Who's got a healthy S. gigantea?

[D-Nak]

Seems like there have been quite a few posts about sick gigs. Can we hear about some success stories?

Granted, I don't want to give the false impression that these are easy to take care of, and we can all agree that there isn't a proven acclimation method, so they are best left to experienced hobbyists.

I was just hoping to shed a positive light on the species, and see some nice eye candy.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Generally speaking, people are most likely to post on these forums if they are having problems. If they bring something home from the store and it is doing well, they have no reason to post other than to share their happiness.

 

[westohooligan]

Well, we saw how it turned out for me... LOL!

 

[D-Nak]

Generally speaking, people are most likely to post on these forums if they are having problems. If they bring something home from the store and it is doing well, they have no reason to post other than to share their happiness.

Agreed. I should've titled the thread "show me you gigantea" since that was the intention of the thread. I did a search and couldn't find a thread like that.

I have a hypothesis as to the color of gigantea as it relates to health, but I want to see photos to confirm. I prefer photos of gigs in home aquariums, not those in the wild -- this allows us to see what's possible in a home aquarium. My hypothesis is that healthy gigantea have a brown tinge to them, and that the brightest color is mostly at the tips of the tentacles. Newly imported gigs are sometimes a solid color and look very nice, but this leads me to believe that the nem has or is in the process of expelling zooxanthellae, so the brown tinge is not visible.

I can count a handful of people who have healthy giganteas and have posted in this forum. I'm hoping we can have a thread where there are photos of healthy gigantea, for a few reasons: 1) to show people what to look for when selecting a gigantea, 2) to show people what the goal of a healthy gig should look like, and 3) to show color morphs. So far we have seen brown, yellow, green, purple, pink, and blue. Any other colors?

 

[westohooligan]

D, if you saw my thread on my blue, you will see the brown base, but in the end it still didn't make it. I'm considering the possibility of allelopathy, but I see plenty of threads on here with haddonis and gigs in the same tank. Nevertheless, I am going to be getting rid of my Haddoni, and giving it another go with a gig. :debi:

 

[D-Nak]

D, if you saw my thread on my blue, you will see the brown base, but in the end it still didn't make it. I'm considering the possibility of allelopathy, but I see plenty of threads on here with haddonis and gigs in the same tank. Nevertheless, I am going to be getting rid of my Haddoni, and giving it another go with a gig. :debi:

I did see your thread and the unfortunate outcome. Did you check you pH, and how wide the swing was?

I re-read my post and I apologize for not being clear. My hypothesis is that all healthy, established gigs have a brown tinge to them. They do not naturally occur without the brown tinge (this is anecdotal, of course.). For example, I think we can agree that there isn't documented evidence of a red gig.

On the other hand, your gig may have had a healthy population of zooxanthellae so it had a brown tinge, but something else may have killed it -- be it allelopathy or a pH wide swing or a combinaton of many factors.

 

[cubman20]

blue one 15 months green two days. all i need is a tan one



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[2Addicted]

So far we have seen brown, yellow, green, purple, pink, and blue.

Do you have any links or pictures of healthy pink or yellow gigs?

 

[westohooligan]

I did see your thread and the unfortunate outcome. Did you check you pH, and how wide the swing was?

I re-read my post and I apologize for not being clear. My hypothesis is that all healthy, established gigs have a brown tinge to them. They do not naturally occur without the brown tinge (this is anecdotal, of course.). For example, I think we can agree that there isn't documented evidence of a red gig.

On the other hand, your gig may have had a healthy population of zooxanthellae so it had a brown tinge, but something else may have killed it -- be it allelopathy or a pH wide swing or a combinaton of many factors.

So basically if there is not brown tinge, you're thinking it could be a sign of an unhealthy gig, correct? I keep forgetting to check my PH, I'm going to do that tonight. I also need of figure out a way to remove my haddoni's foot from the bottom of the tank without completely tearing my rock work apart...