6 days of treatment and then this....:(

[Seancj]

I am 6 days into quarantine and cipro treatment on my green gigantea and it developed 2 holes in its foot.
There were no holes on arrival and nothing in the quarantine tank that could have caused them except a ceramic coffee mug. It's so frustrating as I know this is not a good sign. Looks like I'll have to extend treatment with the hopes that these holes heal.

 

[bradleym]

That really sucks... I am 0-5 on Giganteas that were shipped, and ready to give up. I hope you fare better than me!

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Try Cephalexin- same treatment regime as Cipro. Some vendors keep their carpets in tanks dosed with Cipro, rendering it less/ineffective when the buyer goes to treat.

 

[D-Nak]

Aside from the holes, how is it doing? Has it been deflating?

If it's not showing signs of infection, it's possible that the holes are a result of injuries during collection, that didn't appear until now. I've had a couple of gigs that had run-ins with powerheads (an MP40 and a gyre) and both times they fully recovered. In other words, injuries aren't a big concern if the gig is otherwise healthy. It's typically the combination of injury and infection that cause things to end badly.

If you want to try other antibiotics, you can try Septra, but I've had better luck with Cipro. Also, you can combine either with Chemiclean. The active ingredient is said to be erythromycin.

 

[Seancj]

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. This green has had its ups and downs during treatment. I honestly thought it would do better, but I think the 48 hours shipment was excessive and hard on it.

The bad: it is not fully inflating its tentacles, and it is no longer planting its foot (likely due to the holes). It is gaping a moderate amount but only intermittently and not excessive, ie showing its complete internals or folding inside out. It continually looks a bit flaccid.
The good: It has not yet expelled any zooxanthellae or fouled the tank. It has not yet exposed any mesentery filaments through the mouth. The tentacles are still sticky. It has only bleached slightly since treatment began.

Today is the last day of the planned 7 day Cipro treatment. I do not have any other antibiotics on hand and it would be several days to obtain them. I'll plan on continuing the Cipro over this weekend.

D-Nak- I'm glad to hear that you have had some gigs that have had significant tissue trauma and recovered. I have read that rock dwelling species tend to handle tears and rips better than sand dwelling nems, so I'm still hopeful these holes aren't a death sentence.

I do have a question about lighting while quarantine and treatment. I currently have a Noopsyche K7 Pro 3 over this gig, running at 40% intensity, 9" over a 10 gallon tank, at full spectrum. Should I increase the light intensity at this time?

 

[Seancj]

Here it is this evening. A bit more inflated.

 

[krak256]

hm, I would remove it from the cup so that it can get flow around the base of its foot. Gigs tend to shed quite a bit during cipro and it helps to have flow remove the gunk

 

[Seancj]

hm, I would remove it from the cup so that it can get flow around the base of its foot. Gigs tend to shed quite a bit during cipro and it helps to have flow remove the gunk

I had to use the bowl to help keep it upright and from blowing around the tank. I am cleaning out the bowl frequently to remove any debris. There is also flow directed down into the bowl to help keep as little debris in there as possible.

 

[krak256]

I had to use the bowl to help keep it upright and from blowing around the tank. I am cleaning out the bowl frequently to remove any debris. There is also flow directed down into the bowl to help keep as little debris in there as possible.

despite gigs generally loving flow, I noticed I tend to have better luck when using a weaker pump. in my 10g QT, I was using a 40-50 gph powerhead. @D-Nak gave me this advice as it seems to help them conserve energy and focus on fighting off infection

 

[Seancj]

Thank you for the advice!

 

[D-Nak]

I like using plates or the terra cotta pot saucers. @OrionN made it popular to use inverted mugs. Both allow for circulation around the foot. During acclimation, gigs tend to slough off a lot of what looks like dead skin, and both the plate and mug allow for easy removal.

I don't think you need to be too concerned about lighting at this point. In some ways lower light is better so that the gig doesn't have to increase the zoox population. FWIW, I use a Kessil A80 and adjust the intensity and spectrum as needed--lower and more blue when I first start treatment, and as they start to recover, I slowly increase intensity and move towards a whiter light.

 

[Seancj]

I started off with a mug and it did fine for the first few days, staying planted on the top. But, when it started letting go and floating around the tank and I noticed the holes, I put it in the bowl. Last night, during the water change,I decided to remove the bowl and place the nem in a pond basket for better flow and still have containment. The basket is suspended off the bottom of the tank so water can flow under the nem as well.
The gig is looking better today, renewing my hope it will still make it. Quite a bit more inflated.
Thank you D-Nak for the advice on the lighting.

 

[Seancj]

Well, things took a turn for the worst rather quickly the last 2 days. Extremely frustrating to go through 2 weeks of quarantine and treatment, fluctuating between looking good and then not so good to looking good again, only to wake up to a cloudy tank and the gig completely disintegrating!
I had to dispose of it this morning. Insides completely turned to mush and being expelled.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Dang, sorry to hear this.

 

[Hot2na]

....Happens to the best of us

 

[D-Nak]

Ugh, how frustrating. This is definitely not the first time I've seen this happen, and unfortunately not the last. Sometimes they really are doomed, no matter what we do. It's why I'm torn when I see an uptick in gig sightings at wholesalers and stores.

Unfortunately, there are times when gigs are already dying and I feel that Cipro just prolongs the process--it almost "pickles" the gig where we think they're improving because we see small signs of them perking up but in reality the ailment has already taken hold and there is nothing we can do.

The reason I say this is because prior to Cipro, I would QT gigs and they'd go through the same inflate-deflate process that we still see, but within two weeks I'd know if the gig is going to survive (90%+ did not). Nowadays with Cipro and other antibiotics they can last up to a month, will still be sticky, and will even have their foot attached even though they're starting to fall apart. Furthermore, they don't start to smell until their internals are exposed, which leads me to think that they die from the inside out. We see necrotic tissue, typically parts of the oral disk, but when pulled from the water this is no smell. But those of us who have failed at the QT process know the smell of a dead gig.