New blue gig - my first gig!

[zooman72]

I have kept a lot of species in my 30+ years of aquarium-keeping, and have kept many anemones, including all of the clown hosting species except Stichodactyla gigantea - that is until now...

One of my LFS recently received a pair of larger blue/ purple gigs, and I had the owner hold the smaller and more colorful of the two for a couple of weeks to see if it was relatively healthy. Well, long story short, I picked it up this afternoon, and traded my mint green Haddon's for it.

It is extremely sticky, has never deflated, and has a beautiful blue foot and column. It is in my 45W (36"x24"x12" w/ 20L sump) on top of a large relatively smooth rock, with plenty of room around it. The lighting is a 27"/ 160W/ 16K Maxspect Razor (peaking at 70%W:80%B, and with the 120 degree reflectors), and the flow is a combination of Sicce 1.5 return and pair of 425gph Koralias set-up to give a nice random flow (anemone is slowly rocking back and forth). Tank has been running several months, and is an upgrade from my 14 year old 20L.

There are currently 10 fish (Haddon's ate a couple ) - pair of tomato clowns (had been hosted by the Haddon's), pair of blue damsels, pair of 4-stripe damsels, pair of domino damsels, a single clarki clown, and a splendid dottyback.

Here it is just after placing into the tank with the pumps off...





Here it is just after the pumps were turned back on...





Finally, here is the Haddon's I traded in, with the water a bit cloudy after a water change and substrate stir - was actually a pain as it would bulldoze the substrate if it got out of the plastic container, and it hated any flow...

 

[addictedreefer]

Looks very healthy. Best of luck with it!

 

[zooman72]

Looks very healthy. Best of luck with it!

Thanks - I have been lucky with my latest mag and malu coming in healthy several months ago, the Haddon's a couple of months ago, and now (hopefully) this gig....:spin3:

 

[Jrsdaddy]

Wow beautiful anemone! Would you mind PMing me the name of the LFS? I'm looking for a reputable store in the NJ/NY area to buy a gig or mag from. Best of luck with it!

 

[Jrsdaddy]

Nevermind lol I just realized your like 6hrs away from me :hammer:

 

[zooman72]

Nevermind lol I just realized your like 6hrs away from me :hammer:

I will ask what commercial wholesaler he received from so that maybe you can have your LFS order from them if you would like...

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Nice gig and good luck with it. I like Haddonis very much due to their availability, colors and adaptability to aquarium life. However, I wish they weren't as predatory as they are.

 

[zooman72]

Nice gig and good luck with it. I like Haddonis very much due to their availability, colors and adaptability to aquarium life. However, I wish they weren't as predatory as they are.

Thanks - I like Haddon's as well, just not as much as the other clown-hosting species. This one I just traded in was a "bullet-proof" survivor that had survived a couple of "mishaps" at the LFS, and I had just upgraded to the wider tank, so I thought I would give one a try again.

Other than eating fish, they also don't have much if any tentacle movement (I am a sucker for movement ), don't like much flow (harder to keep them with corals that do), and can really "bulldoze" their way around the tank if not perfectly "happy"...

This latest one eating fish didn't surprise me, and I can handle the loss of a couple of small 4-stripe damsels (although I am also sure they did not enjoy it), but the loss of my long-term and huge male blue devil (Chrysiptera cyanea) was a bit disconcerting, especially since he was so big...:sad2:

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Nice looking gig,makes a great center piece.

 

[ClippersTown]

those shallow cubes are my favorite tanks. beautiful gig as well

 

[zooman72]

Nice looking gig,makes a great center piece.

Thanks, and that was my thought as well when deciding on the upgrade from the 20L - a carpet nem centerpiece...

those shallow cubes are my favorite tanks. beautiful gig as well

Thanks, wide and shallow does make placement easier, although it is not really a cube

 

[clorox]

Thanks, and that was my thought as well when deciding on the upgrade from the 20L - a carpet nem centerpiece...



Thanks, wide and shallow does make placement easier, although it is not really a cube

Indeed, wide and shallow is the way to go if you are keeping a gig dominated tank. If I was you, I would move the rock with the gig a bit more in the center, cause once it fully expands it will soon most likely touch the glass.

 

[zooman72]

Indeed, wide and shallow is the way to go if you are keeping a gig dominated tank. If I was you, I would move the rock with the gig a bit more in the center, cause once it fully expands it will soon most likely touch the glass.

He has moved a bit towards the rear of the rock today and decreased in size a bit (hopefully not planning on deflating :uhoh2: ), so I am hoping that he likes it were he is. The tomato clown pair moved right too.

 

[zooman72]

OK, this is what I mentioned regarding the size - the gig has "contracted", but not "deflated" (notice the group of tentacles on the center edge - different "groups" of tentacles contracted throughout the day), and the mouth has remained tightly closed. The entire gig seems to have simply "tightened up" during the day, and relaxed only a bit once the lights went off.

I have a QT/HT ready, and can pick up Cipro tomorrow (vet literally right up the street), but I am really hoping to ride it out and hope the animal is just adapting to the higher flow and light in my system compared to the LFS - had very little flow there, and was lit by four T5's of unknown age in a 75g, where it was on the bottom.

 

[hotelbravo]

Zooman72 how do I get MY wife to understand...

 

[zooman72]

Zooman72 how do I get MY wife to understand...

:lolspin:

The key is to figure that out before marriage...:lol:

Oh, and I got lucky I think...:dance:

 

[zooman72]

Update on condition - noticed the mouth open just a bit in the afternoon, which of course concerns me a bit since it already is "contracted" (not sure if it was actually deflated)...



Then, later in the early evening it started to gain size again - I am still wondering at this point if this is the beginning of a deflate-inflate cycle, or just the animal "settling in"...

 

[worm5406]

Besides the QT part, when you place any anemone it is going to purge existing water out and replace it with what is in the tank.

When I was QT a gig about a year ago I had it on timelapse. You could see the ripples forcing the water out almost down to the tentacle level.

YES keep an eye with it. Going ahead and getting the cipro now, would help in the event something happened later.

 

[zooman72]

Well, as I said, I am hoping it is simply acclimating and will not need to be treated, but I already have the QT/HT set up, and will be picking up some Cipro tomorrow afternoon just in case.

Sitting here and looking at it right now (tank as right at the end of my desk in my home office, so easily visible), it is looking much more "normal" (and has regained much of its prior size), so I have my fingers crossed...

 

[panigale]

nice set up:beer: