2 new GIGS

[Hot2na]

Ordered 2 gigs from an online vendor , arrived yesterday , AM...on arrival one looked like hell..felt like mush in my hand when I placed him in my qt, It was so weak and flimsy it just flopped over on its side and looked melted.. I picked him up , waved him back and forth slowly for a few minutes , then set him on his foot in the corner of the tank so he could stabilize..
the second specimen look great upon arrival , sticky ,perked right up and immediately attached to the bottom glass , full color- looking great right away .
My qt had cipro in it -they went straight to treatment on arrival..

Fast forward 6 hrs later .. I peaked in on them = the one that looked terrible was now fully inflated , attached,4x the size of when he arrived, full color,tentacles waving ....seemingly a miracle.

The other one that looked fantastic on arrival was looking like mush , weak and drooping all over the tank bottom..not the classic deflated look with the stomach out ,etc.. tight mouth , but looking like it was in bad shape...

This should be an interesting experiment..

Hopefully as the treatment with cipro continues -I can get BOTH to come around .. I guess this experience bolsters the old saying -first impressions don't mean much..

also like to add something I think has value here- I qt with cipro a little different than the Minh method on this forum..I use a 20 gal tank , full ..add the cipro each night just before lights out and change only 10 gals/day beforehand.. I feel my anemones seem to improve faster using this method . I also have a full airstone bar running 24/7 in my qt .. I think its important to have alot of air moving when using ABX ... just my 2 cents.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Good luck. I hope they both come around. I love gigs, but they do not work for my system. I stuck with malus.

 

[Intense37754]

I have quarantined with Cipro multiple times. Personally I found for me that the first 2 days I will do a tank transfer with an exact sterilized setup then the rest of the days I’ll drain down to the nems and refill with exact temp and salinity and dose once lights are out

 

[Intense37754]

Mostly because the first day or so I see a lot of gunk spewing from them

 

[bradleym]

Good luck! And please post pictures for reference if you have any. I'd be interested in seeing how far gone is not "too far gone" based on your miracle recovery.

 

[OrionN]

Good luck.
Pictures would be great as a learning experiences for all.

 

[Hot2na]

pics will come at the end of the treatment..I like your idea : Intense:.. I usually siphon all that gunk off the bottom with each daily w/c..

 

[Hot2na]

btw maybe someone on here can explain how I can post pics on here..i have no clue ,,same question for videos

 

[D-Nak]

Two suggestions...

1. If you can QT them separately I've found that it helps. I've tried to QT gigs together a few times and it never ended well. I think the pathogen works quickly and can be passed between specimens. As one starts to recover, the pathogen moves from the sick specimen to the one that's recovering, and then all start going downhill.
   
   
2. The goal is to remove as much of the pathogen as possible, so removing 100% of the water, wiping down the tank and all of the items in the tank (heater, pump, etc.), is my preferred approach. I have two 10 gallon tanks that I swap nightly (it's just more convenient since I can clean one tank while the other is filling with fresh salt water).

Best of luck and definitely post photos when you can. The 9th icon in the ribbon--the one that looks like a photo with sun and mountains--allows you to upload photos when you click on it. The "insert video" icon is 4 icons to the right.

 

[OrionN]

Click the "Attach Files" below and upload your file. Then you have option to inset the full image or a thumb image to your post.

 

[Hot2na]

Two suggestions...

1. If you can QT them separately I've found that it helps. I've tried to QT gigs together a few times and it never ended well. I think the pathogen works quickly and can be passed between specimens. As one starts to recover, the pathogen moves from the sick specimen to the one that's recovering, and then all start going downhill.
   
   
2. The goal is to remove as much of the pathogen as possible, so removing 100% of the water, wiping down the tank and all of the items in the tank (heater, pump, etc.), is my preferred approach. I have two 10 gallon tanks that I swap nightly (it's just more convenient since I can clean one tank while the other is filling with fresh salt water).

Best of luck and definitely post photos when you can. The 9th icon in the ribbon--the one that looks like a photo with sun and mountains--allows you to upload photos when you click on it. The "insert video" icon is 4 icons to the right.

Now thats some good info there... One time I treated 2 together . both looked fine after the treatment .they both went into the same tank..one got the pathogen AGAIN a month later ..the other right next to it Never got ill and grew ! so ..any thoughts as to whether they build up immunity after treatment or possibly some gigs are just weak and more susceptible ??

 

[Hot2na]

as of this afternoon after looking in on them again ..I'd say they both have the classic inflate/deflate going on.. both spewing the black crud ..etc... hope they make it.

 

[Seancj]

Good luck!

 

[Hot2na]

Ok guys , I decided that since this thread may NOT have a happy ending (based on the way they looked at noon today) that i would post a pic of this evening ..top down ..midway through water change..

 

[Seancj]

They don't look bad to me. Fingers crossed they treat well! May I ask where you found them? I've been looking for a Gig for a few months now.

 

[Hot2na]

They looked pretty bad earlier today, guts spewn, deflated and black poop blobs all over their top..
I've had some make it like this though, some required more than the standard treatment -up to 2 weeks in cipro
I blasted one with double ABX for a couple days once ,cause it wouldn't seem to turn the corner, it almost died from the double strength..but it worked ! I have it over 2yrs now.

 

[D-Nak]

Now thats some good info there... One time I treated 2 together . both looked fine after the treatment .they both went into the same tank..one got the pathogen AGAIN a month later ..the other right next to it Never got ill and grew ! so ..any thoughts as to whether they build up immunity after treatment or possibly some gigs are just weak and more susceptible ??

My hypothesis is that the pathogen is directly linked to the zooxanthellae within the anemone. The reason I believe this is because ALL sick gigs expel what we think is dead zoox-- and it always looks the same-- brown specks or pieces that resemble rat/mouse poop. I've never seen a healthy anemone expel anything similar. So, I think what's happening is the zoox become infected and/or dies so the anemone expels it. But, during transport, I suspect that anemones have the ability to sense how much water they're in (possibly due to osmotic pressure) so they hold on to the dead zoox which makes the problem worse (since the pathogen multiplies within the anemone). Many times the bags are cloudy, but I rarely see the dead zoox in the bag. It's only when they begin the QT process that we start to see them expel dead zoox.

Furthermore, in my experience, bleached gigs tend to fare better during the QT process, and again, I believe this is due to the fact that there is connection between the pathogen and zoox. Since the gig is bleached--it has less zoox and therefore less for the pathogen to infect. Cipro tends to bleach gigs in the QT process, which I actually think is a good thing. Once they begin to recover, the zoox population quickly returns.

In short, I do think they build up immunity, but in an indirect way. I think they expel the dead zoox, and with the pathogen gone (or mostly gone), the gig can begin the recovery process. The zoox that begins to grow is healthy, and has the ability to fight off the pathogen. It's like ich--healthy fish typically have the ability to fight it and they survive, while stressed fish that may have other ailments have a harder time fighting off the ich, and sometimes succumb to the pathogen.

Again--this is my hypothesis and simply based on my experience and observation. I've probably QTed at least 30 or so gigs, and my success rate is rather low--probably less than 30% have survived.

 

[Hot2na]

That makes alot of sense, D-Nak .. in the situation above with the 2 nems that were treated and put in a tank side by side ,,The one that did well and got bigger was partially bleached during the initial treatment , The one that got sick again a month later and needed re-treatment was one with all its zoox from the beginning..

another thing = I've accidentally put an infected one in a tank with all healthy ones.. most had a bout of the pathogen , some got better on their own (I believe cause of excellent tank conditions) and some I took out and treated , then put back ...they are all fine now... ?? dont know how to explain this one.

 

[Hot2na]

One was totally deflated this afternoon..the other looking OK

 

[Hot2na]

Today's update : the original "miracle" specimen looked great..always inflated now , no spewing...the other still pooping and deflates every afternoon around the same time...
the last one I had that pooped alot,did so right through the whole treatment ...when I stopped adding cipro- It stopped ,and was fine after that...