New gig not attaching

[MartinM]

So I purchased the two gigs, a purple and a blue one, from an LFS 10 days ago. They were looking pretty bad. Sadly the purple one didn’t make it, I think because I wasn’t aggressive enough with antibiotics and should’ve gone with the mag level dosage right away. After the purple one died I upped the dosage to mag level, and the blue one finally seems to be infection-free after a course of cipro, and it’s also pretty sticky again.

However, it won’t stay attached. It did stay attached for about two days. Any suggestions? When I try to get it to attach by holding it in place for a while, it’s body tightens as though it’s annoyed at me.

I’ve been trying to get it to reattach in an area with high flow at the rock/sand interface under a 400w halide and 100W of T5 and aboit an hour of direct NSL per day. It’s the same area of the tank where I’ve had two mags for two years that have both grown a lot and are very happy. The spots I’ve been try and get a lot of random water flow and are in the 350-450 PAR average.

Thanks for any help! This is been a really stressful experience, these were my first gigs and I really wanted to save them. I feel dumb for not being more aggressive with antibiotic dosages right away and erring for a lower dose.

 

[MartinM]

Bad photo but it attached, let’s hope it stays… (t5 only lighting)

 

[MartinM]

And no.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm sorry, but what is a gig? The anemone or the clam?

 

[fishguy242]

lower flow for a couple hrs ?
try some type of cage until attaches ?

 

[OrionN]

I often "cage" the anemone in with rocks. Often use a smooth, concave rock and put it across the body of the anemone, or just put him in between 3 or 4 rock with the rock on top. Don't worry about block out the light right now. Once he attached, you can then move the rock about to where you think he will get the current and light he needs.
Good luck with this beautiful anemone.

I saw that he attached. Very beautiful Gigantea. Keep us updated.

 

[Seancj]

You need to turn off the flow or redirect it away from that area for an hour or more, giving it plenty of time to attach and settle in. Then ggraduallyi ncrease the flow to that area, checking on it frequently.

 

[Seancj]

Beautiful Mags by the way!

 

[MartinM]

Thank you all! Update, a few hours now, here’s hoping. I just dropped the flow also after taking this photo and reading the messages.

I did try the ‘cafe’ of rocks which kept it attached for a few days the first try.

 

[OrionN]

Hard to tell with the pictures in this thread, but that anemone looks more like a Haddoni than a Gigantea at this point. A better picture of the column would possibility ID it for me.
with you looking at it in person, it is likely much clearer for you.

 

[D-Nak]

How was it in the QT tank? Was it attached to anything?

I always suggest the the gig stays in the QT tank for at least a week after the antibiotic course is done. This will allow you to make sure that it is strong enough to make it in the DT.

 

[OrionN]

I normally try my very best not to detach the anemone after treatment or during treatment for that mater.
I most often have the anemone attached to a cup or plate and put the whole thing into DT and remove it after the anemone move off of it to the rock.

 

[MartinM]

Pretty sure It’s a gig, with the small foot and the classic verrucue, and the tentacles are a lot longer when it’s more inflated. I have several Haddoni’s for comparison. I do like Haddoni’s more but I wanted to try my hand with these guys and the LFS practically gave them to me because they weren’t looking good at all.

It’s in a rock nest I made for it, but still not attached. At least hasn’t deflated and mouth is closed for 48 hours now. Flow is down to 50% of what it normally would be. It was in QT now it’s in DT. In QT it just attached to the tank, but not very strong. Then it spent a few days attached to a rock in DT before letting go and hasn’t attached since.

 

[MartinM]

It deflated again and still isn’t attached I’m prepping the QT for another round…


Update: it’s back in QT.

 

[MartinM]

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to save it over two weeks of effort. I learned a few things if I’m ever handed some sick gigs again though. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

[Hot2na]

treat first , ask questions later...

 

[MartinM]

I did treat immediately, just at a lower dosage. The H. Magnifica level dose (6mg/liter) tends to kill S. Haddoni IME, so I was worried it would also kill S. Gigantea.

 

[OrionN]

@MartinM
Sorry about your Gigantea.
I treat all my anemones at the same dose, 250 mg per 10 gal or about 25 mg per 4 litters. What was your dose?
I treated Haddoni, Gigantea and Magnifica. Since most of my Gigantea and many people's Gigantea did well at the recommended dose of 250 mg per 10 gal for 7 days, I don't think your interpretation that this concentration kills Gigantea is correct. Some sick anemones will die, I think it is unreasonable to pin the death to the antibiotic, especially when the anemone started out sick in the first place. I assume that was why it needed treatment.
In toxicology, and medicine in general, there is a value of a chemical named LD50, lethal dose to 50% of the exposed population. The LD50 of Cipro for Gigantea is not anywhere near 250 mg per 10 gal for 7 days.