On vacation and bored, so......
- Thread starter DasCamel
- Start date
OrionN
Moved on
Not a small Gigantea but a healthy purple Gigantea
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2424454
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2424454
CoralsAddiction
Active member
I can't believe these online prices. My local fish stores have 4-6 inch Ritteri anemones for $39, 12-18 inch for $50-$60…go figure.
CoralsAddiction
Active member
They've been very good in my experience. However, I do not get any dry goods or livestock shipped because I live in the area. Blue zoo lets you do a will call pick up to avoid shipping fees and time.
DasCamel
Active member
Will do. Funny thing is I was in their area over the 4th but didn't have time to pick it myself. So far the customer service has been good, they asked if I can pick it up from the hub tomorrow because of the extreme temperatures here.
clorox
New member
Yeah, I find them a little over the top.
Do your local fish stores have gigs by any chance?
clorox
New member
Did you call them? All my emails go unanswered...
CoralsAddiction
Active member
No because they are so delicate. Even vivd aquariums doesn't stock them anymore but you can special order.
DasCamel
Active member
I called and emailed early in the morning.
I called and emailed early in the morning.
They replied with a new ship date for tomorrow. Later on they called and left a voicemail regarding the 108 temp tomorrow. When I called back they answered promptly, and explained everything well regarding the options.
10 min drive to the hub, no biggie when on vacation.
I called and emailed early in the morning.
They replied with a new ship date for tomorrow. Later on they called and left a voicemail regarding the 108 temp tomorrow. When I called back they answered promptly, and explained everything well regarding the options.
10 min drive to the hub, no biggie when on vacation.
DasCamel
Active member
+1
+1
Been back in the hobby less than a year, seems like anything even slightly rare gets outrageous very fast.
+1
my LFS has a large (14 inches across) red base purple tip H. Mag right now. He wants $250 for itSays it's super rare. I've seen those before for around $100; just haven't seen them in a while. I'm sorta ****ed. I wish he wouldn't price gouge so much for it. I'd like to get it.
Been back in the hobby less than a year, seems like anything even slightly rare gets outrageous very fast.
D-Nak
Active member
I must've gotten lucky. The last time I went down to L.A. I specifically asked the boss lady if I could visit Vivid and I got the green light. And guess what was there...
The owner knew it was a gig, and he told me that he already had a buyer but the person hadn't confirmed, so he offered to sell it to me. Their price was comparable to Live Aquaria DD and I was tempted to buy it, but I didn't want to risk driving it home.
They let me shoot a few photos so I couldn't leave without taking one of the DT:
Regarding mags and gigs, mags are EXTREMELY common, especially the brown or cream base ones. We have to remember that most are colonial, so when a collector spots a few, he'll most likely collect a lot at one time. Gigs are typically solitary. The mags with colored bases can cost more, though many times the exporter charges the same amount. It's up to the LFS if they want to jack up the price. I think it's fine for the LFS to ask for more money for a rare item.
I've found that mags are a lot easier to treat with antibiotics than gigs. In other words, if you find a mag, the changes of bringing it back from the brink of death is relatively high. They tend to respond right away, and it's an uphill swing.
Conversely, with gigs, even the experts are having trouble acclimating them. They have mixed results even with antibiotics. When I've treated gigs, I've been scared to look in the QT tank in the morning because I didn't know what I'd find.
So, to sum it up, I think gigantea -- the colored ones (green, blue, and purple) will always be more expensive than mags based on availability and ease of acclimation.
The owner knew it was a gig, and he told me that he already had a buyer but the person hadn't confirmed, so he offered to sell it to me. Their price was comparable to Live Aquaria DD and I was tempted to buy it, but I didn't want to risk driving it home.
They let me shoot a few photos so I couldn't leave without taking one of the DT:
Regarding mags and gigs, mags are EXTREMELY common, especially the brown or cream base ones. We have to remember that most are colonial, so when a collector spots a few, he'll most likely collect a lot at one time. Gigs are typically solitary. The mags with colored bases can cost more, though many times the exporter charges the same amount. It's up to the LFS if they want to jack up the price. I think it's fine for the LFS to ask for more money for a rare item.
I've found that mags are a lot easier to treat with antibiotics than gigs. In other words, if you find a mag, the changes of bringing it back from the brink of death is relatively high. They tend to respond right away, and it's an uphill swing.
Conversely, with gigs, even the experts are having trouble acclimating them. They have mixed results even with antibiotics. When I've treated gigs, I've been scared to look in the QT tank in the morning because I didn't know what I'd find.
So, to sum it up, I think gigantea -- the colored ones (green, blue, and purple) will always be more expensive than mags based on availability and ease of acclimation.
CoralsAddiction
Active member
Vivid? When I asked a week ago at their store, they didn't even know what a Gigantea was, they had to check on their computer
That's lame. They refer to them as carpet anemones without differentiation between gigantea and haddoni, etc.
clorox
New member
Yeah, you have been lucky. That's the corner nem tank at Vivid 
Dave (the owner) is really knowledgeable, but he's not at the store often. The rest of the staff is hit and miss.
I go visit about once every 2 weeks, in the hope I might get lucky. I just wish they kept more nems and fish, they clearly cater to the coral crowd. They are among the better LFS in SoCal.
I think the main reason there is such scarcity of gigs on sale is because they ship so poorly and the mortality must be so high that they have become increasingly hard to find.
I lived over 10 years in Asia and I saw way more gigs in the wild than mags, part because gigs tend to be found around shallow intertidal waters. Tan and green are very common along the shores of the Malaysian peninsula and the Indonesian islands, I saw very frequently clusters (spread across ~20 yards) of 20-30 mid size specimens, during low tides or when snorkeling and diving. In Hong Kong gigs are quite common (and cheap) because shipping time is much shorter allowing for way better survival rates.
Dave (the owner) is really knowledgeable, but he's not at the store often. The rest of the staff is hit and miss.
I go visit about once every 2 weeks, in the hope I might get lucky. I just wish they kept more nems and fish, they clearly cater to the coral crowd. They are among the better LFS in SoCal.
I think the main reason there is such scarcity of gigs on sale is because they ship so poorly and the mortality must be so high that they have become increasingly hard to find.
I lived over 10 years in Asia and I saw way more gigs in the wild than mags, part because gigs tend to be found around shallow intertidal waters. Tan and green are very common along the shores of the Malaysian peninsula and the Indonesian islands, I saw very frequently clusters (spread across ~20 yards) of 20-30 mid size specimens, during low tides or when snorkeling and diving. In Hong Kong gigs are quite common (and cheap) because shipping time is much shorter allowing for way better survival rates.
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