Sick gigs

[cichlidconvert]

Well I'm gonna need to treat my blue and purple gig. They have shrunk down and have gaping mouths shortened Tentacles balding and moving around. So tonight I'm gonna move them into quarantine and start medicating. The problem is the blue and the green are attached to the same large rock:-/ so I may have to medicate all three. When I do that I'm gonna possibly move the haddoni out also.

[D-Nak]

What happened? Are you talking about the same gigs that you've had for months now?

[hobogato]

aww man. hope they pull thru for you.

[OrionN]

I am interesed about what happened also. Good luck with them.

[cichlidconvert]

Well the purple was placed in the display tank on the seventeenth of june and pulled on the eighteenth because it looked sick. That was almost a month ago. My blue was acting funny for a week or so so my guess is the purple got it sick. My haddoni was acting funny too but I attributed this to it eating a wrasse. But now the haddoni is elevated in the rocks and not the sand. It is only an inch or two up in the rock work. I'm gonna do some tests also. One other guess is that we had a heat wave two weeks ago and I had a fan blowing which raised the salinity a bunch and this coincided with some of the weird behavior. But being intertidal anemones I doubt this is the only reason. But now they look sick for whatever reason. I will check parameters also. Sg at this point is 1.025 which is lower than I had been keeping them but should be fine. I haven't moved the nems to qt yet because I am pondering putting the green in too despite it looking very healthy. If I leave it I have to peel the blue. I'm able to but that will be a nervous moment doing so. I just don't want to stress the green with treatment but maybe I should.

[cichlidconvert]

And yes I had the blue for over three months now.

[cichlidconvert]

Ok I was able to oh so carefully peel the blue gig and put it in the HT along with the purple. Once in the HT the purple had a gaping mouth showing it's stomach the blue sat down with a closed mouth. I immediately applied 250mg of cipro and covered the tank with a dark towel to keep put the light out. It's like crock pot cooking. Pour in the ingredients and then set it up and check in 10 hours. If cipro works on these two I will truly be amazed, especially if the purple makes it. I should have taken pics but i was in a rush.

[D-Nak]

Was this the tank that you added a third gig to, or am I thinking of someone else?

[cichlidconvert]

I added the purple which was the third. It was thriving after treatment and plunged after the heat wave along with the blue. The green nem is looking awesome still.

[cichlidconvert]

The purple gig came one second away from being pulled. It wasn't disintegrating and only had some stick it was no longer attached to the rock. But I'm pulling it if it doesn't improve today. Here is the sad pic.
http://emob1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh542/Nemcrazy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_2875_zpsd7f19218.jpg?t=1374001253

[OrionN]

I am sorry to see them in such sad shape. I hope they will improve.

[RIGUY314]

ouch. really hope these guys turn it around quickly. keep us posted on all.

[OrionN]

Hind sight is always 20/20. I guess you did not treat the Purple adequately the last time you treated it.
I would never add an anemone that have the possibility of been sick into a system with healthy Gigantea.
Best of luck with them.

[cichlidconvert]

I treated it for 5 days. But now I think I should have gone at least 7-8 days. The blue seemed to get sick first. I wonder whether adding that gig after the one week in qt. And then it getting sick and passing it to the blue and then getting it back. I say that because the blue was acting funny before the purple. I don't know but I am hoping I can at least save the blue. I came home and the purple had expanded and the mouth was open like this.
http://emob1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh542/Nemcrazy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_9710_zps86c4588c.jpg?t=1374021508
It looks like progress or am I just optimistic?

[God.]

Aww man thats hard to look at. How much flow do you have in there? Do you have an airstone? Iv always had a nice strong air pump running a 6inch airstone.

Gigs liv pretty shallow in nature where there are strong currents. The currents are very turbid and have high levels of oxygen saturation.

[cichlidconvert]

I have a pump running 160 gph I have a nano koralia Eco pump at 240 maybe both. I ran the pump near them and the purple isn't attached to the bottoms to much flow on it sends all over but if I run both I can make the currents bounce around. And maybe it will keep a random enough flow. Im just waiting till lights out to deliver the second dose.

[cichlidconvert]

I came home and the water temp was 90 and the pump had failed. They look dead and the water is cloudy. I changed what water I had and... I think I'm not gonna be able to save them and it is absolutely devastating. I'm cursing every wrong move and this hobby to be honest. Its going to be hard to recover from this. This wasn't the birthday present I was looking for.

[D-Nak]

I feel your pain. This is a terrible loss. Fortunately, you can try again with confidence that Cipro will help the QT process.

For others who are seeing this, I can't stress how important it is to QT your gigs with Cipro for a full week even if they look fine. I even recommend QTing ALL gigs even if they look fine. IME gigs actually start to look like they're acclimating nicely, then turn during the third week. At this point they've already spread their ailment to other gigs in the tank. This is also the reason I recommend QTing gigs in individual tanks.

[OrionN]

I very sorry to read your post today. Best of luck with your green one. From more than one personal experiences, loosing these beautiful anemones from our own mistakes are devastating (Magnifica and Blue Haddoni).

[ca1ore]

For others who are seeing this, I can't stress how important it is to QT your gigs with Cipro for a full week even if they look fine. I even recommend QTing ALL gigs even if they look fine. IME gigs actually start to look like they're acclimating nicely, then turn during the third week. At this point they've already spread their ailment to other gigs in the tank. This is also the reason I recommend QTing gigs in individual tanks.

Couldn't agree more, particularly if you are adding one to a system that already has a healthy one. When I treated my Mag, I only did 5 days, but it was (and still is) the only nem in my tank so I figured I could pull it if something went amiss. Doing this again, I would definately do the full 7 days.

[hobogato]

sorry for your losses.

[Fishypapa]

Saddening to hear about them but there's always a chance isn't there?
How did the water get so hot anyway?

[xtlosx]

Dude, you have no idea how bummed I am right now. Honestly, my green has been standing still and really not doing much in the way of tentacle lengthing or recovering either, and it's been since March. Not saying he's dying or declining, just not making a speedy recovery..

I absolutely loved your gigs, and your setup, so to see this... really, it bums me the heck out. Honestly, I feel like we had this huge influx or Gigs, we were all happy and maybe got cocky, now we're in a support group because some aren't making it... Gigs anonymous anyone? Sorry again man. I would be lying if I said your Green gig wasn't stunning.

[cichlidconvert]

In hindsight I should have used cipro in my quarantine process before intro into this system. I didn't because as a nurse I went by the axiom of don't treat with antibiotics unless the pt is sick. If there is a next time I will make cipro mandatory as part of my qt process. Last night I pulled the purple and the blue is hanging on. As I walked out the door this morning my green has shrunk for the first time ever. So looks like I will place that in qt tonight when I get home. Unfortunately I am running out of qt setups now that my pump doesn't work.

[xrayjeeper83]

Man where do you live, Ill send you some extra pumps I have laying around.

Would hate to see you lose another one

[cichlidconvert]

Blue gig down. No need for another pump. The green is definately sick and shrinking. I just hope I can save it. Im catching it early so it has a good chance.

[xrayjeeper83]

Hope you pull it through

[OrionN]

Good luck with him. Light is good but not essential. I think you got to keep condition stable, especially temp. If you can provide light without great increase in temp then do so. If not you can always get one of the screw in PC bulb and put a clip on light on the anemone. I got a cheap Chinese made 10000K LED 50 W flood light that give great light without much heat.

Good luck with him

[OrionN]

I feel your pain. This is a terrible loss. Fortunately, you can try again with confidence that Cipro will help the QT process.

For others who are seeing this, I can't stress how important it is to QT your gigs with Cipro for a full week even if they look fine. I even recommend QTing ALL gigs even if they look fine. IME gigs actually start to look like they're acclimating nicely, then turn during the third week. At this point they've already spread their ailment to other gigs in the tank. This is also the reason I recommend QTing gigs in individual tanks.

This is what I think:

All newly import anemones should be isolate at first, even just small quarantine tank without treatment. Once he seem healthy then we can add him to a reef system.
If you are a low level addict (meaning you don't have multiple systems with multiple anemones) then it maybe best to just treat them empirically with antibiotic before add him to your system with healthy anemone(s).
It is easier for me, I have multiple systems, I can just swab anemones around to have a system with no anemone in it. This is where I add new so call "healthy" anemone. After several weeks to several months, I know for sure that he is healthy, then I can put him where ever I want.
I do keep full 30ish cube reef with open sand bed for any new anemone that catch my eye. I guess I am over the cliff in term of anemone addiction. I really need Anemone Anonymous.

[cichlidconvert]

I agree. I did do 1 week in qt with the purple. And it didn't show signs until the 2nd day in the dt. I should have done 7 days of treatment during the qt and then place it in a separate tank for a month to make sure it's healthy.

[cichlidconvert]

One day of treatment done and it's looking much better!
http://emob1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh542/Nemcrazy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_1514_zpsa24ff57b.jpg?t=1374287130

[cichlidconvert]

Double post

[hobogato]

that is great news. really hoping for success for you...

[RIGUY314]

glad to see it. if you don't mind me asking, what is your QT set? tank size, filter,etc

[xtlosx]

Wow, posture looks strong, and good!!! Glad to hear it... These green gigs are near and dear to my heart.

[OrionN]

Looking good. Goodluck with him

[cichlidconvert]

OK after ten days in the QT tank and 7 days of cipro treatment, I decided to put it back in the display. It was definitely stressed by the process. But I do have a pic moments after reintroduction to the DT. tomorrow should produce a better pic.
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh542/Nemcrazy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_1574_zps4119a407.jpg (http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Nemcrazy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_1574_zps4119a407.jpg.html)

[D-Nak]

I had my fingers crossed for ya. Looks like it's going to make it! The tentacle length looks good, especially since it's right after you added it back to the DT. Congrats.

[xrayjeeper83]

congrats on the rehab, looks really good

[cichlidconvert]

OK I came downstairs to find it looking like this:)
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh542/Nemcrazy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_0981_zps4d83f6b6.jpg (http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Nemcrazy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_0981_zps4d83f6b6.jpg.html)

[OrionN]

Looking good. beautiful looking anemone

[hobogato]

great to see!

[xtlosx]

Wow, I love this nem.... Good job and kudos for working your butt off to save it.

[cichlidconvert]

Thanks everyone. Before I qt any other things I'm gonna have to buy a new pump and a new heater. I had two pumps malfunction and heaters die on me. But Im happy I was able to save the green. I've lost to many anemones in the last month and I'm questioning my plans to make the new 200 gallon cube into a carpet tank. But if I do Ive learned a ton. And I hope people reading my threads learned from my mistakes. Because the margin for error when introducing these guys is razor thin. As careful as I thought I was it wasn't enough to save two absolutely beautiful gigs. But I will say I'm stoked that the green was saved it's such an amazing showpiece:)

[Fishypapa]

I'm sorry you lost the two gigs but at least this one is coming back. Maybe it was just their time to go. (I work in a hospital and despite the best care humanly possible, sometimes you just can't save someone-same goes with our salty kids). The important thing is that now you know what NOT to do. :) Good luck my friend.