Sebae shipping stress

[JWClark]

I received a DD sebae today and this is what he looks like. I know it looks like he may be upside down but that is his gastric sac that he has completely everted. My question is can he recover? I put in the sump for now to avoid stronger flow causing him to drift around. However, it is normally dark unless I leave the doors open--then it might get some indirect MH lights.

Also attached the DD advert so you can see what he looked like before he shipped. I think he looks a little better than he did when acclimating. Thoughts? Can he come back?

 

[akida]

He should recover however he definitely needs good light so I'd place him in a acclimation box in your display until he is ready to be placed in the tank.

 

[Lostinthedark]

Mine had a hard time attaching when I first got him. I ended up putting him in an upside down strawberry basket on the sand. It took him two weeks before he really settled in but is now a foot across and hasn't moved in years.

 

[JWClark]

He's doing much better now. Has probably 75% of his gastric sac sucked back in and I can actually see the edges of his mouth now. I put him on the sand bed and placed an acclimation box on top to reduce flow/keep him in place. I think the light may have stimulated him to really start to right himself. Only actinic T-5s on now. He will get a few hours on MH tomorrow.

Never saw an anemone look so bad before so I am surprised (and relieved) he is fixing himself. Now only time can help.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Can you post another picture of how it looks now?

That's just crazy how they can do that and recover so quickly.

 

[Jeff4777]

Good luck on the recovery! I actually looked at that anemone when it was still for sale haha.

 

[JWClark]

Well, after lights out it seems he re-everted his gastric sac as it was all out this morning at 0400. We'll see how he looks when I get home. If light does stimulate him to suck it back in he should be doing pretty good by then. Poor guy. At least he is not disintegrating.

 

[OrionN]

If he is net better, I would treat him with antibiotic

 

[addictedreefer]

+1. I would start antibiotic treatment ASAP.

 

[JWClark]

What do you use and what is the dosing/contact time requirements? Don't have time to google right now. Will be home in a few hours.

 

[dalston]

What do you use and what is the dosing/contact time requirements? Don't have time to google right now. Will be home in a few hours.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2271385

 

[JWClark]

Thanks all. Wife says it doesn't look any better so I will need to figure out what to do. Just so happens I have cipro leftover from an assignment to Kenya several years ago. Probably need to get a tank or two to set up and make some water--don't think I have enough old tank water in my auto change system to use.

 

[JWClark]

This is how he looks now. Not the best pic. What is the probability that cipro will save him? need to go buy some tanks. Think I could adapt this to buckets? Need to find my pills too.

 

[JWClark]

Set up my old refugium for now w/ 5 gal of old tank water. The depth is 4-6" w/ egg crate separating the ph and heater from the anemone chamber.

I have 500mg pills so going to dissolve about 1/4th into this set up. Looks like he may have some cloudy residue starting to come from the gut sac. Anything against going straight to the 500mg/10gal dose at this point?

 

[OrionN]

Higher dose Cipro may be toxic to the zooxanthellae. 250 mg/10 gal should work fine. With antibiotic, higher is not always better.

 

[JWClark]

Didn't think about non target effects, thanks. Hope he'll be happy under some T-5s during treatment. Will keep everyone posted.

 

[JWClark]

Got him in the first tank w/ Cipro. Setting up the second tank now with fresh mixed water for transfer tomorrow before I go to work.

He was starting to melt a little in one spot when I moved him. Does this mean he is a goner?

 

[JWClark]

Well, he is not looking good. I think he is slowly disintegrating. When I moved him to the new tank to begin the light cycle there were a few tentacles leftover in the previous tank. When I left the water was already getting cloudy.

Is there any point in continuing down this path or is he lost?

I'm really surprised to get a specimen in such bad shape from Divers Den. Wondering if the shipping box was dropped or he was torn from where he was attached for pack up. Also received a couple millis in this shipment an they are doing great--not a scratch. This kind of rules out rough shipping to me.

Wonder if I had known about the Cipro treatment the day I got him if he would have survived. Think he was an 8 or 9 then. Guess I am prepared for the next one.

 

[nemmy]

I received a gig Saturday in the same condition. He was turned inside out and had a hole through his petal disc all the way to his foot. He showed signs of life but quickly started melting away. Received him and made the liveaquaria replacement call in the same day. Not sure what's going on over there but I've never had an issues before. Replacement comes Saturday so I'm hoping for the best. Give them a call and let them know what happened.

 

[jmp998]

I have been looking for a H. malu and came very close to buying that one from the first post, I had it in my cart but decided to wait as I am really trying to get a pink/purple one if possible. Sad to see it die.

I don't have any personal experience with the antibiotics yet, but it seems like the consensus on this forum is that cipro is very helpful for anemones that become ill due to shipping stress or injury during packing. However I am wondering if, instead of treating anemones after they arrive and are already sick, it might be even better to add cipro to the bag before shipping-to try to keep the anemone from getting sick in the first place-similar to the way human patients get a dose of antibiotics just before abdominal surgery etc, to keep an infection from ever starting.

Are there any of the online stores that have tried this, or that you guys know and could talk into this experiment? It seems pretty low risk, and the antibiotic should be stable in the dark shipping box. The cost would be minimal and easily paid for if survival was even marginally improved.