What are the keys to success with a gigantea carpet ?

[cali9dub]

I have a really nice Haddon's carpet an love it, but I am kicking around the idea of getting a gigantea. I have my reservations because I hear they are extremely hard to care for. I heard they will perish if your tank pH swings by .2 from day to night. Any insight into long term care of these gigs ? Thanks guys !! ( and gals).

 

[BonsaiNut]

High light, high flow. Most of your challenge is getting a healthy one - they seem particularly susceptible to infection in the distribution channel. Once you get them in and settled, they can be very hardy. But I am not kidding you about the lighting - I have had best results when I had them in 18" of water or less under metal halides.

 

[cali9dub]

Hmm. I have an LED fixture that isn't running the whites at 100% yet. My Haddon's hides in the shade and my clams are, well happy as a clam !! I wonder if I pump up the light to 100% (slowly) once I find a healthy gig if it'll be enough light. My tank is 20" deep, LED's are about 7" above the water. With a 4" sandbed I guess the gig would be about 22-23" down.

 

[k.tran]

I've gone through almost 2 dozen since the beginning of 2011 till now. I agree with BonsaiNut starting with a healthy one is very important. There is no sure way of treating any type of infection that they have. Although I've been trying a new one that has me keeping 7 giganteas together. Flow is key! Strong indirect flow is the best for them. You'll know when they don't have enough flow when you see their tentacles wiggling around. There's a lot of different factors in buying gigs when your ready to buy them making sure you can identify a healthy gig is very important.

 

[tvrsir]

^^^thats a lot of money!!!!!!!!

 

[D-Nak]

Finding a healthy one is almost impossible. I don't mean to burst your bubble, just trying to set the record straight from the get go. I can tell you that every gig I've seen for sale has been sick. They are not uncommon, but -- as others have mentioned -- they are terrible shippers. Morality rate of gigs is probably 90%+. Very sad but true.

Signs of a sick gig:
1. Pastel color, lack of brown tinge (usually means zooxanthellae population has been expelled)
2. Short tentacles -- looks like a haddoni, with very short, nubby tentacles
3. Gaping mouth
4. Siphonoglyph is visible (this alone is not a sign of a sick gig)
5. Expelling dark colored discharge (usually zooxanthellae)
6. Tentacles have a "balding" appearance, as if they are falling off, exposing the oral disk
7. Unable to hold itself upright in a current

Signs of a healthy gig:
1. base color is a brownish color, while tips can be many different colors (blue, purple, yellow, green, brown, even multi-color)
2. Long tentacles with a pointed tip. Long meaning 1/2"-2" versus short nubs
3. Tight, closed mouth
4. Siphonoglyph is not visible
5. Not expelling anything (unless it stress spawns and it's a boy, or it's pooping)
6. Tentacles are thick, was look like a shag carpet, oral disk is densely covered and mouth can't be seen
7. Can hold itself up in a current, constantly changes shape

This is not a complete list, and all symptoms may not be apparent, just things to look for.

In terms of lighting, I have mine directly under a 250 watt halide, right below an MP40 on nutrient export mode at about 75% (which is a lot of current) and it's very happy. It's about 10" from the surface of the water. It sounds like you're planning to put a gig on the sandbad -- they prefer rocks. Mine actually secured its foot in a crevice. The higher you can put it to your lights, the better. Keep in mind that although haddoni and gigantea are both carpet anemones, their care requirements are almost completely different.

As mentioned, gigs tend to be sick when they reach the LFS, but their outward appearance may not necessarily show it. Unfortunately, no one has come up with a sure-fire acclimation process. Some have tried antibiotics and other meds, but there are no reports of continued success. To me, this is the key to solving the mystery of gig acclimation. I firmly believe that all gigs arrive sick, some worse than other, and some just happen to pull through.

Again -- the key is to find a healthy one. I definitely wouldn't have one shipped to you, but look for one in a LFS. The best scenario is to find one from a reefer who had it for a while, so it's well acclimated to life in an aquarium.

 

[elegance coral]

Hmm. I have an LED fixture that isn't running the whites at 100% yet. My Haddon's hides in the shade and my clams are, well happy as a clam !! I wonder if I pump up the light to 100% (slowly) once I find a healthy gig if it'll be enough light. My tank is 20" deep, LED's are about 7" above the water. With a 4" sandbed I guess the gig would be about 22-23" down.

You don't have to keep the gig on the bottom of the tank. In fact, if the haddoni is happy on the bottom, I'd suggest keeping the gig near the top. This way you can expose the gig to bright light without changing the light your other inhabitants are accustom to. This also makes it easier to provide high flow for the gig, and low flow for the haddoni. IMHO, gig's are not obligate sand dwellers like haddoni.

 

[BonsaiNut]

You don't have to keep the gig on the bottom of the tank.

+1

Giganteas are rock anemones, unlike haddonis, which prefer the sand. Giganteas will typically settle somewhere in the upper part of your rocks in an area where their base is protected, but their oral disk can sit in current. They are not quite as crazy as magnificas in this way, but they still prefer shallower waters closer to light (generally speaking).

 

[cali9dub]

so Gigs are more like a Mertens as far as placement is concerned, they like the rocks? The place im looking to get one from quarantines them for over a month. Is that long enough to tell whether the anemone has any type of bacterial infection? I do have great water flow with a couple Ecotechs. im hoping my lighting is good enough and that after more than a month of quarantine I can get a healthy Gig !!

 

[D-Nak]

Finding one that's been in quarantine is definitely good. I would definitely ask for photos of the gig before you receive it. Check for bleaching or a pastel color. You should definitely see signs of brown. Also, ask them to feed it and check the feeding response. A healthy gig will quickly take in food.

According to what others have posted about their gigs, and IME, gigs take about a month to die. But, this doesn't guarantee that once you're past the one month period, that the gig will be fine.

Even shipping a gig after one month in captivity raises concerns. I personally believe that being in a dark box for an extended period of time does something to gigs. Many of the newly imported gigs I've seen are spewing out a dark, thick fluid almost as if it was leaking motor oil. My understanding is that this is zooxanthellae. We don't know why this happens. Here is my theory: in the extended darkness, the zooxanthellae either die and are decaying inside the gig -- so it expells it, or the gig thinks (I know it doesn't have a brain) it doesn't need the excess zooxanthellae and expels it.

Either way, when gigs see light again, they don't have the energy from the zooxanthellae to keep them going. The challenge is to then get the zooxanthellae population to come back in large enough numbers to be able to support the gig. Basically, after a month of quarantine, this is what you're looking for -- the brown coloration signifies a healthy or growing zooxanthellae. If someone can show me a photo of a gig that doesn't have a brown tinge, then they may have proven my theory incorrect, but I have yet to see that photo.

 

[reefinghabit]

ask your lfs to special order 2 pick the best one after 2 weeks of him observing it,but tons of bright light like 250-400 watt double ended hqi metal halides 20 k and good food shrimp or clam a few times per week best of luck

 

[cali9dub]

anyone tried feeding them squid? my haddons seems to like squid over shrimp, but readily eats about anything put in front of it !!

 

[k.tran]

ask your lfs to special order 2 pick the best one after 2 weeks of him observing it,but tons of bright light like 250-400 watt double ended hqi metal halides 20 k and good food shrimp or clam a few times per week best of luck

This is quite hard as a LFS doesn't want to sit on something that has such a high chance of dying without having you purchase it right away.

 

[cali9dub]

I have mine directly under a 250 watt halide, right below an MP40 on nutrient export mode at about 75% (which is a lot of current) and it's very happy.

Do you keep your MP40 on nutrient transport mode 24/7? i have mine at various settings during the day, but at night it kick it back to a 25% pulse to sort of mimic the calming of seas at night.

 

[jscarlata]

as far as light goes, what about an 8 bulb 48" tek elite T5 setup on a 90g tank? i think the 90 is 24" deep

 

[D-Nak]

Do you keep your MP40 on nutrient transport mode 24/7? i have mine at various settings during the day, but at night it kick it back to a 25% pulse to sort of mimic the calming of seas at night.

Mine go into night mode as well. While I think the gig likes to get moved around by the strong current during the day, it actually seems just as happy when the pumps go into night mode.

 

[ponokareefer]

Finding a healthy one is almost impossible. I don't mean to burst your bubble, just trying to set the record straight from the get go. I can tell you that every gig I've seen for sale has been sick. They are not uncommon, but -- as others have mentioned -- they are terrible shippers. Morality rate of gigs is probably 90%+. Very sad but true.

Signs of a sick gig:
1. Pastel color, lack of brown tinge (usually means zooxanthellae population has been expelled)
2. Short tentacles -- looks like a haddoni, with very short, nubby tentacles
3. Gaping mouth
4. Siphonoglyph is visible (this alone is not a sign of a sick gig)
5. Expelling dark colored discharge (usually zooxanthellae)
6. Tentacles have a "balding" appearance, as if they are falling off, exposing the oral disk
7. Unable to hold itself upright in a current

Signs of a healthy gig:
1. base color is a brownish color, while tips can be many different colors (blue, purple, yellow, green, brown, even multi-color)
2. Long tentacles with a pointed tip. Long meaning 1/2"-2" versus short nubs
3. Tight, closed mouth
4. Siphonoglyph is not visible
5. Not expelling anything (unless it stress spawns and it's a boy, or it's pooping)
6. Tentacles are thick, was look like a shag carpet, oral disk is densely covered and mouth can't be seen
7. Can hold itself up in a current, constantly changes shape

This is not a complete list, and all symptoms may not be apparent, just things to look for.

In terms of lighting, I have mine directly under a 250 watt halide, right below an MP40 on nutrient export mode at about 75% (which is a lot of current) and it's very happy. It's about 10" from the surface of the water. It sounds like you're planning to put a gig on the sandbad -- they prefer rocks. Mine actually secured its foot in a crevice. The higher you can put it to your lights, the better. Keep in mind that although haddoni and gigantea are both carpet anemones, their care requirements are almost completely different.

As mentioned, gigs tend to be sick when they reach the LFS, but their outward appearance may not necessarily show it. Unfortunately, no one has come up with a sure-fire acclimation process. Some have tried antibiotics and other meds, but there are no reports of continued success. To me, this is the key to solving the mystery of gig acclimation. I firmly believe that all gigs arrive sick, some worse than other, and some just happen to pull through.

Again -- the key is to find a healthy one. I definitely wouldn't have one shipped to you, but look for one in a LFS. The best scenario is to find one from a reefer who had it for a while, so it's well acclimated to life in an aquarium.

Excellent post. This is what I have followed when I attempted one, and it still died 2 weeks later. It is a challenge, and not one I am likely to try again from a LFS.