My first Magnifica QT journey

[reefchi]

Hello,

I'm getting a Mag later in the week and currently preparing my qt setup. I'm going to be using a 10g tank (using eggcrate to block the heater, powerhead, and air stone) and wanted to know what's best to put inside for the anemone to attach to? A aquatic basket like the one below or a upside down clay saucer? or flat piece of rock?

I was thinking a basket would be better for easier ability to move when doing water changes OR is having it wide open on like the clay saucer better for flow?

or

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello,

I'm getting a Mag later in the week and currently preparing my qt setup. I'm going to be using a 10g tank (using eggcrate to block the heater, powerhead, and air stone) and wanted to know what's best to put inside for the anemone to attach to? A aquatic basket like the one below or a upside down clay saucer? or flat piece of rock?

I was thinking a basket would be better for easier ability to move when doing water changes OR is having it wide open on like the clay saucer better for flow?

or

I haven’t worked with magnificas in decades, but I always tried to give them good bulk water flow. IMO, holding them in baskets cuts that down too much.

 

[reefchi]

@Jay Hemdal yeah I think you’re right about that. I might just go with a clay saucer or a flat rock piece I could find.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Congrats on finally getting a mag!

When I QT'd mine, I used a glass Tupperware dish turned upside down and it stayed put throughout the duration of the treatment!

Hope this helps, and good luck with your Mag!

 

[reefchi]

@The new fish on the block thanks! I hope I’m successful as many of you guys who have qt one of them.

I think I’m going to stick with an upside down clay saucer since that’s what I have on hand.

Did you have trouble detaching it when it finally came to moving it to the display tank?

 

[The new fish on the block]

I think I’m going to stick with an upside down clay saucer since that’s what I have on hand.

That should work just fine.

Did you have trouble detaching it when it finally came to moving it to the display tank?

I wouldn’t say I had trouble, but it definitely required more patience than other nems I’ve had.
Their foot is REALLY strong.

I just used my finger nail to gently pry under it, I also had it upside down over the tank so gravity helped too.

 

[OrionN]

I normally move the whole contraption. Put it lower next to the rock I want it to attach to. It will mover over and upward quickly enough. Once it moved I take the saucer out of the tank. I often use a cup or a tile on a cup of it is a larger anemone. Healthy anemone attach quickly without problem. With sick anemone, I trapped the anemone with the handle of the cup, the cup and the glass bottom to help it attach. If it end up attach to the glass, it is OK. Remove anemone from glass is really easy with a razor blade. Just be careful not to cut the anemone.
Removal of tha anemone from it attachment is especially stressful for the anemone. I will not do it unless ABSOLUTELY NEEDED.
Good luck

 

[reefchi]

@OrionN Does it make more sense to just take the main rock from my tank into the QT so it can just attach and just move it when QT is over?

 

[OrionN]

A small rock is OK.
You really want a near sterile environment as much as you can. Keep from selecting for resistant organism. So I don’t want to use LR.
Small one is fine IMO

 

[reefchi]

This is going to be my approach for the qt as I get my shipment tomorrow. I’m basically following @OrionN protocol. It’s going to be a lot of work with all the water changes but mentally preparing myself in case it doesn’t go as planned.

I thought about having an other 10g tank side by side so I can have it ready to simply transfer it during a WC but then thought what if it doesn’t attach to the saucer and I don’t want to stress it out by detaching it. So it might not be worth it.

Let me know what you guys think. I’m going based of what I’ve read so far and from others experiences here.

Thursday afternoon- Mag arrives and float in the qt tank for 30-40mins to temperature acclimate then open and place it in tank that has 250mg of Cipro already dissolved. Have the light cycle from 10:30am to 11pm at 40%

Thursday night- 100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Friday night -100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Saturday night- 100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Sunday night-100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Monday night-100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Tuesday night-100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Wednesday night- 100% WC and re dose 250mg Cipro

Thursday night- 100% WC and possibly re dose 250mg of Cipro depending on the Mag has done the last 7 nights

Friday night- 100% WC no Cipro

Saturday night- 100% WC no Cipro

Sunday night- 100% WC no Cipro

Monday morning- place into main tank

 

[OrionN]

Stop treatment or moving to DT are going to be clinical decisions. Don’t be rigid on the plan.
The egg crate need to be fix firmly or else it will move or fall over. I would put it straight across and use 4 short segments of air tube to jam it in so it does not move.
Good luck.

 

[reefchi]

Stop treatment of moving to DT are going to be clinical decisions. Don’t be rigid on the plan.
The egg crate need to be fix firmly or else it will move or fall over. I would put it straight across and use 4 short segments of air tube to jam it in so it does not move.
Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll follow up as I go through the qt to see if I should continue or if I have any questions or concerns.

 

[reefchi]

I got my package today and I think the Mag came in a fairly good condition. It was attached to the bag and the water looked normal to me.

I placed in the qt tank with cipro dosed and this how it looks so far. From what I can tell it has attached to the clay saucer.

 

[reefchi]

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I got my package today and I think the Mag came in a fairly good condition. It was attached to the bag and the water looked normal to me.

I placed in the qt tank with cipro dosed and this how it looks so far. From what I can tell it has attached to the clay saucer.

Mind saying where you got it from?

 

[reefchi]

I got it from pacific east aquaculture

 

[OrionN]

Looking good. Good luck with him.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I got it from pacific east aquaculture

Thanks. I’ve been looking at theirs and just wondered if folks were getting good ones elsewhere too. :)

 

[D-Nak]

Just catching up. I think your plan is good, provided you give yourself some flexibility towards the end of your schedule to assess, which it looks like you're accounting for. I typically do the two tank approach, simply because I have the equipment and prefer to have a clean tank on hand so that the transfer to a clean tank is quicker.

One suggestion: If you can place something underneath the saucer, such as a mug, this will encourage the mag to remain on the saucer. They rarely climb down once they're on a flat surface, as they like to perch on the highest spot possible. This will also increase the odds of you being able to use the two tank approach (if you're leaning towards that) since all you'll have to do is move the saucer and mug.

The rate of survival varies between anemone species. This may seem obvious, but mags that typically start healthy remain healthy. The mags that struggle through shipping and are in poor condition in the bag are obviously the ones that need additional TLC and have an unpredictable survival rate. For other species, such as gigantea, they may look good and respond to treatment well, but all of a sudden take a drastic turn for the worse, and end up dying no matter what is done (higher dose of Cipro, combining antibiotics, more water changes, etc.)

Since your mag is from PEA, and their supply chain is much shorter than other vendors, I assume that after a day or two you'll have a good sense of the overall health of the mag. Judging by how it looks in photo and video, I think it should be fine. As I've mentioned in other threads, Cipro treatment hasn't directly hurt any anemone I've treated, so it makes sense to do it since you have the means and time.

 

[reefchi]

Just catching up. I think your plan is good, provided you give yourself some flexibility towards the end of your schedule to assess, which it looks like you're accounting for. I typically do the two tank approach, simply because I have the equipment and prefer to have a clean tank on hand so that the transfer to a clean tank is quicker.

One suggestion: If you can place something underneath the saucer, such as a mug, this will encourage the mag to remain on the saucer. They rarely climb down once they're on a flat surface, as they like to perch on the highest spot possible. This will also increase the odds of you being able to use the two tank approach (if you're leaning towards that) since all you'll have to do is move the saucer and mug.

The rate of survival varies between anemone species. This may seem obvious, but mags that typically start healthy remain healthy. The mags that struggle through shipping and are in poor condition in the bag are obviously the ones that need additional TLC and have an unpredictable survival rate. For other species, such as gigantea, they may look good and respond to treatment well, but all of a sudden take a drastic turn for the worse, and end up dying no matter what is done (higher dose of Cipro, combining antibiotics, more water changes, etc.)

Since your mag is from PEA, and their supply chain is much shorter than other vendors, I assume that after a day or two you'll have a good sense of the overall health of the mag. Judging by how it looks in photo and video, I think it should be fine. As I've mentioned in other threads, Cipro treatment hasn't directly hurt any anemone I've treated, so it makes sense to do it since you have the means and time.

@D-Nak I'm very appreciative for the helpful information you provided! I wanted to try the two tank approach but was short on some equipment and space might of been limited for me. I figured I just temporarily place it in bucket while doing a WC and focus on doing the WC quickly and making sure the temp and salinity matched every single time.

I'll place a mug under the saucer tonight after doing a WC. I'm hoping this does help since I can tell it already slightly moved to the side. It being on the saucer definitely makes moving it easier.

Here's how's it looking today, mouth still looks open but not gaping. I'll continue to documenting for my reference and anyone else who might be interested.

This is how it looked last night before the WC

This is how it looks as now.