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View Full Version : A Gig Divided: Idiot or Idiot Savant


ct_vol
09/04/2013, 09:13 PM
Soooooooooooo, yeah... My big Blue Gig... Well, it had an accident, or rather I did. Here's the story:

My wife isn't the biggest fan, and it was stressing out my Mags, so I decided to move it from my main display to one of my grow out tanks. Of course it was attached to two different rocks, no big deal, take them both out... Which I did, successfully... Put it in a bucket and then walking downstairs to the basement the rocks shifted..... Blah, of course the Gig then gets torn in half... Well, not exactly half, but close enough. One big guy, one small guy... I'm ****ed at myself for listening to my wife... I figure, well, let's throw it in the grow out and see what happens... Pics as proof for those skeptical... To be clear I do not condone manually cutting your Gigantea!!!


4 Aug 2013 Day after the incident.

Little guy

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1053_zps6f8da7c4.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1053_zps6f8da7c4.jpg.html)

Big guy

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1055_zps7844d672.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1055_zps7844d672.jpg.html)

8 August 2013

Little guy looks questionable. Big guy looks fine.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1062_zpsb446b56f.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1062_zpsb446b56f.jpg.html)

18 August 2013

Little guy looking better, has attached itself to rock.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1078_zps7d916959.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1078_zps7d916959.jpg.html)

Big Guy looking great.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1080_zps1bce5c68.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1080_zps1bce5c68.jpg.html)

24 August 2013

Little guy hanging in there...

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1108_zps49ecfb6c.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1108_zps49ecfb6c.jpg.html)

2 Sept 2013

Little guy not facing upward because of flow cranked MP10.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1139_zpsfe1d0fd3.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1139_zpsfe1d0fd3.jpg.html)

Big guy looking good, finally posed so I could get a pic of its mouth

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1138_zps195fa391.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1138_zps195fa391.jpg.html)


4 September 2013

Increased flow has caused Little guy to perch on top of my zoanthids... Grrr.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1161_zpsb470e129.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1161_zpsb470e129.jpg.html)

You can see it has healed. It would appear the mouth heals first and then grows and mends outward from there... Note the first pic of the little guy on the glass and this last one... The foot does not hold where the mend occurs. Anyways, I'm confident it will make a full recovery if I don't do anything else stupid... Just thought I'd share this journey with you guys... :)

OrionN
09/04/2013, 09:49 PM
Great documentation. I think that there is no question that some of the Gigantea survive been cut in half.

We may have been too hard on that guy from Australia who cut his Gigantea anemone in two several years ago.

Pinkskunk
09/05/2013, 06:56 AM
you did not take pic at the time of the accident and based on the pics you posted thus far, judging from the big one, i doubt your story. the big one looks perfectly normal and there is no sign or tear anywhere.

BJCollie
09/05/2013, 07:27 AM
Thanks for posting your story, irregardless if everyone believes you.

ct_vol
09/05/2013, 07:39 AM
Thanks for posting your story, irregardless if everyone believes you.

There are always skeptics out there...

ct_vol
09/05/2013, 07:53 AM
you did not take pic at the time of the accident and based on the pics you posted thus far, judging from the big one, i doubt your story. the big one looks perfectly normal and there is no sign or tear anywhere.

If you will look at the first picture of the big one at about 10:00 if you were looking at the face of a clock, you can clearly see a divide and the mouth askew from center...

Here are pictures of the big one I took this morning as further verification of my story.

Big Gig, just below surface of water so you can see mouth off to side and closer look at point of division.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1163_zpsb4894b4c.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1163_zpsb4894b4c.jpg.html)

Scar from healing.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1166_zps6a4d888b.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1166_zps6a4d888b.jpg.html)

Mouth protruding when removed from water.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1167_zps99e2fcd8.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1167_zps99e2fcd8.jpg.html)

Another pic of mouth to note proximity to edge of Gig.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1168_zps0a41923a.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1168_zps0a41923a.jpg.html)

Last pic with mouth and point of tear.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1169_zps11df4a0a.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1169_zps11df4a0a.jpg.html)


To reitterate... This was not done intentionally. I apologize if the first thing I did upon this happening was actually take care of the anemone and not grab the camera. To be honest, I thought for sure the small one was toast. There has been documentation of people receiving cut Gigs, and it was stated they were cut bilaterally with one Siphonoglyh. The small one did not have any. If the first picture of the small one is not a clear indication of the veracity of my story I'm not sure what more you are looking for. I am not going to stress the anemones out any more than I already have to get this last set of pics.

OrionN
09/05/2013, 08:15 AM
Randy,
Don't worry about it. It is obvious to me that your anemone got torn into two. Lokks like both going to survive. Good job at taken care of them.

mikecc67548
09/05/2013, 08:56 AM
I voted You're dumb, and your Gig is going to die. Just because I could. But then rated the thread 5 stars. Just because I wanted to.

worm5406
09/05/2013, 08:59 AM
SOrry to see it happen but glad it it turning out for the better.

In the wild there are, at times, accidents or rock slide/movements. So, YES, things do happen. This goes to show how they recover and that we can take care of them.

MelloW33
09/05/2013, 09:02 AM
I doubt you care if people believe you or not.;)

I hope both survive for you!

stickleback
09/06/2013, 12:28 AM
I believe you. Please keep use up to date. Will be very interesting to see the outcome of this accident.:thumbsup:

Reefer54
09/06/2013, 12:34 AM
you did not take pic at the time of the accident and based on the pics you posted thus far, judging from the big one, i doubt your story. the big one looks perfectly normal and there is no sign or tear anywhere.

It would take a sadistic SOB to make this SHtuff up. Why wouldnt you believe? Because you cant keep an anemone let alone keep water stable enough to make one split or heal.....that's my guess.

Good work, its a true testament to dedicated reefing!

Benar
09/06/2013, 12:48 AM
It would take a sadistic SOB to make this SHtuff up. Why wouldnt you believe? Because you cant keep an anemone let alone keep water stable enough to make one split or heal.....that's my guess.

Good work, its a true testament to dedicated reefing!

I concur! That doubter is obviously a muppèt.

ct_vol
09/06/2013, 05:38 AM
Let's not derail this thread. I was operating on little sleep and took a bit too much offense to that post. Pinkskunk has contributed quite a bit to this forum and does not deserve personal attacks. I will provide updates to this thread to keep everyone apprised of the progression.

Reef1589
09/06/2013, 07:29 AM
randy did you treat either piece? when my blue tore i treated it just in case... and now its filly recovered.... although mine was a full split tear like yours... ..mine was just a rather large chunk off the mantle...


great job...keep it up :)

xtlosx
09/06/2013, 08:35 AM
If your little blue survives and you need a home, I have been looking for a blue for a while..... :-)

ct_vol
09/06/2013, 09:16 AM
I did not treat either piece. I didn't treat the Gig when I first received it either. I was one of those lucky people to have received a healthy specimen.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2256893

I'll go into further detail as to what happened over the past month this weekend when I have time to sit at my computer instead of on my phone or tablet.

Heal times on these guys is a lot longer than BTA's... I'm going to have to do some digging into researching Magnifica successful divisions and timelines.

Reef1589
09/06/2013, 09:51 AM
well my tear (pics in my s. gigantea collecrion thread)
it happened beginning of june... i would say it wasnt recovered until end of july.... ...although mine was just a chunk of the oral disc... ....as yours is a full tear ..

just for some small info for ya

ct_vol
09/09/2013, 09:06 PM
Well I didn't have time for the write up this past weekend. Had oral surgery Saturday. Shot some update pics though... :)

8 September 2013

Better shot of Big Guy's scar and point of healing.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1176_zpsd4446943.jpg

Little guy starting to look more circular instead of semicircular. :)

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1177_zpsc716e71e.jpg

OrionN
09/09/2013, 09:17 PM
I am going to cut my Gigantea...... not really :)

ct_vol
09/09/2013, 09:19 PM
I am going to cut my Gigantea...... not really :)

You have enough to give it a go. ;)

worm5406
09/10/2013, 06:40 AM
Nice to see it recovering.

Minh, NO. :)

elegance coral
09/10/2013, 07:02 AM
We should all be skeptics or we'll simply become lemmings.

We should insure we have ALL of the evidence before we draw conclusions.

I'm truly sorry this happened to your pet, and I honestly hope everything turns out well. I also hope you continue to document this event as it unfolds.

IMHO, simply closing the wound doesn't indicate that the animal has recovered. Phinder's mertensii closed the wounds only to die later. Which seems to be the common outcome in these cases. I believe this is a matter of energy/nutrient supply and usage. It will require a great deal of resources to build the tissue (inside and out) and recover from such a wound. If the animal has these resources, or the ability to obtain these resources, theoretically, it could recover. If not, it's destine to die. The animal is facing an uphill battle, because at a time when it needs food/energy/nutrients the most, it's ability to feed and obtain those nutrients has been compromised.

JMHO
Peace
EC

ct_vol
09/10/2013, 07:47 AM
I'm truly sorry this happened to your pet, and I honestly hope everything turns out well. I also hope you continue to document this event as it unfolds.

IMHO, simply closing the wound doesn't indicate that the animal has recovered. Phinder's mertensii closed the wounds only to die later. Which seems to be the common outcome in these cases. I believe this is a matter of energy/nutrient supply and usage. It will require a great deal of resources to build the tissue (inside and out) and recover from such a wound. If the animal has these resources, or the ability to obtain these resources, theoretically, it could recover. If not, it's destine to die. The animal is facing an uphill battle, because at a time when it needs food/energy/nutrients the most, it's ability to feed and obtain those nutrients has been compromised.


I agree with all of these assessments. I'm fairly confident that the Big Guy will recover. The little guy is far from out of the woods. It may not be clear from the last set of pictures, but the little guy is slightly bleached compared to the larger one. It will be interesting to see if it has enough energy to recover completely as it cannot yet eat. I currently have these guys in a 40B with 6x39w T5's 3" off the top of the water. I am considering switching to a 250w or 400w MH pendant. This original setup was for a frag holding tank, but I may add another 40B for that purpose so I can let this one focus on rehabbing the Gigs.

Reefvette
09/10/2013, 08:17 AM
How old is the anemone and how long in your care?

If you have had in your system for a longer amount of time and it has thrived i have no doubt the story is true. I have had gigantea get torn and cover, get sucked into a tunze 6055 and recover.

As long as your system is good, the anemones will and can recover.

OrionN
09/10/2013, 08:30 AM
I think food is important for them. Have you try feeding them yet?

albano
09/10/2013, 08:39 AM
I think food is important for them. Have you try feeding them yet?

It will be interesting to see if it has enough energy to recover completely as it cannot yet eat.

OrionN
09/10/2013, 08:58 AM
I saw he wrote that too, but have Randy tried to feed them. I think the endoderm and the ectoderm should heal at the same rate, so as soon as the outside heal, the linning of the inner cavity should heal also. If they are not ready for eatting, they just would not take the food. This is different then feeding infected anemone where there are bacterial in the cavity and through out the tissue. Feeding infected anemone is like put wood in the fire.
When my Magnifica and BTA devided, they would not feed until the wound heal, they they would just feed like normal. If I am Randy, I would start to feed them as soon as the wound heal, maybe a few days extra only, then use very small mysis size food and see how the anemone tolerate it.

ct_vol
09/10/2013, 11:18 AM
How old is the anemone and how long in your care?

If you have had in your system for a longer amount of time and it has thrived i have no doubt the story is true. I have had gigantea get torn and cover, get sucked into a tunze 6055 and recover.

As long as your system is good, the anemones will and can recover.

I have had the Gig since January and it has been the epitome of health. :) However I do think that a mantle tear is far different from a split involving the mouth. Time will tell whether it will fully recover. ;)

ct_vol
09/10/2013, 11:23 AM
I saw he wrote that too, but have Randy tried to feed them. I think the endoderm and the ectoderm should heal at the same rate, so as soon as the outside heal, the linning of the inner cavity should heal also. If they are not ready for eatting, they just would not take the food. This is different then feeding infected anemone where there are bacterial in the cavity and through out the tissue. Feeding infected anemone is like put wood in the fire.
When my Magnifica and BTA devided, they would not feed until the wound heal, they they would just feed like normal. If I am Randy, I would start to feed them as soon as the wound heal, maybe a few days extra only, then use very small mysis size food and see how the anemone tolerate it.


If you will look at the timeline of healing, it wasn't until around 4 September that the mouth was not still completely split. The rate of healing has definitely sped exponentially since the mouth reconnected. I do not think that the endoderm and ectoderm were healing at the same rate, or rather at the same time at least. It wasn't until the endoderm reattached that I saw the rate of repair of the ectoderm begin.

Hope that all made sense. Should everything look normal this weekend, I do plan to attempt to feed. I will definitely feed the large one, but as stated, the last thing you want to do is feed an anemone that is not ready to eat.

OrionN
09/11/2013, 09:09 PM
Let us know how he tolerate feeding

phender
09/14/2013, 12:46 PM
Randy,

Has the big one healed enough to be a complete circle or is there still a chunk missing if you look closely.

I am wondering because the ones that people getting that have been split still don't seem to be a complete circle. I would never consider splitting a viable method of reproduction unless they healed back into a circle. (I know you didn't cut yours on purpose, I was just thinking and writing).

Good luck. Thanks for documenting.

fragman
09/14/2013, 03:35 PM
I hope they both pull through and you put them back in your display ....just to get back at the wife for the stress she caused :)
Good Luck

taylor t
09/15/2013, 05:44 PM
Randy,

Has the big one healed enough to be a complete circle or is there still a chunk missing if you look closely.

I am wondering because the ones that people getting that have been split still don't seem to be a complete circle. I would never consider splitting a viable method of reproduction unless they healed back into a circle..

Mine has healed into a complete "circle"... AND, I STILL, don't think cutting them is a good idea... yet..... not enough people have had them live that have been cut, YET.... I still believe a cut gig is a dead gig... mine is a march waiting to happen...




HOWEVER, I did have a blue gig in my posession that did well for 9 months, got very healthy, I ripped it's foot trying to move it, (quite a bit, due to a hoped upgrade[that did happen]) and it did heal 100% before I tried to move it again, a couple months later... when it died, in my opinion, due to water issues from a refugium and second display taken offline for an upgrade. - (too many details to explain typing)... they need PRISTINE, STABLE, water conditions...




Randy, keep this updated for info purposes if nothing else... PLEASE... sorry to hear it got cut up, but a great info experience to document anyways... :( ...looks like you may end up with two of them... :) I'm hoping... I don't know when mine was cut, (before I got it) but it is doing the same as one that wasn't cut... still struggling... maybe going on 6 months? not sure. I wish you the best of luck! :) :)

OrionN
09/15/2013, 06:08 PM
Let us know. Hope you can feed it soon

ct_vol
09/16/2013, 06:18 PM
Randy,

Has the big one healed enough to be a complete circle or is there still a chunk missing if you look closely.


There is still a significant chunk missing from the big one. You can see in the pic from 9 SEP the scar goes up about 4-5 inches and the rest is still split, where as the undamaged area is about 10"+ from base to mantle.

ct_vol
09/16/2013, 06:22 PM
Let us know. Hope you can feed it soon

Tried feeding this weekend. Went with my homemade fish food (Blended Squid, Scallops, Shrimp, Nori) The big one ate well. I would say it was a decent feeding response, though not as timely as before the accident.

The Little one didn't seem to respond much at all. It slightly curled when the food was upon its mantle. Once it sat there for a minute or so, I figured it wasn't interested and gave it to the Big one...

ct_vol
09/16/2013, 06:28 PM
Sorry it has taken a while for me to respond to this thread. Brother in law was in a pretty bad accident last Tuesday evening. Had to tend to family and then catch up with work. Anyhow... Here are pics from this weekend.

15 SEP 2013

Big Guy

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1181_zpsf508cb94.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1181_zpsf508cb94.jpg.html)

Tried to get a pic of where mantle missing on Big Guy.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1184_zps8a5a5d63.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1184_zps8a5a5d63.jpg.html)

Little Guy looking pretty good. Getting more circular by the day. :)

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j239/ct_vol/GigDivided/IMAG1186_zps9abdb0e6.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/user/ct_vol/media/GigDivided/IMAG1186_zps9abdb0e6.jpg.html)

worm5406
09/16/2013, 08:57 PM
Very nice. I really think you have a keeper here.

OrionN
09/17/2013, 04:24 AM
Sorry it has taken a while for me to respond to this thread. Brother in law was in a pretty bad accident last Tuesday evening. Had to tend to family and then catch up with work. ....
I hope he will be OK and will make a complete recovery

OrionN
09/17/2013, 04:25 AM
How big is the little guy?

johnike
09/17/2013, 05:01 AM
Great thread Randy.
Hope BIL is recovering well.

ct_vol
09/17/2013, 05:40 AM
I hope he will be OK and will make a complete recovery


Hope BIL is recovering well.

Thanks. He is lucky to be alive, but still has many surgeries ahead. Prayers are appreciated.

ct_vol
09/17/2013, 05:41 AM
How big is the little guy?

Maybe 4" in diameter.

Reefvette
09/17/2013, 11:40 AM
If your system is clean enough to keep a gig healthy, then your system is healthy enough for it to survive a forced split or getting chopped up in a vortech.


Any kind of injury to a gig is 90 percent of time kill it weather it be power head or split. The 10 percent of the time is when they are in a very clean healthy system.

Do you run a UV?

ct_vol
09/17/2013, 02:44 PM
Do you run a UV?

Sure don't. My system is set up for SPS though. Cleanliness is a must. ;)

deangelr
09/17/2013, 05:59 PM
I like your voting question.. ;)

darrenduds20
09/21/2013, 06:26 PM
Any update ?

taylor t
03/12/2014, 03:37 PM
Randy, how are these guys doing? Both still doing well?

ct_vol
04/02/2014, 09:36 AM
Both are still alive and well. Had a large Alk swing that bleached them out a bit when I had problems with my Calcium Reactor a month or so ago. I've taken a few pics since my last post on these guys, but have been ridiculous busy with work. Hoping to get everything caught up NLT this weekend.

Both are regularly eating my "seafood blend". Well when I say regularly, its whenever I think to defrost some and venture into my basement. Maybe once a month or so.