What would you do?

[elegance coral]

I have a very healthy and well established "sebae" (crispa/malu/hybrid?). My LFS has a large gigantea. I would rather have the gigantea, but it's a new arrival, so its survival is questionable. I don't have room for both of them. I would have to trade my "sebae" along with some money, to get the gigantea. So, do I keep my sebae, or trade it for the gigantea?

Here are a couple of pic's of the gigantea. For size, there is a full grown anemone crab in the anemone and a 3 or 4 inch purple lobster under the right side.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3060/gigantea015edited.jpg

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/9529/gigantea019edited.jpg

[Haddonisreef]

See if they will qt/hold it for you for a few weeks!

[elegance coral]

See if they will qt/hold it for you for a few weeks!

It's been in the LFS for a couple of week already. The water quality in the system is about perfect. Water changes pretty much every day. It's not set up to maintain a gigantea long term though. The flow and lighting is probably a little low for a gigantea to be happy for a long time. It seems to be doing pretty good so far though.

[Gary Majchrzak]

post a pic of your "sebae" (crispa/malu/hybrid)

[davocean]

post a pic of your "sebae" (crispa/malu/hybrid)

I 2nd that.
My LFS told me they have one of these, said it's a rare hybrid.
First I heard of this, didn't know what to think.

[jasonrp104]

I say take a chance. I'll be doing the same thing once I find a decent gigantea. Nothing exotic about my crispa other than it's healthy.

[Gary Majchrzak]

post a pic of your "sebae" (crispa/malu/hybrid)

[elegance coral]

Okay, okay, okay. LOL

Here you go. Not the greatest pic in the world. It has a pedal disk and column like malu.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/82/malucrispa.jpg

[Gary Majchrzak]

Percs are already in this anemone?

[elegance coral]

Yes. I've had the anemone for a long time. I've had several different clowns in it.

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's very difficult for me to move onto greener pastures.

Sometimes they're not greener. Know what I mean?

[elegance coral]

it's very difficult for me to move onto greener pastures.

Sometimes they're not greener. Know what I mean?

Ya....... I know what you mean. It would really suck to give up my anemone then have the gigantea die. I also don't like the idea of letting this anemone get away.

[Gary Majchrzak]

good luck. I'm sure you already know.

[COreefer]

Your sebae is awful nice...change my vote to keep it, or at the very least see if someone can hold it for you while you try your endeavor.

[elegance coral]

I 2nd that.
My LFS told me they have one of these, said it's a rare hybrid.
First I heard of this, didn't know what to think.

They can't be sure that it is a hybrid, unless they had DNA work done. The DNA research would cost many times more than the anemone, so I highly doubt they had it done. I don't know what mine is. There are some of these anemones that are unmistakably crispa. Others are just as unmistakably malu. Then there are those that seem to have traits of both. Is it a hybrid? Could it be a crispa or malu that is just built a little different? I don't think anyone has the answers to these questions. Sounds to me like your LFS has just found a new sales gimmick.

[elegance coral]

Your sebae is awful nice...

Thank you.

change my vote to keep it, or at the very least see if someone can hold it for you while you try your endeavor.[/QUOTE]

You're just as undecided as I am. :lol:

[COreefer]

Thank you.

change my vote to keep it, or at the very least see if someone can hold it for you while you try your endeavor.

You're just as undecided as I am. :lol:[/QUOTE]


I guess I'm saying don;t rid of it for the Gig unless you have a backup plan to get it back in case the Gig doesn't work out. I don't blame you for wanting the challenge.

[Flightpipe]

If it aint broke dont fix it.

[amnesia]

New tank for the Gig? :rollface:

I voted take the chance. The gig looks healthy, and huge.

[davocean]

They can't be sure that it is a hybrid, unless they had DNA work done. The DNA research would cost many times more than the anemone, so I highly doubt they had it done. I don't know what mine is. There are some of these anemones that are unmistakably crispa. Others are just as unmistakably malu. Then there are those that seem to have traits of both. Is it a hybrid? Could it be a crispa or malu that is just built a little different? I don't think anyone has the answers to these questions. Sounds to me like your LFS has just found a new sales gimmick.

This particular LFS is pretty solid, has really nice stuff, but I think when it comes to nems he is going off of what his vendor is telling him.
Your nem looks nothing like it, I was just curious.
I'm actually seeking out a malu, but seems difficult to find right now.
It seems crispa and malu have alot of similarities, and from my reading they are often mis ID'd
Good luck w/ your decision, tough choice.
Success is nice, some risks pay off, but I'm not much of a gambler myself.

[syrinx]

Got to keep moving forward. I do have loyalty to some things mind you, but if the Gig is a good one- its something to ad to your experience.

[Ron Popeil]

when my local stores get in gigantaes, they fade very quickly. they will begin to deflate and go limp within a few days. if that gigantae has remained rigid for a few weeks at your store i imagine it will continue to do so in your system.

i vote gigantae.

[eho72]

I voted for the gigantea, but changed my mind after looking at the pic of your sebae. It looks great. Especially since the clowns are already in it. Keep it for sure.

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

I'd get the gigantea if it looks healthy. Like mouth closed tight, foot has no damage. I'd go for it because Sebaes are a lot more common around here than a healthy Gigantea.

[Greatwyte]

I vote keep.
Your sabae looks like a nice one and the clowns look happy there.

[tufacody]

I vote keep. Any healthy nem is a treasure. The only nems I'd consider replacing are BTAs.

[MarinaP]

I am with "don't fix it if it is not broken" crowd. There seems to be an influx of strange looking gigs recently. I would not bet my money on the one pictured. Think about the smell of dead anemone as a repellent to buy one :D

[Gary Majchrzak]

an extremely expensive dead anemone smell.

Maybe set up another (dedicated) aquarium for that gigantea. See how it goes....

[Nanook]

I got two Gigantea's from Dr. Mac. First one died, then the other....of course he credited me for both of them which was awesome! They are truly difficult anemones and I will save them for folks that are luckier/more skilled than myself.

[elegance coral]

Well....... Thanks for all the help. I did the trade.

They ended up killing my crispa/malu.:sad2: How you kill an anemone that is so healthy and well established is beyond me. :angryfire:

Anyway, three years later and my gigantea is still going strong.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uiRR702XUEI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[OrionN]

Very very nice. I love it. I think "in the LFS for several week" is a fairly safe bet that if you provide good care for him, he will do well.
We should start a thread for How do you keep your Gigantea? (Owners with 6+ month or more only). You should start that thread. (1+ year than I can't post on it for a few more months yet, but whatever length of time you want to add)

[SNAKEMANVET]

Awesome gig,it has colored up alot from the lfs pic.

[garygb]

Sad to read the sebae didn't make it.

[xtlosx]

Very very nice. I love it. I think "in the LFS for several week" is a fairly safe bet that if you provide good care for him, he will do well.
We should start a thread for How do you keep your Gigantea? (Owners with 6+ month or more only). You should start that thread. (1+ year than I can't post on it for a few more months yet, but whatever length of time you want to add)

Great idea.. would be nice to see the variety of Gigs out there with how long they have been in captivity.

[elegance coral]

I posted the thread. You can find it here. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2264038