S. gigantea and H. magnifica?

[brian762]

Why are they considered expert? Is it a shipping issue or a husbandry issue? Are you better off getting one from a LFS? For those who keep them or have kept them successfully, what equipment are you using?

 

[psusocr]

Shipping is a HUGE issue so if you can find one localy with a tight, closed mouth your always better. They get pretty large, need good water quality and alot of strong random flow.

 

[OrionN]

They also need very strong light and good stable water condition. If you cannot keep your tank stable, you should not attempt to keep them

 

[Conrad25]

I would say shipping is a large factor of the problems with these. Also another one is the flow, they both absolutly LOVE flow, but Mags like random flow more than direct like a gig. I also would say major lighting is key and just be prepared to setup the tank around the anemone, not the other way around as they will end up where they like and decide to be, although you can try and setup a designated spot for them and hope for the best. I have learned what mine like and moving my tank twice as led to them never moving when I put them in the tank. I currently house both in a 75G tank

Edit: Like OrionN stated, very stable conditions are extremly important with these guys.

 

[brian762]

Will MH lighting be enough for them? I assume 6x t5's wont suffice.

 

[ken6217]

6- T5's will suffice.
Ken

 

[elegance coral]

Have you got your water quality issue resolved that caused your elegance to bail? I wouldn't attempt one of these anemones until that is corrected.

To answer your question, these are very delicate animals. IMHO, magnifica is the most sensitive animal we keep in this hobby. Everything has to be just right for these animals. Placement in the tank, and flow has to be just right. It can take a long time for them to recover from shipping stress. It can also take a long time for them to acclimate to changes in lighting. Water quality, especially chemical warfare (allelopathy) can be a huge issue. Basically, they're everything you don't want if your looking for an easy animal to care for.

They're considered "expert only" because it takes time and experience to tell a stressed magnifica or gigantea from a healthy one. People post threads in this forum all the time to show off their new anemone, and people have to break it to them that their anemone isn't healthy.

 

[brian762]

Have you got your water quality issue resolved that caused your elegance to bail? I wouldn't attempt one of these anemones until that is corrected.

To answer your question, these are very delicate animals. IMHO, magnifica is the most sensitive animal we keep in this hobby. Everything has to be just right for these animals. Placement in the tank, and flow has to be just right. It can take a long time for them to recover from shipping stress. It can also take a long time for them to acclimate to changes in lighting. Water quality, especially chemical warfare (allelopathy) can be a huge issue. Basically, they're everything you don't want if your looking for an easy animal to care for.

They're considered "expert only" because it takes time and experience to tell a stressed magnifica or gigantea from a healthy one. People post threads in this forum all the time to show off their new anemone, and people have to break it to them that their anemone isn't healthy.

I am not even close to even considering one yet. I was just curious why they are so hard to keep.

 

[D-Nak]

Have you got your water quality issue resolved that caused your elegance to bail? I wouldn't attempt one of these anemones until that is corrected.

To answer your question, these are very delicate animals. IMHO, magnifica is the most sensitive animal we keep in this hobby. Everything has to be just right for these animals. Placement in the tank, and flow has to be just right. It can take a long time for them to recover from shipping stress. It can also take a long time for them to acclimate to changes in lighting. Water quality, especially chemical warfare (allelopathy) can be a huge issue. Basically, they're everything you don't want if your looking for an easy animal to care for.

They're considered "expert only" because it takes time and experience to tell a stressed magnifica or gigantea from a healthy one. People post threads in this forum all the time to show off their new anemone, and people have to break it to them that their anemone isn't healthy.

I couldn't agree with this more. I was fortunate to find a healthy magnifica from a fellow reefer. My gigantea was a completely different story (it died after three weeks). If you're not familiar with these anemones, I think getting them from another reefer is the ONLY way to go, because acclimating these anemones (both magnifica and gigantea) can be tricky and time consuming.

Many say that giganteas are sick when they come into the LFS. I actually think it goes beyond this. I think many anemones do come in sick, but since we don't know how to properly acclimate them, they stress even more, and can't fight off any illness they've gotten. This causes the downhill slide. With sick gigs, it's common for them to inflate and deflate, or inflate during the day, then deflate at night (most agree that gigs that are healthy rarely fully deflate). Many have speculated that this process is the anemone's way of trying to remove waste or expel something it doesn't like. My hypothesis is that it's also trying to adjust its zooxanthellae to current lighting conditions (like a natural sun screen) which is why they sometimes expel zooxanthellae, become bleached, or turn brown. What it really is, we don't know. Until someone comes up with a proven method of acclimation, we'll continue to read posts about dying mags and gigs.

As many have already stated, both mags and gigs need high flow and bright light -- the challenge is acclimating them to these conditions. Do we blast them with light or slowly acclimate using the window screen method? Do we give them low flow at first so they can get their foot planted, or do we blast them with indirect current right away? Will changing the flow cause them to wander around the tank?

I can tell you that I've never seen a healthy gig at a LFS. The color might look good, they may expand and look "fluffy", they are sticky, they are eating, mouth is tightly closed, foot is intact without cuts or bruises. But they don't have the "shag-carpet" look of a truly healthy gig, with long tentacles flowing the the water. Most I see have tentacles that resemble Haddoni. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing healthy gigs. This is not to say that it can't be purchased, and do fine on someone's tank, this is where luck comes into play since the acclimation process is such a crap shoot.

In short, the reason why these are considered "expert-only" is because we really don't know much about magnifica and gigantea. We don't know much about anemones in general for that matter, we just know that some are easier to keep -- since they don't mysteriously die on us or can acclimate to captive conditions easily. It takes a trained eye of someone with experience to see signs of stress in these anemones, and someone with even more experience to know what to do about it.

 

[Pamocanthus]

I couldn't agree with this more. I was fortunate to find a healthy magnifica from a fellow reefer. My gigantea was a completely different story (it died after three weeks). If you're not familiar with these anemones, I think getting them from another reefer is the ONLY way to go, because acclimating these anemones (both magnifica and gigantea) can be tricky and time consuming.

Many say that giganteas are sick when they come into the LFS. I actually think it goes beyond this. I think many anemones do come in sick, but since we don't know how to properly acclimate them, they stress even more, and can't fight off any illness they've gotten. This causes the downhill slide. With sick gigs, it's common for them to inflate and deflate, or inflate during the day, then deflate at night (most agree that gigs that are healthy rarely fully deflate). Many have speculated that this process is the anemone's way of trying to remove waste or expel something it doesn't like. My hypothesis is that it's also trying to adjust its zooxanthellae to current lighting conditions (like a natural sun screen) which is why they sometimes expel zooxanthellae, become bleached, or turn brown. What it really is, we don't know. Until someone comes up with a proven method of acclimation, we'll continue to read posts about dying mags and gigs.

As many have already stated, both mags and gigs need high flow and bright light -- the challenge is acclimating them to these conditions. Do we blast them with light or slowly acclimate using the window screen method? Do we give them low flow at first so they can get their foot planted, or do we blast them with indirect current right away? Will changing the flow cause them to wander around the tank?

I can tell you that I've never seen a healthy gig at a LFS. The color might look good, they may expand and look "fluffy", they are sticky, they are eating, mouth is tightly closed, foot is intact without cuts or bruises. But they don't have the "shag-carpet" look of a truly healthy gig, with long tentacles flowing the the water. Most I see have tentacles that resemble Haddoni. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing healthy gigs. This is not to say that it can't be purchased, and do fine on someone's tank, this is where luck comes into play since the acclimation process is such a crap shoot.

In short, the reason why these are considered "expert-only" is because we really don't know much about magnifica and gigantea. We don't know much about anemones in general for that matter, we just know that some are easier to keep -- since they don't mysteriously die on us or can acclimate to captive conditions easily. It takes a trained eye of someone with experience to see signs of stress in these anemones, and someone with even more experience to know what to do about it.

As long as the lfs crutinizes how the mags/gigs are shipped to them they should be getting pretty healthy anemone. Im not sure on the specifics but the nems need to be drained first in like a collander for quite some tim then shipped in a small amount of water. Now, dont take that as fact,I bought my gig over two years ago and due to the health it was in when it arrived I couldnt say no, I had to have it. It has more than quadrupled in size which is making me start to think about upgrading my 180 to something larger. I am pretty sure that I have heard the same as far as shipping goes for mags oo. Now like I said, no need to take this as fact, just my experience.

Best Wishes Fishes

 

[Pamocanthus]

I couldn't agree with this more. I was fortunate to find a healthy magnifica from a fellow reefer. My gigantea was a completely different story (it died after three weeks). If you're not familiar with these anemones, I think getting them from another reefer is the ONLY way to go, because acclimating these anemones (both magnifica and gigantea) can be tricky and time consuming.

Many say that giganteas are sick when they come into the LFS. I actually think it goes beyond this. I think many anemones do come in sick, but since we don't know how to properly acclimate them, they stress even more, and can't fight off any illness they've gotten. This causes the downhill slide. With sick gigs, it's common for them to inflate and deflate, or inflate during the day, then deflate at night (most agree that gigs that are healthy rarely fully deflate). Many have speculated that this process is the anemone's way of trying to remove waste or expel something it doesn't like. My hypothesis is that it's also trying to adjust its zooxanthellae to current lighting conditions (like a natural sun screen) which is why they sometimes expel zooxanthellae, become bleached, or turn brown. What it really is, we don't know. Until someone comes up with a proven method of acclimation, we'll continue to read posts about dying mags and gigs.

As many have already stated, both mags and gigs need high flow and bright light -- the challenge is acclimating them to these conditions. Do we blast them with light or slowly acclimate using the window screen method? Do we give them low flow at first so they can get their foot planted, or do we blast them with indirect current right away? Will changing the flow cause them to wander around the tank?

I can tell you that I've never seen a healthy gig at a LFS. The color might look good, they may expand and look "fluffy", they are sticky, they are eating, mouth is tightly closed, foot is intact without cuts or bruises. But they don't have the "shag-carpet" look of a truly healthy gig, with long tentacles flowing the the water. Most I see have tentacles that resemble Haddoni. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing healthy gigs. This is not to say that it can't be purchased, and do fine on someone's tank, this is where luck comes into play since the acclimation process is such a crap shoot.

In short, the reason why these are considered "expert-only" is because we really don't know much about magnifica and gigantea. We don't know much about anemones in general for that matter, we just know that some are easier to keep -- since they don't mysteriously die on us or can acclimate to captive conditions easily. It takes a trained eye of someone with experience to see signs of stress in these anemones, and someone with even more experience to know what to do about it.

As long as the lfs scrutinizes how the mags/gigs are shipped to them they should be getting pretty healthy anemone. Im not sure on the specifics but the nems need to be drained first in like a collander for quite some time then shipped in a small amount of water. Now, dont take that as fact,I bought my gig over two years ago and due to the health it was in when it arrived I couldnt say no, I had to have it. It has more than quadrupled in size which is making me start to think about upgrading my 180 to something larger. I am pretty sure that I have heard the same as far as shipping goes for mags too. Now like I said, no need to take this as fact, just my experience.

Best Wishes Fishes