Billy's Stichodactyla Gigantea Thread

[billysprout]

Update! Got a very interesting blue base/blurple tentacle gigantea from Harry's Marine Life. might be getting two more of unknown colors in a month or so. But for now, this one is going through treatment! Its mouth is gaping a bit since this photo but I think a light upgrade I made today should help.

Also going to use 1/4 the dosage of cipro to try to avoid the bleaching it may or may not have caused for gig 3.

Gig 5... go!

Also updates... gig 2 is getting MASSIVE and foldy. Trying to give it rockwork to grab on to, but it doesn't seem to like marco.

Gig 3 was lost to a bacterial infection the day before I was planning to do a tentacle transplant. It fell on a piece of decomposing food and whatever bacteria were pigging out on the food, gladly devoured a section of 3's oral disk. It declined from there because no zoox & i couldn't feed it without worsening the infection. RIP king

And gig 4 is slowly expanding & coloring up in my sump. Very difficult to photograph so just imagine a slightly less yellow version of this picture:

 

[D-Nak]

I have a purple gig that is two toned much like your new addition. Here it is with a yellow/green gig that looks a lot like your Gig 4:

I'll try to take a photo under normal lights to show the greenish base color (I know it's hard to see in the photo above).

For size comparison, the purple gig is about 10" around while the yellow/green one is a recent addition and only about 3" around.

 

[billysprout]

I have a purple gig that is two toned much like your new addition. Here it is with a yellow/green gig that looks a lot like your Gig 4:

I'll try to take a photo under normal lights to show the greenish base color (I know it's hard to see in the photo above).

For size comparison, the purple gig is about 10" around while the yellow/green one is a recent addition and only about 3" around.

Very beautiful! Do you know where the blue one was collected from? Also, what PAR do you aim for in your gig tank?

Did a before/after/current just to show myself how long it took for gig 4 to color back up.

 

[Hot2na]

Go go Go ! wait till you own 15 ....

 

[D-Nak]

Very beautiful! Do you know where the blue one was collected from? Also, what PAR do you aim for in your gig tank?

Did a before/after/current just to show myself how long it took for gig 4 to color back up.

I don't know where it was collected from. I actually don't know where any of my gigs were collected from. I also don't know what PAR it gets. It's at the very bottom of a 20" tall tank let with Radion G5 Blues running the AB+ profile maxing at 50% intensity. Based on photos of gigs in the wild, my suspicion is that the tan gigs are usually collected in shallower water than the purples and blues. Not sure about the green ones.

I'm willing to bet that gig 4 will slowly color up into a green gig if given ample PAR. I think the yellow ones we see are bleached green ones, and when they stay yellow it simply means that they don't have a ton of zooxanthellae.

 

[D-Nak]

Go go Go ! wait till you own 15 ....

It's an addiction. It really is.

 

[Seancj]

Very jealous of your gigantea collection! They are looking great! I've had my LFS looking for a blue gig for over a year now. I'm leary about ordering online after my last bad CA experience.

 

[billysprout]

I don't know where it was collected from. I actually don't know where any of my gigs were collected from. I also don't know what PAR it gets. It's at the very bottom of a 20" tall tank let with Radion G5 Blues running the AB+ profile maxing at 50% intensity. Based on photos of gigs in the wild, my suspicion is that the tan gigs are usually collected in shallower water than the purples and blues. Not sure about the green ones.

I'm willing to bet that gig 4 will slowly color up into a green gig if given ample PAR. I think the yellow ones we see are bleached green ones, and when they stay yellow it simply means that they don't have a ton of zooxanthellae.

thx for the intel! 4 started out that crazy-vibrant green in the first step of my timelapse, so hopefully it'll climb back to that color as I increase the PAR it's getting. it's much more light-green than yellow to the eye.

might try to transfuse some blue zoox from gig 5 to 4 if I'm feeling particularly chaotic once 5 is out of quarantine... >

i think you're right; my brown & green gig 2 is probably getting 600 PAR and it could take way more. that'd help explain why the tan ones are so much more common.

It's an addiction. It really is.

Pfft, I could quit any time I wanted! I just don't want to

Very jealous of your gigantea collection! They are looking great! I've had my LFS looking for a blue gig for over a year now. I'm leary about ordering online after my last bad CA experience.

Thank you! The hunt is very slow and then very fast when stuff comes in. I might have a lead on some more, but the exporter hasn't sent photos of the verucae yet. I'll post updates (if any) on that lead in the gig time thread.

I've heard good things about Harry's shipping (the live lead i posed earlier this week) because they ship directly from wholesale. but Im not sure what their DOA policy or track record with shipping nems is. Good luck o7

 

[billysprout]

Never using an orange bucket ever again. LOL. Blue gig is occasionally deflating, and expelling a lot of zoox, but it seems to be slowing. I've gotten busy IRL and thus lazy with my nightly water changes, maybe returning to my regimen will improve symptoms.

Half-reinflated with gaping mouth and visible progression of bleaching from my first pic. flesh around the mouth is now translucent white instead of opaque white-tan.

Fully deflated (see dead zoox on surrounding bucket)

 

[OrionN]

Goodluck.
I hope you will never be cure from your addiction, and that you have sympathetic, and enabling spouse who support your addition.

 

[billysprout]

Goodluck.
I hope you will never be cure from your addiction, and that you have sympathetic, and enabling spouse who support your addition.

Thank you sir! For your support and the incredible guidelines you’ve given us to keep our critters happy and healthy.

update on the blue gig, it stopped deflating after two days of treatment. Just about done with its observation period.

 

[Seancj]

I'm so jealous! I need one of those! Glad to hear, and see, that it's doing much better! Great job!

 

[billysprout]

 

[dieselkeeper]

Awesome, glad it turned around for the better. Love the color.