How do you keep your Gigantea?

[elegance coral]

Minh asked me to start this thread, so here it is.:thumbsup:

If you've had success with gigantea for six months or more, please post some details about how you keep it, and how you brought it through the first few months.

I'll kick things off. I've had mine for about three years. It sat at the LFS for several weeks bleaching, and getting smaller. By the time I got it, it was bleached pretty bad. I blasted it with as much light as I could. (14K, 250W, MH's.) I fed it every day for about the first six months. Started out with small foods like mysis, then moved up to whole table shrimp. It was still losing mass as it regained zooxanthellae, going from about 18" down to about 12". During this time it seemed to be getting healthier though. Tentacles were getting longer, polyp was getting thicker, and feeding response and color improved.

I started out keeping it at the rock/sand interface, like you would keep a haddoni. I didn't feel like it was getting enough light, so within the first couple of weeks, I placed it in a large hole in a rock. I moved it up closer to the light and it hasn't moved from that hole in about three years. Despite being moved from tank to tank several times.

Well, enough of that. Here's some pic's.

This is shortly after arriving at the LFS.

This is shortly after arriving at my house.

A close up to show how bleached it was.

After regaining some zooxanthellae, but it was pretty small at the time.

 

[elegance coral]

Here it was in July of 2011. The clowns have it withdrawn so they can lay their eggs. This makes the mouth look way off center, but it typically isn't. You can get an idea of it's true size by looking at the distance from the mouth down to the bottom of the polyp. It would be the same distance on the top side, if the clowns weren't biting on it.

This is under 250W 14K
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ugVktUZV-bE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is the latest video I have. A friend made this video a couple of months ago.

This is under 400W 20K
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uiRR702XUEI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

now over 6 years in my "SPS" environment reef aquarium

now over 6 years in my "SPS" environment reef aquarium

immediately after introduction February 2007

still acclimating but it's a real looker

next morning

7:30 AM this morning my male percula noticed the new anemone and jumped in.
(IME it's always the male fish that takes to an anemone first.)
He then called for the female to leave the Euphyllia corals they were previously hosting in to join him. I swear these fish were smiling. They were chattering back and forth in Clownfish talk while doing 'the wiggle'.

12 hours after introducing the anemone

52 hours after introduction

3 weeks later

Feb 2010

June 2010 it was able to latch onto reef structure and climb higher towards 400watt halide

my gigantea was transferred to another (identical) aquarium two weeks ago.
Contrary to what a lot of people are saying this species DOES NOT require a deep sand bed (or any type of sandbed for that matter).

September 2011

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

September 2012

September 2012

this anemone went for a walk

bottom line reason: loves light and cannot get enough!

(IME/IMO) Stichodactyla gigantea prefers lots of water flow and strong lighting and remains one of the most challenging "great" (or "host") anemone species to maintain. Beginners best avoid this species!

 

[gmigmi]

I have this for about a year, its on the sand under diy leds and t-5, I feed it once in a while lance fish.

 

[OrionN]

Great to see this thread. I will write a little about mine later when I have time, but hope this will let us know the range of condition Gigantea tolerate in aquariums.

 

[OrionN]

I got 3 Gigantea right now. A Purple, a Brown/Yellow and a Green.
The Green have been in captivity the longest, alt least 4 years. He was keep by another reefer who sold him to me in Dec 2012. The Purple and Brown/Yellow have been in captivity since 5/1/2012 (arrive to LFS) I got the Purple in July and the Brown in 9/2012. So six month is just the time frame I barely meet here on this thread.

Green on arrival to me:

Brown on arrival to me:

Current picture of the Brown and Green

The Purple on arrival to me

Current picture of the Purple

Right now I have the purple in temp housing. It is in a 30 cube tank I I hastily set up for it. I did not clean everything really well and the tank have a lot of pest anemones and a lot of various Macro-algae. I need to get him out of there and sterilize (I mean nuke the LR and remove all pest anemone from the sand and the tank/plumbing) this tank to keep it as quarantine tank in the future.
For now, the Gigantea is happy there. It is attach to the under side of a rock structure just right at the sand line. I grew a lot and tentacles elongated a lot. I have not feed it directly in the last 3 months. The tank does not have a overflow or sump, but does have a CPR hand on skimmer old stile that is not efficient but where I put the heater. It only have a VorTech MP10 as circulation 100% Reef Crest mode with 10 hrs night mode. Light by a AquaSun 150 W DE MH, 10,000K. There is a 3-4 inches fine sand bed with coarse coral rubble on top so that the sand does not get kick up and clown the tank. I had a Breeding Onyx Percula breeding living with this anemone but my female jumped out a few weeks ago. Also in this tank is a Marine Beta and a Male Green Mandarin. Various Coral and Clams also in this tank.
I change water often since I use this tank water to change my fry tanks. The anemone is really doing well even without feeding. I wish I can get more light on him. I think he will color up much more if I get him to his final home under 400 W MH in a few months

 

[OrionN]

I keep the Green and Brown Gigantea in my office tank. It is a 65 g reef that was full but I clear out 2/3 of the reef structure so that I can keep this two anemones. Now I only have a few coral on the L side. They attached to several largish rock at the sand rock line. Also on this side there are two Maxi-mini and a few LPS and clams. The L side of the tank is a mall reef structure with a few SPS Xenia and a BTA. IN the sand in front L is a H. malu pair. This tank is under 2X250 W DE AquaSun light fixture 10,000K. I have two VorTech MP10 one on each side for circulation. I have this set 100% Lagoonal mode with 10 hrs night mode.
I feed the green Gigantea infrequently with Frozen fish/shrimp and not feed the Malu or the Brown Gigantea.

BTW, the temp of bot tank set at 83 degree right now and the temp is very stable with controller.

 

[xtlosx]

I keep the Green and Brown Gigantea in my office tank. It is a 65 g reef that was full but I clear out 2/3 of the reef structure so that I can keep this two anemones. Now I only have a few coral on the L side. They attached to several largish rock at the sand rock line. Also on this side there are two Maxi-mini and a few LPS and clams. The L side of the tank is a mall reef structure with a few SPS Xenia and a BTA. IN the sand in front L is a H. malu pair. This tank is under 2X250 W DE AquaSun light fixture 10,000K. I have two VorTech MP10 one on each side for circulation. I have this set 100% Lagoonal mode with 10 hrs night mode.
I feed the green Gigantea infrequently with Frozen fish/shrimp and not feed the Malu or the Brown Gigantea.

BTW, the temp of bot tank set at 83 degree right now and the temp is very stable with controller.

What are your thoughts regarding lagoon vs reef crest? I currently run reef crest at about 70% alternating on my 150 and our Gig seems happy so far.. We just passed the two week mark in our tank.

 

[OrionN]

Higest flow is the continuous at 100%. For random flow there are periords of slow down. There is less slowdown in Lagoonal mode that Reef Crest. I wanted more random flow in the 65 g tank so I use the Lagoonal mode while in the 30 g cube, I did not need the increase flow so I use the Reefcrest mode.

 

[xtlosx]

Higest flow is the continuous at 100%. For random flow there are periords of slow down. There is less slowdown in Lagoonal mode that Reef Crest. I wanted more random flow in the 65 g tank so I use the Lagoonal mode while in the 30 g cube, I did not need the increase flow so I use the Reefcrest mode.

Great information.. I toyed with the idea of lagoon at 100%, but have always run reef crest.. might be worth while to get a thread going with vortech settings and Gig owners...

 

[jscarlata]

Gary, ive wanted to ask you for a while, and I suppose the pics you posted above answer my question, but, was that nem always multicolcor? My gig happens to look very similar to yours, without the coloring. mine is mostly a greenish blue over brown...

I recently re-scaped my tank and my gig is doing fantastic, and yesterday while watching my tank I started noticing hints of pink and red and yellow on some of the tentacles. now, this could totally be my imagination, and I don't have pics that can show what I see, my iphone doesn't have white balance adjustments...so, im just curious if yours always looked like that or if when it first came form the store or ocean if it was more green/blue and brown...
elegance, I will post some pics tonight...

 

[OrionN]

Pictures please and tell us how you keep him. Hopefully we get a lot of participation on this thread.

Gary,
Did you know about how long was your Gigantea in captivity before you got him? How much light you got on him/the tank?

 

[jscarlata]

I'll post before and after pics tonight, i need to take some current photos, below is a pic from last summer, not long after the nem was introduced, i've had it about a little less than year now, but to be honest i cant recall exactly what month i took it home in 2012...
tank is a 90g, mixed reef. Ligts are tek elite 8bulb, dont know the exact spread fo bulbs, but i have some blue plus, some coral plus, some aquablue special, a tyupical mix of spectrum, nothing out of the ordinary. Light is about 10" off the surface of the tank. I dose esv calcium and alk, up until recen.lty i was running Rox carbon and BRS GFO, then i depleted my GFO and switched to carbon and BRS biopellets. after reading thu the great thread on pale SPS, i did some testing and found my nitrate and phospate a little low, 1.0 nit, .03 phos, so i shut down the carbon, and to not make a huge change suddenly, i reduced my biopellets by 50%. I will retest this week, its been 10 days since the change.
I do not typically spot feed the nem, it happens to be in such a good spot that it gets bits and pieces during every feeding, and the clowns usually make sure to drag and drop bits for it. occasionally, if i have left over sushi, i will rins off a piece of sishi (salmon, yellowtail, red snapper) and give it a treat, but that is rare; after sandy, a week with no light or food, i gave it a fresh shrimp, cut up of course.
lights come on around 3pm and go off around midnight. i start feeding after work, but my usual routine consists of the following:
get home around 6, throw in a pinch of NLS pellets and some flakes as soon as i say hi to the fam. then i take care of my kids, dinners, baths, etc. around 8 or 9 i will start some frozen. i keep my frozen to 2 items, nutrimar Ova and rods original. i usually feed a small piece of ova, maybe 1/2" square, this is usally standlaone as an appetizer. i then feed about a 1-1.5" square piece of rods. all this gets dripped in slowly, a little at a time every 1-2 hours till lights out. i do it this way to entertain myself throught the night, as well as to see which fish are eating. i am able to control the amount of food into the tank as well, so there isnt a lot going into the overflow, if i see lack of interest, i stop feeding, but most nights, i get the feed me dance from everyone when they see me...it works for me and seems to be working for the tank. i admit, i used to overfeed, like many of us, and have since gotten that under control. i do skip an occasional day, and sometimes will forgoe frozen altogether, i try to vary the food as much as possible, but i stick with rods and ova after trying all manner of frozen food and even makin gm y own blend (failed), these 2 seem to reach everythgin i have and there is something for everyone to mucnh on..i used to add vitmain c and garlic, but i have not been doing that for a while. i really want to try live food, black worms, but i havent tried yet, i enjoy reading paul B's posts on his methods.
the nem hosts 2 clowns, one is a std picasso perc the other was recently added over the summer and is a onyx picasso. they seem to be getting close to spawning, they do the dance, and show signs of nesting, but i havent seen any eggs yet. Not sure if the onyx/pic is mature yet, the other one i have had since the 90 was started, almost 2 years now.
other fish are:
coral beauty, tomini tang, blue fin goby and tiger pistol, 2 yellow assesors, 1 blue streak wrasse, 1 mystery wrasse, until this week i had a 1 spot blenny but he passed. looked like a worm or somethign in his stomach, it had a bloated belly and was wasting away, last seen on wednesday night, came home on sunday and it was gone, not even a bone or a fin as evidence...other critters are some peppermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, some emerald crabs, sanils, acro crabs.
the pic below is old, shows the nem not long after it was acclimated to the tank. after that pic was taken, i did a rescape and the nem was relocated to where it now sits. i did a toal redesign of the rockwork a week ago, i wasnt able to move the nem, but the end result is a tank that i fell back in love with, and the nem seems to agree with me, it has opeebnd up to its full size which is huge, at least 14" if not more, the tentacles have gotten longer and pointer, and i could swear i see some colors forming. it was always brown, with some green tips and bluish green tentacles, but now i believe i see zsome red and yellow forming, but im not 100% yet...



i promise to post more pics tonight...wait till you see how big this guy is now...
but here is a teaser shot shortly before the last-rescape, its an FTS shot with lots of coraline on the front, its all i have at the moment, more to come...

and here is a shot post re-scape...still unscraped in this shot...

 

[jscarlata]

Pics taken just now

Flow on



FTS


Flow off, opened up

 

[jscarlata]

After some food landed in it

 

[reefkeeper2]

I've had my gig for over 10 years. I got it from an on line vendor and it arrived in good condition. It has never wandered and basically stayed where I put it. For 8 years it was under metal halide and t5. Now Sol Blue LED. It has never changed color, always a peach with greenish tint. One thing I have noticed is that the tentacles on my gig are longer than all others I have seen. Four inches or more around the center. Does anyone know if that means anything?


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

 

[OrionN]

Paul,
Did your Gigantea tentacles always long or it get longer with better health? What is your guess (if needed)? I notice my green Gigantea tentacle is much shorter than my Yellow or Purple ones. I am not sure if it will elongate with better health.

 

[D-Nak]

On March 5th, I will have had my gigantea for one year. Yes, I will have a birthday party. It's a big deal for me since is my second gig. I lost my first one -- a purple one -- after a month of trying to keep it alive through the typical inflation/deflation cycle.

Mine lives on an island in my 120 gallon mixed reef, mostly SPS. I have two MP40s on the back wall, running in nutrient export mode at 80%. It sits directly under one of the two Gen 1 Radions with the TIR lenses installed. I ramp them up for about 2 hours, then they sit at 100% (all colors) for about 6 hours, then I ramp them down. I have my tank set at 81 degrees and water parameters are typical for an SPS tank. I dose 2-part and magnesium.

Fortunately, my gig is very resilient. It's gone through temperature swings of 76-82 degrees when I removed one of my heaters and the other failed (I will always have two heaters from now on). I also had a large pH/KH swing which killed a lot of my SPS, but the gig never seemed bothered.

My gig never moved and seems happy under the LEDs. It hosts two Rods Onyx clowns that are now regularly spawning every two weeks. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow when the tank lights are back on. An older photo is to the left.

 

[reefkeeper2]

Paul,
Did your Gigantea tentacles always long or it get longer with better health? What is your guess (if needed)? I notice my green Gigantea tentacle is much shorter than my Yellow or Purple ones. I am not sure if it will elongate with better health.

It seems the tentacles get longer with age. Is there a corolation between tentacle length and health? If that's the case I have a happy anemone.