Purple & Green Gigantea updates

[xtlosx]

Hey guys, so it's been several months and figured it was time for a good photo updated of our two gigs. The Purple has been in our tank for four months and the Green for two months now... I must be lucky because neither saw Cipro, and the green spent only four days in QT. So far so good!

The Purple was completely bleached, with a small hint of light purple\blue when we first got it. This guy is now 1', and depending on how the MP40s are hitting him, it's either a 1' long folded purple taco, or a 1' waffle just hanging out. You can see the long column and the foot is deep in this crevice, and the nicely visible verracue. The size of this animal has doubled and I have since stopped daily feedings... Turns out eating daily for two months will double the size :celeb2: Either way, this Purple has turned out to be amazing and I hope it's in the tank for years to come.

 

[xtlosx]

The Green Gig was small on purchase, and initially many thought it to be a Haddoni. It hasn't moved from this spot eats every other day or so and has tripled in size to be probably 6-8" now. As it has come back to health I've noticed the animal first fill in bald spots on the pedal before increasing length of any of the tentacles that are there. What were visible bald spots no longer exist on the pedal, and now there are some rather long tentacles while the rest are still short'ish in size. Either way, the selcon soaked foods has really really helped both of these guys.

In general, they are both coming along well, but the green is REAL slow and is taking much longer to get going than the purple did.

In conclusion, some together shots showing the tank layout, and how the both look... I could sit here all day! Now if only my onyx would find the green gig......

 

[ca1ore]

Very nice. I really like the 'open' look. Too many people, myself included, cram too much into too small of a space. Those pillars are not single rocks are they?

 

[cichlidconvert]

You know I am a fan of your gigs right?!! I love the purple gig it is in great shape. And your green looks to have lengthening tentacles putting on some size too.

 

[xtlosx]

Very nice. I really like the 'open' look. Too many people, myself included, cram too much into too small of a space. Those pillars are not single rocks are they?

Thanks for the kind words.. They are not one rock and we did this specifically for the reason you said.. My Wife always does our rock-work anyways since she has the concept of space and how it all looks.

If you look closely in the pictures of the Green you can see zip ties. They are starting to purple up and be less visible.

 

[xtlosx]

You know I am a fan of your gigs right?!! I love the purple gig it is in great shape. And your green looks to have lengthening tentacles putting on some size too.

Thank you for the compliments. My picture taking skills suck I don't take as many as I used to. I realize some of the others here have much better skills and it portrays their Gigs in a much better fashion. I always worried my photo skills would make mine look terrible..

The green if you notice, the back pedal part is ALL new since it got here. When I got it, that gig was just a circle pedal with four folds. Now the front fold hangs over the rock there and is about 2-3" hanging. It's so neat.. The green has taken patience, it's slow to recover, but I do think that after it's all said and done it will look real nice.

 

[OrionN]

Both are very nice. Two of my three Giganteas look very much like your's.

 

[xtlosx]

Both are very nice. Two of my three Giganteas look very much like your's.

Thanks Minh! That's quite the compliment and hope that my green eventually gets shaggy like this purple.. The green is slow slow slow to acclimate but looks awesome when it makes progress...

 

[Rotknee]

Congrats on your success!

Congrats on your success!

Both your nems look good and the green is coming along well. What are you using for lighting again? I wonder how different the environments are between where the green gigs are collected versus the others. Once they find their happy place they are just as nice (if not nicer) than the rest but appear to acclimate a bit slower than the others.

Gotta say again, great job on the aquascaping too!:thumbsup:

 

[cichlidconvert]

To be honest I'm a bit jealous of your purple. I'd love to have one like that.

 

[Reef1589]

that purple has really come around, pat yourself on the back.. for doing such a good job..both are lookig great keep up the good work

 

[xtlosx]

Appreciate that Robbie... The purple has gotten so large it's amazing to watch'em fold and do his thing.. It's all starting to get there!

that purple has really come around, pat yourself on the back.. for doing such a good job..both are lookig great keep up the good work

I had no idea what it would look like when I bought it.. The first pictures in my thread it was so bleached and barely visible color in the tips. Initially it looked baby bluefish, but certainly is a dark dark purple now.

To be honest I'm a bit jealous of your purple. I'd love to have one like that.

I'm using 3x Radion Gen 2's running in Natural Mode with the Sipadan Reef (Shallow Mode) template. PAR is insane under the green specifically, it's running around 1,200.. I'm thinking that might one of the reasons why he has been so slow to recover completely, but when high noon comes around and full PAR, that's when the tentacles get the biggest! So who knows. So far so good.

Thanks on the aquascaping. My Wife does a great job... our 60 cube had plenty of compliments as well. I tend not to tell her the extent of the compliments so it doesn't go to her head, heh. :dance:

Both your nems look good and the green is coming along well. What are you using for lighting again? I wonder how different the environments are between where the green gigs are collected versus the others. Once they find their happy place they are just as nice (if not nicer) than the rest but appear to acclimate a bit slower than the others.

Gotta say again, great job on the aquascaping too!:thumbsup:

Thank you, I have done my best with these guys. The funny thing is, against the common advice, the purple was in the tank when my tank was barely two months old... 150lbs of new dried marco rock, 150lbs of dried new sand and through all of the diatoms, cyano, the cycles... both gigs didn't even flinch. I really do think when you have hardy specimens they are no weaker or harder to care for than BTAs, etc.. If they can survive in this tank that early.. who knows I guess. I just couldn't pass up these gigs no matter how young my tank was, lol.

Thats an awesome save!!!

 

[cichlidconvert]

My tank was only two months old when I put mine in. Although I did use an existing sump and some established live rock. So I agree, that if healthy they are quite hardy. But they are a bear to acclimate if not healthy. And quite lovely

 

[taylor t]

Nice looking nems you've got there.

 

[xtlosx]

Thanks guys. Wonder if my onyx will ever wander into the land of the green gig!

 

[xtlosx]

Just realized I haven't updated this since the green gig moved.. not to mention it's a slow day at work and what better thing to do but document my gigs.

In an effort to get the purple gig out of the direct line of sight of MP40s, I tilted the entire rock structure back a little bit.. This has seemed to make him much happier. If you can believe it, he's gotten even bigger, and slowly is moving himself from deep in the crevice, to up... I wouldn't be shocked if in a few weeks his foot is out of the crevice completely, but either way, looking awesome. I'd say almost a 100% recovery from the first day... truly amazing.

The green gig moved itself from front and center, to the side of the rock island... Since moving, it gets more flow, and has probably doubled in size... easily, and has gotten more carpet shaggy in the last week than in the first month in my tank. Starting to look awesome finally.

I'm real happy about the progress and when the green is full shag and healthy, I'll ponder selling my torch colony all the way at the top of the right island and looking for a blue gig....

 

[SomeDude12]

They look great! Where are you purchasing the Gigantea's from? I'd like one form my 125 anemone garden.

 

[xtlosx]

They look great! Where are you purchasing the Gigantea's from? I'd like one form my 125 anemone garden.

Both from local resources.. It seems like it's a hit or miss. When I got mine they were everywhere. Last month and a half, it's been silent on the gig front..

Hoping that when I'm ready, it shouldn't be too rough finding a blue to join the party..

 

[SomeDude12]

Both from local resources.. It seems like it's a hit or miss. When I got mine they were everywhere. Last month and a half, it's been silent on the gig front..

Hoping that when I'm ready, it shouldn't be too rough finding a blue to join the party..

Have you or anyone else following this thread, ordered a Gigantea from Foster & Smith? They occasionally pop up, but they are labeled as all being "tan." Can anyone confirm this?

 

[hobogato]

great video - that green really is settling in nicely. that would look sweet with a blue in there as well.