Who has, or knows of, the longest lived Gigantea anemone in captivity?

[Seancj]

Who has, or knows of, gigantea that have been in captivity the longest? I've been watching YouTube videos of gigantea for the past hour and alot of the videos are from 10 years ago, or more. The thought would come to me, wondering if any of them are still around?
I'd love to hear success stories!

 

[krak256]

there are two gigs at Cal Academy that were a former hobbyist's, right @D-Nak? Those must be close to 10 years old

 

[jamie1210]

Mine's pretty old. I got it in february 2012. This was before OrionN's cipro discovery, and the mortality rate of these guys was insanely high. But I remember putting it in my tank with bated breath and not seeing any dreaded signs of inflating/deflating for a day, then 2 days, and eventually making it to a week--it was an emotional rollercoaster! haha

Over the years, the size has fluctuated from medium to huge to tiny when it was stressed. Now it's happy again, but I don't feed it because I don't want a monster in my tank (which is only about 140 gallons).

 

[D-Nak]

there are two gigs at Cal Academy that were a former hobbyist's, right @D-Nak? Those must be close to 10 years old

I suspect that they're probably closer to 20 years old.

Back during the Reef Central heyday, there was a member named Shutiny. She was the resident gig expert at the time and kept a few in a large system. When she finally took down her tanks, two of the gigs went to the CA Academy of Sciences. The last time I saw them they were both over 24" and right next to each other.

My blue gig is over 10 years old (acquired from a friend). I'll try to take a photo when the lights are on.

@jamie1210 brings up something I find interesting... the size of a gig is not indicative of age. Smaller gigs are not necessarily younger, or "babies" but could be old gigs that we either sick or in sub-optimal conditions.

 

[jamie1210]

I suspect that they're probably closer to 20 years old.

Back during the Reef Central heyday, there was a member named Shutiny. She was the resident gig expert at the time and kept a few in a large system. When she finally took down her tanks, two of the gigs went to the CA Academy of Sciences. The last time I saw them they were both over 24" and right next to each other.

My blue gig is over 10 years old (acquired from a friend). I'll try to take a photo when the lights are on.

@jamie1210 brings up something I find interesting... the size of a gig is not indicative of age. Smaller gigs are not necessarily younger, or "babies" but could be old gigs that we either sick or in sub-optimal conditions.

Yeah, I dream of the day I can get a 300+ gallon tank--I would be feeding all my anemones and letting them grow huge! I would love to see my carpets grow to 24"!

I only feed my fish flakes and pellets, and the nems rarely grab onto these.

 

[D-Nak]

I found an old video from 2017 of my anemone tank:


I think at the time I had seven gigs in the tank.

 

[Seancj]

I suspect that they're probably closer to 20 years old.

Back during the Reef Central heyday, there was a member named Shutiny. She was the resident gig expert at the time and kept a few in a large system. When she finally took down her tanks, two of the gigs went to the CA Academy of Sciences. The last time I saw them they were both over 24" and right next to each other.

My blue gig is over 10 years old (acquired from a friend). I'll try to take a photo when the lights are on.

@jamie1210 brings up something I find interesting... the size of a gig is not indicative of age. Smaller gigs are not necessarily younger, or "babies" but could be old gigs that we either sick or in sub-optimal conditions.

I remember Shutiny's beautiful tank! The 360 viewable tank, sunroom/greenhouse/tropical plants all around made it such a beautiful setting! Glad to hear that those gigantea went to the CA!

 

[Seancj]

Mine's pretty old. I got it in february 2012. This was before OrionN's cipro discovery, and the mortality rate of these guys was insanely high. But I remember putting it in my tank with bated breath and not seeing any dreaded signs of inflating/deflating for a day, then 2 days, and eventually making it to a week--it was an emotional rollercoaster! haha

Over the years, the size has fluctuated from medium to huge to tiny when it was stressed. Now it's happy again, but I don't feed it because I don't want a monster in my tank (which is only about 140 gallons).

Excellent! 12 years old, that is fantastic! Well done!

 

[Seancj]

I found an old video from 2017 of my anemone tank:


I think at the time I had seven gigs in the tank.

Drool! Thanks for sharing that video! Beautiful collection of nems.