S. gigantea fighting for its life

[hobogato]

like others, i decided to try my hand at this very difficult species if i ever came across the right one. one month ago, i did.

i was very careful to acclimate slowly and this anemone seemed to be in perfect health. things went smoothly for the first three weeks with little to no change in size or turgidity.

3/22/09 - one day in the tank

3/24/09 - three days in the tank

4/7/09 - 17 days in the tank

i knew things were going too smoothly, because it never seemed to go thru the acclimation struggles that others (even successful keepers) have noted - until now

about 4 days ago, it started deflating and letting its mouth open. two days ago, i was ready to pull it out, but it was well attached to the rock and grabbed my hand when i messed with it. so, i let it be. i did take a couple of pics then - you can see that the mouth is open and there is a hole about the size of a quarter all the way thru the foot

4/16/09

yesterday it let go of the rock it was on, and i thought it was finally giving up, but when i moved it to a new rock, i notice the hole in the foot was now less than 1/4" in diameter and had no fraying edges - maybe it is healing

today, it is still where i placed it yesterday - grabbed the rock instantly and didnt want to let my hand go. its mouth is closed and it is reinflating. i know it is an uphill battle, but this guy doesnt seem to want to give up, so i will keep hoping....

4/18/09

i have turned the wavebox to its lowest setting and aimed two return lines in its direction. my thinking is that will keep plenty of flow going to it, but it is more gentle flow. also, i am being very carefull when i feed the tank to put the food far from the anemone as i dont want it eating now and complicating the issue.

i think if it were not for the pink skunk clown hosting it and cleaning the dead material from inside the mouth, it would have died already.

 

[hobogato]

continues to look more like it used to - this is the best it has looked in 5 days....

 

[oceancube78]

dang i hope he heals for you ace, sucks that they are so awsome but have a hard time in captivity....fingers crossed*****

 

[sberman]

good job -------i have had mine now for 2 weeks --fed it a krill yesterday --just one --- i hope it recovers for u

 

[hobogato]

shrunken somewhat this afternoon, but its mouth is staying mostly closed. hopefully it will pull thru.

 

[hobogato]

well, i was away from the tank all evening, but a quick check showed the anemone fully inflated with a closed mouth, so there is still hope....

 

[hobogato]

it is still with us and has been following a bit of a daily schedule now -

morning - mouth open and somewhat deflated

late morning to late afternoon (when the sun is shining in nicely) - closed mouuth and inflted

late afternoon to early evening - somewhat deflated, but closed mouth

all night - mouth closed and reinflated.

my actinic lights come on at 6am, so i am wondering if they are triggering the open mouth period in the morning.

the sunlight decreases in the late afternoon, so i think that triggers the deflation period then, as my H. magnifica has a similar slight deflation period at the same time from late afternoon to early evening.

i am getting new actinic bulbs today (old bulbs are nearly 2 years old) and switching to geissman aquablue from uri super actinic. i am going to reset the light timer so the actinic lights dont come on in the morning until 9am. this will allow for a gradual increase in light in the morning with the sunrise. i will keep the 10pm shutoff time for the actinics.

 

[Flighty]

You could try not using the actinics for a bit. I have had two magnificas which would move their foot every time the actinics were on. Shutting off the actinics all together stopped the problem. Maybe they can detect the blueness of the light and that indicates depth to them or something like that. I don't have the background in their biology to know if that even makes sense, but it can't hurt to try shutting them off and see what happens.

 

[hobogato]

thanks for the idea flighty, that is somewhat the reason for going from true actinic (420 nm) to aquablue (460 nm) bulbs - higher par and not so deep water purple blue.

 

[hobogato]

unfortunately, the anemone gave it up today.

 

[OrionN]

sorry about your anemone

 

[sberman]

sorry to hear that ---

 

[Gig 'em]

Sorry for your loss. With these animals it seems to be an inevitability sometimes... Better luck next time.

 

[hobogato]

thanks for the sentiments all, not planning a next time. i still have a healthy H. magnifica, and that is difficult enough for me

 

[addicted2reefin]

i had a nem that did that. he was good, then turned for the worst than was up and down and gave up when he looked the best

 

[Nanook]

All three of the carpets I got died in very similar ways.....I knew this was going to end in death....Minh knew it before I did eve Sorry for your loss.

I wonder if a prophylactic dip with doxycycline would be a possible solution to these anemones dying in captivity???

 

[hobogato]

i was hopeful, but like you and minh, knew how it would likely end.