New giganteas in Southern Cal

[BonsaiNut]

FYI - I know this is not a vendor board and I don't work for this store, but people keeping asking for locations of rare anemones...

I was just at Tong's in Fountain Valley yesterday and they have three S. giganteas (two blue and one green). None of them looked as healthy as I have seen in the past - the green was especially "iffy". They were partially bleached, but not too bad. The two blues looked ok and you might want to check them out if you are in the area...

 

[BonsaiNut]

Just stopped by Tong's and they got in 8 more giganteas last night (!) I had my camera handy so I snapped a photo. 7 yellows and 1 green. Note in the photo that the green one looks unhappy, but that could be due to the fact that they have him lying against a couple of M. doreensis (!!!) It is an interesting photo because it clearly shows the yellow color morph next to the green, and you can see that neither is dyed and the clear difference between the two. Note also that some of the yellow morphs have blue columns, and at least one has an orange/red column. These new ones look a lot healthier than the last few - several I would rate as "very healthy" looking -especially given that they have been in the store less than 24 hours and may not be fully acclimated yet.

 

[phender]

Thank you for posting those pictures. This is very helpful for those who don't see these very often and maybe don't know what makes a healthy looking gigantea.

The ones that are holding their bodies in a wave and have tight mouths are in pretty good shape, but I still wouldn't buy one. If you don't mind I will use a pic that you posted on the "What color is your Carpet" thread as a model.
The yellow anemones have very short, fat and sparse tentacles compared to your beautiful purple carpet. IME, (which is not as much as yours with this species) I would want to see tentacle structure more like your anemone before I would buy. I know that means I might have to wait several years and be very lucky, but I am not sure I would have the ablility to nurse any of those yellow anemones back to health.
Your carpet for reference:

 

[BonsaiNut]

Phil - the firm ones are really good for giganteas that small. You have to understand my purple gigantea was about 14" across in these photos. It took about 4 months for the tentacles to elongate that much - when I first got it it looked just like the anemones in the store photo. Here is the first photo I can locate of it (I had had it less than a week) Note the nubby tentacles. They almost look like haddoni tentacles (though not the oral disk folds)

And here it is after about 6 months...

Compare the size of my big gigantea next to this small (and obviously bleached and stressed) one. The small one is often what you see in the aquarium trade. Note that the small one is sitting on top of a 4" maxima clam. I had hoped that since I obviously had an environment that a gigantea was thriving in, that I would be able to nurse a bleached one back to health - no such luck.

There are a couple of the anemones in my store shot that look nice - the third yellow one from the front has a really dark blue base and bright yellow tentacles that almost verge on flourescent. I aways post on these boards hoping that someone here will buy one and we can watch how it does in the person's tank. Though I can't prove it, I think that giganteas get damage/bacterial infection that does them in rather than bleaching. I have seen otherwise healthy looking giganteas that are badly bleached and have been that way for a month or more, while I have also seen dark colored anemones fresh from the ocean succumb to unknown causes within a week of being in a tank. We don't yet know enough...

 

[4runner]

Just curious, but what is the price on these anemones?

 

[BonsaiNut]

Not sure - I think $70 but it may be less. The blue ones were going for $100.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

For those unaware, gigantea are notoriously challenging anemones to maintain.
Does Tong's hold them in a barebottom tank full of large pieces of rubble?
Thanks for sharing, BonsaiNut.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7401538#post7401538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BonsaiNut
Phil - the firm ones are really good for giganteas that small. You have to understand my purple gigantea was about 14" across in these photos. It took about 4 months for the tentacles to elongate that much - when I first got it it looked just like the anemones in the store photo. Here is the first photo I can locate of it (I had had it less than a week) Note the nubby tentacles. They almost look like haddoni tentacles (though not the oral disk folds)

And here it is after about 6 months...

Compare the size of my big gigantea next to this small (and obviously bleached and stressed) one. The small one is often what you see in the aquarium trade. Note that the small one is sitting on top of a 4" maxima clam. I had hoped that since I obviously had an environment that a gigantea was thriving in, that I would be able to nurse a bleached one back to health - no such luck.

There are a couple of the anemones in my store shot that look nice - the third yellow one from the front has a really dark blue base and bright yellow tentacles that almost verge on flourescent. I aways post on these boards hoping that someone here will buy one and we can watch how it does in the person's tank. Though I can't prove it, I think that giganteas get damage/bacterial infection that does them in rather than bleaching. I have seen otherwise healthy looking giganteas that are badly bleached and have been that way for a month or more, while I have also seen dark colored anemones fresh from the ocean succumb to unknown causes within a week of being in a tank. We don't yet know enough...

Why is it bleached. What is it thats causing it stress? The gigantea thats right next to it?

 

[BonsaiNut]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7404767#post7404767 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef
Why is it bleached. What is it thats causing it stress? The gigantea thats right next to it?

No, I bought the smaller gigantea from a store when it was completely bleached and stressed out. I bought it because (1) it was cheap and (2) I was curious whether I could bring it back from the brink. It did not survive. As Gary said, giganteas are notoriously difficult to keep, and even in a perfect tank you have to get a healthy specimen to start with else it will likely die.

 

[BonsaiNut]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7404450#post7404450 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
Does Tong's hold them in a barebottom tank full of large pieces of rubble?

Yes. The system they are on is a rather extensive marine invert system that includes tanks of mixed inverts (with piles of live rock) as well as species tanks. The anemone tanks are up top close to the lights and have stronger flow. They are bare bottom with large pieces of coral rubble. Depending upon what they get in, they normally have 5 or 6 tanks of anemones - typically a lot of rose and green BTA's, some malus, doreensis, and haddonis. Less normally, they will get in giganteas, adhesivums, mertensii, and even some non-clown anemones like fire anemones. I can't say that I recall seeing too many magnificas - though I'm sure they can get them.

If you have never been, Tong's is halfway between a "nicer" LFS and a warehouse outlet. They are a little messy, but they turn a LOT of inventory so their stock is always fresh. They get in huge shipments several times a week and sell a lot of it before the week is out.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7405201#post7405201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BonsaiNut
No, I bought the smaller gigantea from a store when it was completely bleached and stressed out. I bought it because (1) it was cheap and (2) I was curious whether I could bring it back from the brink. It did not survive. As Gary said, giganteas are notoriously difficult to keep, and even in a perfect tank you have to get a healthy specimen to start with else it will likely die.

too bad, it looked like it was going to be a good anemone if it had recovered that is.

 

[jim48442]

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