Show off your S. gigantea

[D-Nak]

Originally Posted by ERivera65

It had purple under its oral disc and the foot was I believe the same color as the neck like beige, off white color

To clarify, did it have spots (verrucae) running down the top of the column?

Originally Posted by stickleback

What lighting have you got and what sort of flow?

Haddoni and Gigantea require different conditions

+1. The photo looks like a gigantea that's not getting enough light, barely enough for some of the zoox to survive (why it's light brown). They should look more like a thick, shag carpet.

[ERivera65]

It was rehomed in a 250 gallon tank. It didn't die and its still alive. It was under power compacts in my tank and now its under three 120 watt LED fixtures. I had twin 500 gph koralias in my 55. It was possibly under crappy lighting, that's probably why it was extending all the time. Now its gotten green and dug itself in a rock in my friends tank. It did have spots running down.

[cali9dub]

Originally Posted by Jerm0007

Anyone have a reliable site to purchase one of these amazing creatures? I have been watching the divers den like a hawk and never see any.. Any other reliable options?

At best I would ask your LFS to get one. At least you can look at it before buying it. My LFS went and hand picked his nems and the gig I got from him was badly bleached, but was full with a tight mouth. Just so hard to find survivors. So far I've had mine for about 8 months and its doing great. 2 of us on this thread got ours at the same time, so availability might also be seasonal (spring). Best of luck !! Your parameters need to be rock solid with temp not fluctuating and pH fluctuating more than .2 daily.

[ERivera65]

Originally Posted by D-Nak

To clarify, did it have spots (verrucae) running down the top of the column?



+1. The photo looks like a gigantea that's not getting enough light, barely enough for some of the zoox to survive (why it's light brown). They should look more like a thick, shag carpet.

I'm no anemone expert as you can tell lol no wonder it lost some of its green. I had a feeling the lighting wasn't suitable. But anyways its doing better now from what I have been told since it has gotten greener and the the tentacles have gotten longer. Thank god I didn't kill the poor little thing.

[Jerm0007]

I have my number left at 4 different LFS waiting for them to get one in. I cant wait to get one of these. I have a 90 gallon corner and currently have a very happy healthy saddle in there on one side. The gig would go on the other. Water quality is good. Had a slight issue with phosphate but bought a reactor two months ago and now that is good. All other parameters are in good shape. If they are not near each other there should be no issue having a saddle and gig in the same tank correct?

[emdr888]

My new gig collected today

[Jerm0007]

Thats a beaut! And so colorful for being just added! usually you see them bleach at first from the stress of being moved!

[emdr888]

Originally Posted by Jerm0007

Thats a beaut! And so colorful for being just added! usually you see them bleach at first from the stress of being moved!

The guy bought in 50, all treated with uv and antibiotics had them for over two weeks. That pic was 2mins after it went in

[OrionN]

Originally Posted by emdr888

The guy bought in 50, all treated with uv and antibiotics had them for over two weeks. That pic was 2mins after it went in

I think treatment with antibiotic is the key to keep these anemone died in the early time period after capture, holding and shipping. Personally, I treated two Magnifica with antibiotic. One when he start to inflates and deflates with in 2 days. He recovered and did great. The second one, was at the LFS same shipment. The anemone was OK initially but goes downhill at the LFS. I talk them into given it to me when it was fallen off the front glass. It was a failure, the anemone live for about 1 more week but steadily go down hill even with treatment. It died but did not disintegrate or smell up the hospital tank. At least one other person use the same treatment regiment and reported success with the treatment. I documented the result on one of the tread here on reefcentral.

[D-Nak]

Originally Posted by Jerm0007

Thats a beaut! And so colorful for being just added! usually you see them bleach at first from the stress of being moved!

I actually see the opposite happening (emdr888's gig looks fine, just speaking about brightly colored gigs in general). A few folks on the boards have purchased bleached gigs and the rate of survival is excellent. I'd pick a bleached gig over a pastel colored one (assuming it's also balding and has shorter than normal tentacles).

Sick gigs have a more vibrant color since (my hypothesis here) a lot of the zooxanthellae has died so the color of the anemone comes through. They have an even pastel color, lack a brown tone, and look really nice. However, I take this as a bad thing since all of the ones I've seen that looked like this eventually died. Keep in mind that all healthy gigs I've seen have a brown base color, with colored tips. The column can be a different color, but usually the main color of the oral disc is brown.

I attribute the cause as having something to do with the dead zoox and an internal infection. They typically appear to acclimate nicely, look good for about a week, then have ups and downs (deflating and inflating) where some days they look nice, other days look terrible and spew out brown "gunk" which many assume to be dead zoox versus food (since the anemones don't eat during this period), then eventually die at about the one month mark.

emdr888's gig appears to have the brown base color (evident at the top of the nem) and tentacle length looks good. I think that it should make the one month mark. After that, so long as the tank is stable, the gig should be fine.

[emdr888]

Got my fingers crossed for this one

He had so many to choose from, purples, blues and greens........the base of the disc is tan.....so i hope it makes it.

Anyone seen a red gig before, or has a pic of one?

[OrionN]

emdr888,
I would love to see your other carpets.
You Gigantea looks great. Green is my favorite color for Gigantea. Good luck and keep us update.

[stickleback]

Originally Posted by emdr888

The guy bought in 50, all treated with uv and antibiotics had them for over two weeks. That pic was 2mins after it went in

Out of the 50 that the guy brought in, I believe most have so far made it. emdr888 may be able to correct it on that. He had at least 30 available when I saw them.

Much of the success he has had I think, is possibly down to the holding process before shipping and the care given upon delivery.

They are held in open top vats which get natural sunlight for around 2 weeks.
The vats are fed constantly with fresh natural sea water.
The nems are not fed.
This allows them to recover from collection, purge any digested or undigested food and makes sure they are in top health before shipping. Purging also means there less waste for the nem to foul its shipping water. The natural sunlight also helps against Zoa loss.
Upon delivery the nems were treated with anti-biotic’s and then placed in individual trays each with strong UV sterilised water feeds.

They all looked very healthy and most if not all were eating.

I came away with a few.

[emdr888]

Cheers, my red and new purple

[OrionN]

Where is this?
I just look it up. South of London in England
Too bad I would have try to get a few it it is in the US somewhere.

[OrionN]

Originally Posted by emdr888

Cheers, my red and new purple

You certainly do not have a usual reef tank.

[Jerm0007]

Is the seller who got in this large amount still selling any? I would love to try to get one from him/her. Is there contact info that anyone could give me to see if I can get one of those shipped to me here in Michigan?

[OrionN]

Originally Posted by Jerm0007

Is the seller who got in this large amount still selling any? I would love to try to get one from him/her. Is there contact info that anyone could give me to see if I can get one of those shipped to me here in Michigan?

You and me are out of luck. He is in England

[Jerm0007]

Maybe he will ship to us OrionN?

[emdr888]

A few of what he has in







Yep he's in the UK and collection only i think.

[Jerm0007]

[Jerm0007]

So Beautiful!!! I am sooooo bummed out that I am not able to walk into where those are and buy one... ( or two,, or three.. lol)

[emdr888]

This is what he placed them in, before they were safe to go into the main tanks....he still has a few in there being treated

[Jerm0007]

Wow, That is amazing. I still cant stop looking at those pics of the tanks full of Gigs! so amazing!!!

[emdr888]

Top down view of mine