I think my S. Gigantea is dieing?? Help?

[Jeff000]

For some reason my gigantea looks like it is dieing.

Sorry but the color is off, my cell has no idea how to take pictures of my tank, it is a baby blue color.

It looks good sometimes, a little bleached, but its fully out. But looking more like that picture more and more often.
But it won't eat anything, silversides, chopped squid, chopped clam/muscle, mysis, krill, and a couple other things, won't even hold onto it.

I have lots of light, and it moved from medium flow to lowish.

It's been in my tank for like 3 weeks now I think.

 

[bradleym]

1. Can you post some info about your tank?
Parameters? With numbers, please.
Tank size and age?

2. Can you add a pic of the nem open and happy for comparison?

 

[Jeff000]

1. Can you post some info about your tank?
Parameters? With numbers, please.
Tank size and age?

2. Can you add a pic of the nem open and happy for comparison?

nitrate - 3ppm
phos - 0
alk - 9.5dkh
cal - 430ppm
mag - 1300

I have a SPS tank more then anything, that is all the tests I have.


Tank is more then a year old, I have BTA's that are VERY healthy and a small carpet that is healthy on the other end of the tank.
The tank is a 90g.


Here is a picture, it looked like this for the first 2 weeks, and looks like the pic in the original post more and more often now.

 

[bradleym]

OK, I'm guessing your SG is around 1.026?

A nem that bleached needs to be fed, and often. If it won't hold the food, try using tongs or something to gently press the food against the mouth of the anemone. It may take 5 or so minutes, but if it is at all interested in surviving, the mouth should swell up and wrap around the food.

If you can get it to eat there is hope, otherwise, it's not eating, and it's not drawing any energy from your lights, so it is starving.

 

[Jeff000]

OK, I'm guessing your SG is around 1.026?

A nem that bleached needs to be fed, and often. If it won't hold the food, try using tongs or something to gently press the food against the mouth of the anemone. It may take 5 or so minutes, but if it is at all interested in surviving, the mouth should swell up and wrap around the food.

If you can get it to eat there is hope, otherwise, it's not eating, and it's not drawing any energy from your lights, so it is starving.

sg is 1.025-26

I will try force feeding tomorrow. The lights are off and it is tucked in for night.
Feed something like a part of a silverside that is about the size of its mouth? a little smaller?

 

[bradleym]

That should be fine. It certainly sounds like you have everything in order, the only 2 things left that I know of that would cause a gradual decline like what your describing are starvation or infection. If it is starving you need to get it to eat until it regains it's zooxanthellae. If it's got an infection, good luck. There are no proven ways to fix that.

 

[2Addicted]

No! Dont force feed it! Have you tried placing it on the rocks? Gigs are rock dwellers. Once it has attatched to the rocks and has stayed inflated for a while, then you should try to feed it.

 

[Jeff000]

No! Dont force feed it! Have you tried placing it on the rocks? Gigs are rock dwellers. Once it has attatched to the rocks and has stayed inflated for a while, then you should try to feed it.

It is on a rock that is level with the sand. Although since starting this thread it has moved 8" on the sand and then 2" up the rock face.

Why not force feed it?

 

[2Addicted]

Forcing food in its mouth could not do anything to help the situation. At the very least force feeding it would stress it. If it is moving up the rocks I would leave it alone. Do you have any pics of it now?

 

[slk55r]

multiple types

multiple types

I've seen so many threads of people not recommending multiple types of anemones in the same tank. Sounds like you have at least 2 types.

In my experience(rather limited) I have never had success trying multiple types. All of the anemones didn't like it.

I finally went to just one type (haddoni) and have a red, blue, and green that are all healthy and happy.

 

[Jeff000]

So this morning it is face down in the sand. I rolled it over and it kind of held onto the rock but is it too far gone at this point?

 

[BairdimusPrime]

face downs generally a bad sign, do you have a Quarrantine Tank to transfer it to?

 

[this is me]

Jeff,
I'm sorry to say that the anemone is definitely in trouble. I almost want to say it's a goner but I have to be a little positive here. When I see gigantea in such shape, oral disc folded in, the underside is wrinkled and weak, there's not much hope left.
It's a shame really because it looks like you initially got a really healthy one and could be brought back to thrive. The tentacles were long and not bubbly. And you can actually see the zoanthallae start to come back at the tip. That's usually a really good sign.
How much flow did you have on it and how much light?

 

[Jeff000]

Jeff,
I'm sorry to say that the anemone is definitely in trouble. I almost want to say it's a goner but I have to be a little positive here. When I see gigantea in such shape, oral disc folded in, the underside is wrinkled and weak, there's not much hope left.
It's a shame really because it looks like you initially got a really healthy one and could be brought back to thrive. The tentacles were long and not bubbly. And you can actually see the zoanthallae start to come back at the tip. That's usually a really good sign.
How much flow did you have on it and how much light?

How much flow is a hard thing to describe, but it had medium flow, meaning enough that it is swaying a bit, but not enough that it couldn't open up however it wanted. Although it moved into low flow on it's own.

I have 84 3w cree LED's. I have a birdsnest frag growing on a plug that is in the sand, this same frag was browning out in my tank 4" from the surface when I had 4 T5's. I have it turned up as high as I can without bleaching anything, and even then my coraline is bleached in the top 5-6" of the tank.

If anything I am worried it had too much light. Although I have been told the gigantea love as much light as they can get. my BTA's are mid tank.

I really think it might be too far gone too now. It was bleached a bit when I got it.
It was in the LFS's tank for about 3 days before I got it. It ate in their tank, and then twice in my tank. It was under a 300w MH in the fish store.

 

[Jeff000]

Should I put it up on top of my rocks?
It's not attached to anything right now. But the tenticles that are showing look good.

 

[this is me]

I would put on a rock and shield its foot with a couple pieces of liverock.

 

[Jeff000]

It also looks like my semi snows are nipping at the tentacles, it that making it worse?

I really don't want it to die, I turned my leds up, so it is get a lot of light right now.

 

[this is me]

Do you have another tank for the clowns at the moment. Clowns sometime do love their anemone to death. I think they cause more problem for acclimating troubled gigantea than helping during the process.

 

[Jeff000]

This is the first I have seen the clowns with the anemone, haven't even been sleeping with it yet.

The only other tank has a pair of platinums in it. I could put them in the sump, but they are hard to catch, I put the net in the tank though, that seems to keep them in their corner.

 

[Jeff000]

Well it saddens me to say that the anemone failed to make it through the day, it looked like it was melting.

I do want a carpet now, but am looking for one that has been in an aquarium for at least 3 months and is eating.

So is S. Gigantea the best one to be looking at for my semi snow clowns?