multicolor gigantea

[Gary Majchrzak]

tentacle

tentacle

lengths and colors are different

the nest is down here somewhere

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I believe that if I didn't feed it shrimp every now and then it would still hold it's own, (although at a reduced size). It does catch stray fish food.
Lighting is definitely playing a hand in the ability to reduce feedings.
.

Thanks, Gary.

 

[BonsaiNut]

What do you think would happen with no feedings? Think it would slowly shrink, not grow as fast by still grow, etc.
TIA

Charles Delbeek grew the giganteae that he got from Palau from quarter-size to 12" in a couple of years with no supplemental feeding whatsoever - just natural sunlight in an open system display tank at Waikiki Aquarium (and whatever the anemone happened to snag from the water column). So it does not appear that giganteae need heavy feeding to grow.

However, I have read papers the suggest the heavy feeding triggers asexual reproduction in some anemone species, and may influence sexual reproduction as well (though there is nothing that I have read that specifically mentions S. gigantea).

When I think of feeding clown anemones I think along the lines of: when they are healthy (with well-established zooxanthellae) in a tank with appropriate environment for the species, they do not need supplemental feeding. However feeding helps (1) when an anemone is not well-established, or when the environment is not perfect or (2) when you want to "turbo-charge" the anemone for growth or reproduction.

Just tossing in my two cents. Not trying to steal Gary's thread.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks. I'll probably follow up in a different thread with some observations/concerns with feeding mine.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Just tossing in my two cents. Not trying to steal Gary's thread.

are you kidding? I appreciate anything you have to add here

I have a feeling this anemone already spawned when I wasn't looking.
Hopefully I'll be around to take pix next time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Gary:

Are you able to regularly see the mouth of your gigantea? Is it almost always closed?

 

[elegance coral]

I have a feeling this anemone already spawned when I wasn't looking.
Hopefully I'll be around to take pix next time.

Do you think it released eggs or sperm? BTW, beautiful as always.

 

[Tofumushrooman]

Charles Delbeek grew the giganteae that he got from Palau from quarter-size to 12" in a couple of years with no supplemental feeding whatsoever - just natural sunlight in an open system display tank at Waikiki Aquarium (and whatever the anemone happened to snag from the water column). So it does not appear that giganteae need heavy feeding to grow.

Interesting, but in my experience it is the same for once they are established. Id say i fed mine a few times a week when i first got it, but since i rarely feed it directly.. maybe once every few weeks. It does snag food when i feed though as well as for when the clowns bring food back it will snitch from them as well

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Gary:

Are you able to regularly see the mouth of your gigantea? Is it almost always closed?

I'm not always able to see the mouth but when I can it's closed.

EC- I have a feeling this anemone spawned once already but I only saw a cloudy aquarium after the suspected spawning so I don't know if it's a male or female.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Gary amazing set up and Love the Gigantea....I have many questions but for now just one. Do you dose vodka in your system because your tank looks super clean and I wanted to Know if you had any Ill affects with the Gigantea.

 

[Dan]

Gary - I think if your tank was cloudy, then the gig is male. Not certain, but as a general rule, eggs are larger and not likely to cause "cloudiness". Although, come to think of it, aren't anemones hermaphrodites?

Dan

 

[elegance coral]

aren't anemones hermaphrodites?

Dan

Not all of them. There are many different species of anemone, and they have many different means of reproduction from one species to another.

 

[trueblackpercula]

They do both split and spawn

 

[xtlosx]

Stunning!

 

[elegance coral]

They do both split and spawn

Most anemones do not split. Gigantea, the anemone in this thread, is one of the many that doesn't.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Most anemones do not split. Gigantea, the anemone in this thread, is one of the many that doesn't.

not true

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I think I may have aquired the same, or at least very similar, color morph as Gary's spectacular specimen. Depending on how the light hits him, there are many shades of colors throughout this nem. Most notable in the top down photo.

 

[Reefvette]

TruE BLACK

TruE BLACK

Your wrong most anemones dont split there is only two HOSTING anemones that split regularly.

Bubble tips and magnifica.

other wise the rest dont split.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

very nice anemone, son!

FWIW, (as already mentioned) "splitting" (cloning) isn't a natural reproduction strategy of Stichodactyla gigantea.

We've seen this species form "buds" (budding) but I have yet to find a credible report of any "bud" growing into a living independent anemone.
(I'm sure that ec knows that I searched far and wide!)

Still... it wouldn't surprise me to find an example where a gigantea bud survived.
I'm always looking for such an example

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Gary amazing set up and Love the Gigantea....I have many questions but for now just one. Do you dose vodka in your system because your tank looks super clean and I wanted to Know if you had any Ill affects with the Gigantea.

thanks and no- I've never dosed any carbon source. I do run GAC
I also run a good skimmer and perform regular partial water changes via 'wet skimmate water changes'. Sometimes I enhance a water change with a very small dose of Lanthanum chloride. I also run 10 and 100 micron filter socks alternately.

There is an excellent Anemone FAQ located at the top of Reef Central's 'Clownfish and Anemone' Forum.
I strongly suggest anyone considering attempting S. gigantea to research anemones before purchasing ANY anemone.

Regarding host ("great") anemone reproduction strategies, here's an excerpt from the aforementioned Anemone FAQ:

Very little research has been done on tropical clown anemones in the wild. In fact, the
only current biology manual covering anemones is out of print and copies are difficult to
locate. Because of this, detailed information on anemone reproduction and life cycle is
hard to come by. In general, clown anemones reproduce asexually (via cloning by
splitting, budding or pedal laceration) or sexually. Only some clown anemones have
been observed reproducing asexually, though it is believed that all may have this ability.
All clown anemones can reproduce sexually.
Splitting occurs when an anemone splits itself in half, creating two identical individuals,
while budding occurs when a small piece of the parent anemone breaks off and becomes
a separate individual. At least two species of clown anemone (E. quadricolor and H.
magnifica) have been known to split in captivity. S. gigantea has been seen to split once
– so it does occur. Budding is less common and has only been observed once or twice in
S. gigantea and S. mertensii. Pedal laceration has never been observed with clown
anemones (this form of reproduction is common in some other anemones such as
Aptasia) though it may occur with large E. quadricolors.
Anemones are sexual creatures, in that there are male and female individuals. They
reproduce sexually by releasing eggs and sperm into the water column, where larval
anemones mature and settle out to become juvenile anemones.