Mag ok?

[vertwake]

I got a mag delivered today. I had it overnighted. When it arrived the box was pretty cold, and was a little concerned maybe it had gotten too cold in shipping. I floated the bag for 20 minutes to get the temp back up and then did a drip acclimation.

I placed it in the tank, and it stayed pretty flat, but attached it's foot right away. I noticed the mouth was kind of gaping, and I seem to remember reading that mags with gaping mouths were already one foot in the grave. Other than that, the color was good, no bleaching and didn't stink.

I left the lights off all morning, and finally turned them on, the mouth seemed to close up a little and the tentacles puffed up quite a bit. But the mouth is still gaping and definitely not tight.

Should I be concerned about the gaping mouth? Is there anything I can do to help it acclimate and recover?

Parameters:
Temp: 79
Sg: 1.025
PH: 8.03
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0

I have some horrible pics attached.

 

[Winwood]

It looks pretty battered but most mags do right after shipping. I'd give it a day or two to see if in imroves and don't blast it with a ton of light right away. If it starts to decline you might read the sticky thread at the top of the forum entitled pedal laceration in gigantea. It seems a few people may be having success with these delicate species using antibiotics.

 

[garygb]

I agree, it's really too soon to say. After shipping, an open mouth isn't that unusual. Your parameters look good and now maintaining excellent water conditions should be your number one objective. Is that ph 8.3 perhaps? If so, then it's right on target. I would shoot for temp. of 80-82F and sg 1.026, but I don't expect that will make a dramatic difference. Btw, what do you use to measure your sg? I prefer an accurately calibrated refractometer myself, although, a high-end floating hydrometer can also be very precise.

 

[vertwake]

Is that ph 8.3 perhaps? If so, then it's right on target. I would shoot for temp. of 80-82F and sg 1.026, but I don't expect that will make a dramatic difference. Btw, what do you use to measure your sg? I prefer an accurately calibrated refractometer myself, although, a high-end floating hydrometer can also be very precise.

Thanks for the info guys. The mouth has closed significantly and the nem looks MUCH better. I think maybe I was just a little worried due to all the bad things I've read about how difficult Mags are. We'll see how it looks tomorrow, but less than 12 hours later it already looks much better.

I use a refractometer to measure sg. Calibrated with the Pinpoint calibration fluid. I'll have to look at bumping my temps up a bit. My ph fluctuates between 8-8.17 according to my ph probe on my Apex.

 

[garygb]

Good to hear it's looking better. Also good that you're calibrating your refractometer with pinpoint, distilled water gives an inaccurate reading.

 

[Winwood]

Great to hear! Good luck!

 

[vertwake]

Update:

Mag looked horrible again night before last. Mouth gaping again completely flat, tentacles deflated. I turned on my lights about 3 hours early to give it a longer photo period as the tentacles puffed up when the lights were on. I also upped my water temp to 80 per garyb's suggestion.

By last night the mag was fully inflated and the mouth had closed up to almost a slit. I was worried it might go back to deflating and gaping after the lights went out.

This morning it looked great. Mouth still closed, tentacles all puffy. Seems to have pulled it's base closer together also and seems to be more upright instead of flat and deflated.

So seems like it's doing just fine now after a full 48 hours.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

 

[Anemone0524]

how long did you wait after receiving him to turn the lights on?

 

[vertwake]

3-4 hours.

 

[garygb]

I'm glad it's looking good again. With mags all bets are off until they have settled in for a few weeks. Though once established they are quite hardy, shipping seems to take a toll on many of them and, as I'm sure you know, their survival rates are among the lowest of the host species. So, keep your parameters where you have them with regular water changes and hopefully yours will settle in and be fine.

 

[crsandoval]

You may want to consider feeding the nem as well. Make sure the food is thawed and about the size of the mouth, maybe a little smaller. Try feeding silversides, not krill also I have found that feeding just the meaty part of the fish is best instead of the fishhead or tail which has too many bones.

 

[vertwake]

Well, I think it has taken a turn for the worse. Last night the mouth opened up significantly. And today when I got home from work it looks awful.

Almost looks like it's either collapsing in on itself or splitting. Is it at the point I pull it out of the tank? How do I know when to pull it out? I don't want to leave it too long and have it kill everything else in the tank, but at the same time, I don't want to yank it if there's a chance it could recover...

 

[garygb]

Not sure what to tell you. Just keep a really close eye on it and if it appears to begin to disintegrate remove it.

 

[vertwake]

Final update: Mag is dead this evening. Slid off the rock, and started disintegrating. Didn't even make it a full week. Such a bummer!

 

[garygb]

Very sorry to hear that. Getting a healthy one from the get-go is key and all too often they come in decline.