My giagantae anemone split in treatment tank

[Taylor t]

Gigs can take MUCH longer to heal than BTA or mag. IMO I think the flow is much too low. Better to err on too high of flow than too low, at least until the stabilize phase is over and mouth looks more normal. Lower flow gives infection opportunity to come back. Like DNAK said, gigs tend to die from inside out and if flow is low inside, water can become stagnant inside if it’s “onboard water changers” aren’t working up to speed. So far they look good, inflation wise and disk folds.

You may want to consider adding a clamp on led light to add 5k led spot, keep the space between bulb and gig about 2-2.5’, they absolutely thrive under 5k spectrum, and I would also consider adding a small power head for higher gentle flow. Ugly to see on the side of your beautiful tank I know, but at least until they appear to heal a bit better.

 

[Maxx]

Another thing to consider is your clowns.
Those Gig's are depleted from the split. I would not have them in a tank with clowns right now.
They used tremendous amount of metabolic resources to do that split. This means they are in a metabolic deficit at the moment. Clowns can and will kill and anemone with a metabolic deficit by stealing food and being too rough with it.
I'm "new" here, but not new to reefing and I've kept several H.magnifica's for over a decade and have had them split in my systems before. Dnak and Orion might still remember me from Reef Central.

Heteractis Magnifica - Tell me some success stories

I think you moved the gigantea's too soon, and I think you're risking the health of your other anemones, (unhealthy anemones can infect healthy anemones, I've found this out the hard way before), and I think the clowns are going to hurt the recovery of those two anemones.

If you're not willing or able to put them back into a hospital tank environment, you should strongly look at removing the clowns and any shrimp or crabs that can steal food from the gigantea or harass them. You're going to need to feed those anemone's daily for awhile after their mouths recover to the point they can intake food. Their feeding responses are going to be very slow, (like an hour to get food fully ingested into their mouth so the current/flow cannot take it away. Clowns and shrimp present means you will need to prevent them from stealing the food from the anemone, worsening it's metabolic deficit.

Go slow, stay vigilant and attentive, and you might be successful.
I wish you well in this.

 

[fcmatt]

I thought, in general, that feeding a nem that just came from a hospital tank is not the best strategy? But I do know you want to give them plenty of light as long as they are used to it.

Is this incorrect?

 

[ycnibrc]

Well this morning the original nem looks good so it will stay in the main tank. The clone is not so back to treatment tank with cipro tonight

 

[skyrne_isk]

I thought, in general, that feeding a nem that just came from a hospital tank is not the best strategy? But I do know you want to give them plenty of light as long as they are used to it.

Is this incorrect?

you are absolutely correct. these days I am
feeling confident that many of folks in the supply chain (bc I see it advertised) feed these anemones in transition as a test of healthiness. this no doubt causes way more problems than it solves. While in transit and when healing gigs can take in food but can’t and won’t complete the act of digestion. When this occurs the food simply rots on the inside and a bacterial infection develops. In fact a number of times when acclimating new specimens I have fed a little too early (by being a little too eager) and have caused a subsequent bacterial infection. Long story short absolutely no need to feed at this stage in the game. give them light and good water - best chances

edit: talk to text is bad

 

[ycnibrc]

Good news this morning I check the clone in the treatment tank look much better. The original looks healthy in main display will try to feed tonight. I just caught a bunch of bluefin tuna. Nem have sushi tonight

 

[skyrne_isk]

The original looks healthy in main display will try to feed tonight.

;Facepalm

 

[D-Nak]

I would not feed while the nems are healing. I concur with what skyrne_isk said above. They may have still have a feeding response and will try to capture prey, but because the "stomach" may still be forming there won't be a place for the food to be digested.

 

[fcmatt]

It is like you are not reading advice from people with more experience then us....

 

[tehmadreefer]

It is like you are not reading advice from people with more experience then us....

He's doing something right tho. Lol

 

[D-Nak]

To give you an example, I had a purple gig a few years years ago that appeared to have been force propagated, as it had a scar down the column. After about 10 months in my care, during one feeding the nem appeared to have ruptured at the cut site.

Not sure if this link will work:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2289406&page=4

I would definitely go very slow. No need to rush to feed.

 

[skyrne_isk]

I would definitely go very slow. No need to rush to feed.

It's your gig, but in the most supportive way possible, there is no chance that a gig that split days ago is ready to eat. You're just as likely to end up with regurgitated food and/or another bacterial infection. Heck, when I Cipro infected carpets that haven't split, I'm not feeding them for a good couple weeks thereafter just to give things time to settle down.

Gig digestion is a process that combines saltwater, digestive enzymes, and bacteria to break down food. You've just wiped out the bacteria population in the carpet's gut, it will take time for just that population to rebound - setting aside for a moment any physical structures that are still healing/growing.

And regarding the posture - it's actually not that great. The tentacles are still stubby and retracted and the disk folks are very tight. Great that it's not deflating and the mouth isn't hanging don't get me wrong, but still a pretty decent ways away from what I would consider "healthy and well adjusted"

Wishing you the best in any event.

 

[ycnibrc]

I would not feed while the nems are healing. I concur with what skyrne_isk said above. They may have still have a feeding response and will try to capture prey, but because the "stomach" may still be forming there won't be a place for the food to be digested.

I only feed the one in the main tank. I'm appreciated all advice but my main tank is 360g full of sps and I can't catch the 2 little clown fish

 

[ycnibrc]

It is like you are not reading advice from people with more experience then us....

Lol I read all input and advice on this thread like I stated u can ask me anything about Sps but I'm new with anemone however some advice can't be done in reality such as catching 2 clown fish in a 360g reef tank

 

[D-Nak]

Lol I read all input and advice on this thread like I stated u can ask me anything about Sps but I'm new with anemone however some advice can't be done in reality such as catching 2 clown fish in a 360g reef tank

Here's the thing. The recommendation was to keep the anemone in QT for at least another week so that you can observe it. It was not to place it back into the DT, and not one with clownfish!

Here's why:

1. Clownfish have a tendency to irritate anemones that are acclimating. An anemone that isn't 100% healthy doesn't have the ability to keep its posture, nor can it expand its tentacles to 100% size which helps buffer the interactions of the clownfish rubbing against it.

2. I always recommend using fresh salt water when QTing anemones because it removes any possibility of pathogens that may be in your DT from irritating an anemone that's trying to acclimate. In your case, the situation is compounded by the fact that it recently split/is recovering from an injury.

3. By introducing it into the DT, aside from pathogens, you're also requiring it to acclimate to a completely new environment, thus forcing it to adjust its zooxanthellae population. This in itself is stressful to an anemone because it has to expel or grow additional zoox. It just got used to being the QT tank, and now it has to do it all over again. Those of us who have introduced BTAs to a new tank often see them deflate a few days after introduction. Most times it is expelling zoox (looks like brown poop or sometimes brown cyano). After about a week, the BTA fully acclimates and never deflates, except on occasion after a big meal.

 

[skyrne_isk]

Lol I read all input and advice on this thread like I stated u can ask me anything about Sps but I'm new with anemone however some advice can't be done in reality such as catching 2 clown fish in a 360g reef tank

Not sure about catching the clowns - you should be fine leaving them in but they won't help the cause. Percula complex are usually pretty easy on their hosts. Since you are new to carpets, I'll leave you with this: one thing I always watch for in gigs is for "rows" of tentacles. Super happy gigs don't have deep/tight folds in the oral disk, nor can you see tentacles arranged into discernable rows.

And this is a shot of a little purple one during acclimation - see the little rows of tentacles? After a couple weeks

And here it is after maybe a month or so (sorry the glass is dirty) - but you get the idea, shaggier tentacles looser folds.

 

[ycnibrc]

Here's the thing. The recommendation was to keep the anemone in QT for at least another week so that you can observe it. It was not to place it back into the DT, and not one with clownfish!

Here's why:

1. Clownfish have a tendency to irritate anemones that are acclimating. An anemone that isn't 100% healthy doesn't have the ability to keep its posture, nor can it expand its tentacles to 100% size which helps buffer the interactions of the clownfish rubbing against it.

2. I always recommend using fresh salt water when QTing anemones because it removes any possibility of pathogens that may be in your DT from irritating an anemone that's trying to acclimate. In your case, the situation is compounded by the fact that it recently split/is recovering from an injury.

3. By introducing it into the DT, aside from pathogens, you're also requiring it to acclimate to a completely new environment, thus forcing it to adjust its zooxanthellae population. This in itself is stressful to an anemone because it has to expel or grow additional zoox. It just got used to being the QT tank, and now it has to do it all over again. Those of us who have introduced BTAs to a new tank often see them deflate a few days after introduction. Most times it is expelling zoox (looks like brown poop or sometimes brown cyano). After about a week, the BTA fully acclimates and never deflates, except on occasion after a big meal.

So u mean instead of 7 days treatment I should do 14days treatment most of Cipro thread recommend 7 days treatment then 7 days observation. My tank water probably cleaner than the treatment tank. The nem is sticky and mouth is tight. As far as instructions on the thread if nem look good after treatment then observation then main tank. So far so good I don't see any sign that the nem is weakening or dieing. I never wanted it to split in the first place. If I know it's this complicated I will be happy with Hadoni.

 

[ycnibrc]

Not sure about catching the clowns - you should be fine leaving them in but they won't help the cause. Percula complex are usually pretty easy on their hosts. Since you are new to carpets, I'll leave you with this: one thing I always watch for in gigs is for "rows" of tentacles. Super happy gigs don't have deep/tight folds in the oral disk, nor can you see tentacles arranged into discernable rows.

And this is a shot of a little purple one during acclimation - see the little rows of tentacles? After a couple weeks

And here it is after maybe a month or so (sorry the glass is dirty) - but you get the idea, shaggier tentacles looser folds.

Hahaha this is so much more difficult than to grow Sps. I can do this in my sleep

 

[D-Nak]

So u mean instead of 7 days treatment I should do 14days treatment most of Cipro thread recommend 7 days treatment then 7 days observation. My tank water probably cleaner than the treatment tank. The nem is sticky and mouth is tight. As far as instructions on the thread if nem look good after treatment then observation then main tank. So far so good I don't see any sign that the nem is weakening or dieing. I never wanted it to split in the first place. If I know it's this complicated I will be happy with Hadoni.

No, 7 days treatment, 7 days observation in the QT tank, not DT. You don't know if your tank water is cleaner than the QT tank -- my point is that there could be pathogens in your DT that otherwise healthy fish and inverts can handle. For example, some people believe that ich is present in every tank, and that most healthy fish can simply fight it off.

A nem that is sticky is not a sign of health. It simply means that the nematocysts are capable for firing. I had a dead gig that was still sticky. A tight mouth is a good sign.

Furthermore, your nem -- be it a split or injury -- is not simply acclimating, you're waiting the nem to heal, and that's best done in the QT tank.

 

[fcmatt]

Lol I read all input and advice on this thread like I stated u can ask me anything about Sps but I'm new with anemone however some advice can't be done in reality such as catching 2 clown fish in a 360g reef tank

All I was talking about was the feeding. Nothing else.

Nice display by the way!!