose and other dissolved organic substances that the anemone naturally needs in it's diet. The gastrodermis cells lining the gastrovascular cavity could easily absorb the sugars without having to use energy to digest and break down solid foods. I'm not sure exactly what would be in the solution, or even if it would work, but any thoughts or variables I missed that would causes this to fail would be appreciated

I'm no micro biologist either,:lol: , but I would think that adding glucose would fuel microbial populations. With these anemones ultimately falling victim to infections, I personally would stay away from glucose. As long as the anemone is not bleached, they should be able to receive all the glucose they need from photosynthesis. There are vitamin and amino acid supplements on the market. They could prove useful with newly imported and malnourished H. mag's. I'm sure, they too, could help fuel microbial populations, but I wouldn't think it would be as bad as glucose. I have seen anecdotal evidence that would suggest Elegance corals that are not able to feed, benefit from these supplements. I understand these are two completely different animals, but it may be worth a shot.

 

[Gig 'em]

Elegance- Yes very true, thank you for pointing out that possibility. I'm not sure if the doxcycline would take care of most of the harmful microbes or not. But if elegance corals benefit from supplements I'm inclined to believe that other cnidarians would as well seeing they belong to the same phylum. Do you have any links to these supplements I could see and read up on?

Flighty- I don't personally know of any infectious disease scientists, but I imagine I can find one at A&M. The question is how to convince him to pick up a project for me :crazy1:

 

[Gig 'em]

Oh and by the way, I'm sorry for not posting any pictures of the actual tank build lately; we're moving out of this house some time soon and I figured it would be much easier to set it up once at the new home instead of setting up, tearing down, and setting up again. I'll have new pics of the tank hopefully within the next month or two.

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14703316#post14703316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gig 'em
Elegance- Yes very true, thank you for pointing out that possibility. I'm not sure if the doxcycline would take care of most of the harmful microbes or not. But if elegance corals benefit from supplements I'm inclined to believe that other cnidarians would as well seeing they belong to the same phylum. Do you have any links to these supplements I could see and read up on?

Flighty- I don't personally know of any infectious disease scientists, but I imagine I can find one at A&M. The question is how to convince him to pick up a project for me :crazy1:

This is the product I use, but there are several manufactures that produce similar products.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ReefPlus.html

 

[Gig 'em]

very interesting. Thanks a lot!

 

[Gig 'em]

Some how this thing is STILL alive. I have no idea how; it has looked like death for a few days now. Most anemones I've seen that have reached this point have died right away. Maybe the doxycycline has staged off death for a while? I have no clue, but it's definitely alive since it decided to role into my valida colony while I was at work and the valida looks pretty bad now :furious: If this thing is going to die I wish it would do it already.... not really, but it is pretty frustrating every day.

 

[FullFathomFive]

So far, how are you liking your aquarium? I'm considering ordering one from Glass Cages, but, because of the mixed reviews I've read, am unsure.

 

[Gig 'em]

I haven't read any of the mixed reviews so I have no idea what others haven't liked about them. My tank is definitely a beauty. I am yet to put water in it still so I have no clue if it has a leak or not. I'm still a bit weary of the structural integrity as it has no braces, but if it works then that's fantastic. But they were pretty helpful, and the delivery guys were pretty nice and flexible with me on the pick up. If I had to change one thing I may have gone back and just had an external overflow just because the overflow they installed is pretty big and takes up a lot more space than an external one would. But as of now I'm pretty happy with the price and quality.

 

[Flighty]

The reason that a culture would be good is that we are only speculating that it is a bacterial issue, never mind if it is gram negative or positive, or a whole host of different bacteria. that makes a big difference in what antibiotics would help or harm. Maybe it is a virus and there is nothing we can do or maybe it is something totally different like an amoeba. I'm guessing trying to figure out what the cause is would be hard because there would be a lot of other stuff present.

 

[Flighty]

I should have asked, is it still not attached? I have used a short piece of pvc as a holder to keep an anemone in place as it attaches. one of mine is always really slow about attaching and can take over a week. All others have attached in minutes.

 

[FullFathomFive]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14711088#post14711088 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flighty
The reason that a culture would be good is that we are only speculating that it is a bacterial issue, never mind if it is gram negative or positive, or a whole host of different bacteria. that makes a big difference in what antibiotics would help or harm. Maybe it is a virus and there is nothing we can do or maybe it is something totally different like an amoeba. I'm guessing trying to figure out what the cause is would be hard because there would be a lot of other stuff present.

Would you be interested in working in my lab? Lol

 

[swiseman]

I bought a Magnifica 6 years ago after setting up a 54 gallon tank. At this point, I had never heard of Reef Central. I was told that the Magnifica would be fine under my 160 watts of normal output lights. Anyway, it lived and dare I say thrived in that tank for over a year before I upgraded again to a 110 with metal halides. Just goes to show, healthy animals will survive almost any mistake we make. Today the 5" Magnifica I originally bought is about 18" when fully open during the day. One of the reasons I got lucky is that my original tank was established. If this does not work out, I might suggest that you wait a few months for the cube to go through its new tank hiccups before trying to add a magnifica. I would also suggest buying the Magnifica in person to anyone.

 

[Gig 'em]

Yeah for sure Flighty, there are tons of variables to look for in the reasons why these animals die. I wish I was studying micro biology or a similar field so I could successfully study this myself. But FullFathomFive if you have the equipment and time maybe you could make some observations one day and identify the issue. Once I get the cube up and running I won't be adding anything new for a while, but since I'm transferring over every rock in water the rocks won't have to re-cure or anything and I'm assuming the tank will be stable within weeks. I saw a mag at a lfs today that was the cream base strand but decided to wait until the tank project was complete before attempting again.