Ritteri cipro treatment

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Two week ago my LSF received a bleached ritteri that I decided to take with some racked up store credit I had from my constantly splitting BTA's and GSP.

After two days in the display and multiple inflation/deflation cycles and a constant puffy and gaping mouth I decided to pull it out and start a cipro treatment.Shout out to @Sdot, @Nemguy123 for the support and to @OrionN for the protocol!

Talk about an emotional roller coaster this process was! The cipro treatment went remarkably well and was followed exactly as prescribed by OrionN . At night as the treatment occurred the oral disc would extend out all night long and into the morning. It's amazing how each day the nem looked better than the day before.

By the seventh day the ritteri had a puckered oral disc all day and stopped having inflation/deflation cycles after day three of treatment (had to use a baster to see the oral disc).

The ritteri was in QT a total of 9 days with 7 days of cipro treatment and an additional two days in QT observation with DT water and a HOB skimmer.
It's been in the DT for a few days and looks great! It's still severely bleached, but already with just a few days in the DT I can see some color coming back, but just not enough to show up in photos.

The ritteri has its own dedicated Kessil A360N with T5's and I will slowly ramping up the photoperiod and intensity over two weeks as it begins to color back up. I will hold off from feeding for now until I can see a bit more color coming back. I know this journey has just begun so I will post pics here of my progress (or set backs) with this ritteri as time goes by. Thanks!!

 

[ocboat]

Congratulations! I've owned several Magnificas over the years but I've never had a red based one. Yours is looking great and I look forward to seeing how it recovers and gets its color back.

 

[Lavey29]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Looking forward to the update!

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@ocboat If you have any tips or pointers I'm all ears!!

 

[ocboat]

Not really any unique pointers that are different than what you've probably read about these anemones. In my experience, once healthy they are pretty tough. I kept my last one for over 12 years in about every type of light out there, metal halide, T5, LED and combos of each one. It survived low alkalinity that killed off SPS and about every other mistake that I made at one time or another. I broke down my tank in 2019 and sold it to a local reefer who told me that it died 4 months after he acquired it for no apparent reason. I've had my current one for a little over a year with no issues other than it has shrunk a little but I don't really directly feed it. I think once it regains its color and if it doesn't move around, it should thrive in your tank.

@ocboat If you have any tips or pointers I'm all ears!!

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Just a quick post with the T5's on since I'm usually at work when they turn on and off when I get home...

 

[Sdot]

@Paleozoic_reefer you are most welcome!! Welcome to the club.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@chizerbunoi Yikes! I forgot to thank you to bud for your great advice as well!! They're just too many awesome reefers here for me to keep track of...

 

[D-Nak]

Nice work! Glad the treatment was a success.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

It's been a full week since adding the ritteri in the tank and so far no wondering, inflation/deflation cycles, or gaping mouth. The color is also coming back..slowly. It's increasing just enough a see slight difference day to day but the increase in zooxanthellae is more pronounced when viewed at night with a UV light. The color seems to be a greenish yellow during the peak light time, but Im sure that will change as the zooxanthellae population increases. I also fed it 2 small (.25 in.) pieces of fresh shrimp per day for the last 2 days which it look rapidly and with no issues during or after feeding. Im also slowly increasing my T5 on-time back to 6 hrs by adding an hour every three days and increasing it's dedicated A360N 5% every other day till I get to 95% during its peak period. I'll monitor it closely as these parameters increase and as feeding continues.

Front view:

Side view:

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I finished the cipro treatment and added the ritteri. There have been zero inflation or deflations since in the DT. It's color is also coming back slowly (not enough to show up on pics though). The only thing I'm concerned about is the fact that the tentacles are short and the base is puffy especially when the T5's are one. It also hasn't moved from that spot since I added it.

@OrionN @Nemguy123 do you think it may be under too much light in its current condition (current max schedule par is 370) ?

Before cipro treatment

today

 

[Jdadams]

The first 3 weeks on my mag were worrying. I’m on week 6 with mine now and he’s doing great. I think they take longer to adjust compared to other anemone. What’s your flow like on him? Mine extends out right in front of my mp10 during the day and gets blasted

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@Jdadams I thought that may be the reason too but I have a jebao wavemaker rw 15 right next to it on pulsating mode.

I did swap out my A360N for an A360 and it lowered the PAR to 270. I'll see if there is any change tomorrow.

 

[Jdadams]

@Jdadams I thought that may be the reason too but I have a jebao wavemaker rw 15 right next to it on pulsating mode.

I did swap out my A360N for an A360 and it lowered the PAR to 270. I'll see if there is any change tomorrow.

Maybe try a 1-2% increase every 2 or 3 days on the lights. The only other thing I can think of is the feeding. I’ve read it does more harm than good in the beginning while they are adjust/acclimating. Hopefully the 2 you tagged can chime in, they are definitely the go to for info on these. This on will look like the one that OrionN has. Gorgeous mag when it’s color comes back

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

quick update. it looks like decreasing PAR to ~270 was a good choice. The inflated foot has lessened and the tentacles are slightly longer.

 

[Jdadams]

Good to hear. Hopefully the results get better and better.

 

[Jdadams]

How’s the mag?

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Good. It still has a puffy foot though. The pufffiness is not as pronounced but still there and all day. Although at night when the lights are out it looks like a normal mag with long polyp extension and thin foot...go figure!

So I'm starting to think the puffiness is related to the lack of zooxanthellae and that the mag is swelling up with water for the nutrients to feed the growing zooxanthellae populations which is slowly increasing.

 

[Jdadams]

Good to hear. I’m sure it’ll only get better with time