Gigantea help

[Rtaylor]

Hello. I received a purple gig a day late after a shipping delay. I live in WI and it was cold…really cold when it arrived. It is in rough shape. Guts are all out, it’s sloughing off tissue on the oral disc/tentacles. After temp acclimating, I transferred it through about 5 rinses of clean saltwater as the water immediately fouled when the nem was added. I’ve got it in a 5 gallon hospital tank and have already done one 100% water change. I did start add 125 mg cipro after that. Any tips or advice? Any chance it will make it?

 

[Jekyl]

@Eagle_Steve @OrionN @gig 'em @Nemguy123 @F i s h y

 

[OrionN]

All you can do is hope for the best. I have seen Gigantea with mouth like that after shipping recover. Make sure you keep good current and divide the HT so he won’t get chew up bu the PH

 

[Rtaylor]

All you can do is hope for the best. I have seen Gigantea with mouth like that after shipping recover. Make sure you keep good current and divide the HT so he won’t get chew up bu the PH

Thank you, yes- using egg crate to separate.

 

[gig 'em]

Ouch, yeah it’s a bit of wait and see. Just keep conditions stable and change the water when it starts to get cloudy. Keep the water well oxygenated with an air stone too. If you start smelling death, it’s likely a goner.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Exactly as @OrionN said. Just hope at this point. You are already treating, so just keep up with it. Also, you can go to 250mg per 5 gallons, if you see no improvement in a few days. Biggest thing is keeping up the treatment and water changes.

 

[Rtaylor]

Ouch, yeah it’s a bit of wait and see. Just keep conditions stable and change the water when it starts to get cloudy. Keep the water well oxygenated with an air stone too. If you start smelling death, it’s likely a goner.

Ok, thanks!

 

[Rtaylor]

Exactly as @OrionN said. Just hope at this point. You are already treating, so just keep up with it. Also, you can go to 250mg per 5 gallons, if you see no improvement in a few days. Biggest thing is keeping up the treatment and water changes.

Sounds good. Thanks!

 

[F i s h y]

Agree with above advice. Is the foot attaching at all? Mouth closed back up? Are the tents still sticky?

 

[Rtaylor]

Agree with above advice. Is the foot attaching at all? Mouth closed back up? Are the tents still sticky?

None of the above
Pretty sure it’s worse. Just did another 100% water change. Some of the tentacles are ‘melting’. Anyone ever see one come back from that?

 

[Rtaylor]

Ouch, yeah it’s a bit of wait and see. Just keep conditions stable and change the water when it starts to get cloudy. Keep the water well oxygenated with an air stone too. If you start smelling death, it’s likely a goner.

Thanks, so it gets cloudy within minutes of 100% change. I have even been rinsing it in several bowls of clean saltwater before adding to the new water……probably a bad sign….

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have had 1 haddoni make it after close to that, but melting as much as it is, is not good.

 

[Rtaylor]

I have had 1 haddoni make it after close to that, but melting as much as it is, is not good.

That’s good to hear. I’m not overly optimistic. I’ll update how it goes.

 

[OrionN]

Good luck

 

[Taylor t]

Sorry, haven’t been on lately... Trying to update my for sale thread
it’s a spinning ball you have to learn how to catch on the way down...

But if I was you, I’d purge the f**k out of that gig as fast as possible. They come from low tide areas, (high light, high flow), can handle temp and salinity drastic differences fast, so when you get one that’s melting, you’d better purge the f**k out of that guy, and fast, change the water as much as possible, temp and salinity won’t matter, get the water to remain clear. It gets cloudy because ITS DESOLVING, you’d better act fast, or it’s gone.

I’ve had them recover with tents falling off, but it was after a Hail Mary water change schedule, you won’t be able to match temp and SG. TEMP AND SG DONT MATTER WHEN THEY FALL APART! Remember, they are NOT CORALS, they don’t need delicate temp acclimation. Change that messing water! Then, change it again!

they can be a LOT of work to stabilize. Good luck, they can handle drastic changes coral can’t handle , but you’d better get the chemical levels up and correct, flow up and light up, and hope for the best. 24 hour aged saltwater will save ANYTHING, if the brain of the reefer can do it.

OP, do what ever it takes to keep it fully inflated at all times.
1) water quality matters most.
2) flow matters next.
3) light is last, but required to figure out only after 24 hour full inflation is achieved. They can go weeks with no light, so figuring full inflation using water quality is first. Flow is just under water quality issues. These two most critical. It will fully inflate when flow and water quality are good, then figure that out and it’s an easy walk after that. But:light is a tough one to grab traction with.

best of luck, too difficult to explain but explained best I could.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is hit and miss. Acclimation could have been better but I understand your needs at the time.
light water movement and moderate light is all you can provide at this time until it perks up or melys. I too am in WI and its been worse than cold.
Was there a heat pack or two in the shipping container? IF not - I would address this with shipper although the burden may be on the shipping carrier.

 

[Rtaylor]

Sorry, haven’t been on lately... Trying to update my for sale thread
it’s a spinning ball you have to learn how to catch on the way down...

But if I was you, I’d purge the f**k out of that gig as fast as possible. They come from low tide areas, (high light, high flow), can handle temp and salinity drastic differences fast, so when you get one that’s melting, you’d better purge the f**k out of that guy, and fast, change the water as much as possible, temp and salinity won’t matter, get the water to remain clear. It gets cloudy because ITS DESOLVING, you’d better act fast, or it’s gone.

I’ve had them recover with tents falling off, but it was after a Hail Mary water change schedule, you won’t be able to match temp and SG. TEMP AND SG DONT MATTER WHEN THEY FALL APART! Remember, they are NOT CORALS, they don’t need delicate temp acclimation. Change that messing water! Then, change it again!

they can be a LOT of work to stabilize. Good luck, they can handle drastic changes coral can’t handle , but you’d better get the chemical levels up and correct, flow up and light up, and hope for the best. 24 hour aged saltwater will save ANYTHING, if the brain of the reefer can do it.

OP, do what ever it takes to keep it fully inflated at all times.
1) water quality matters most.
2) flow matters next.
3) light is last, but required to figure out only after 24 hour full inflation is achieved. They can go weeks with no light, so figuring full inflation using water quality is first. Flow is just under water quality issues. These two most critical. It will fully inflate when flow and water quality are good, then figure that out and it’s an easy walk after that. But:light is a tough one to grab traction with.

best of luck, too difficult to explain but explained best I could.

Thanks, didn’t see this until this morning. The gig completely melted overnight. I did 100% water changes every 1-2 hours last evening until I went to bed. It continued to look worse and worse. I did have the flow really high, but probably went too long overnight without a change. Thanks for the info.

 

[Rtaylor]

Sadly the gig completely melted overnight. What is everyone’s thoughts on ordering/shipping now? I’m told the delay was due to worker shortages caused by Covid. I try not to have anything ship when delays are more likely (predicted bad weather, holidays, etc.). I suppose I probably shouldn’t make any orders until Covid numbers decrease significantly, which likely means spring. Thoughts?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Sadly the gig completely melted overnight. What is everyone’s thoughts on ordering/shipping now? I’m told the delay was due to worker shortages caused by Covid. I try not to have anything ship when delays are more likely (predicted bad weather, holidays, etc.). I suppose I probably shouldn’t make any orders until Covid numbers decrease significantly, which likely means spring. Thoughts?

I have passed up quite a few nems recently if not able to get shipped via an airline and I pick up at the airport. With an exception for one order. I know the person sending it and ate additional shipping price for more size/weight. Box was larger, super insulated and nem was in as much water as would fit in box and allow heat packs to be added.

how was the packaging? And did you measure temp in box? I only ask, as I just shipped a bunch of macro and gorgs via 2 day usps and all arrived with bags at 77-78 with no issues. TN to Georgia, but hit a not temp controlled usps hub and sat there till next day. I know not the same, but packaging and proper heat pack placement has a lot to do with getting things to where they need to go and survive a delay.

 

[Rtaylor]

Thanks for the input, but a drip acclimation of an anemone in putrid water isn’t ever a good idea. Also, gigs require high flow and it can help them recover. There were heat packs, but obviously they were cold by the time the anemone arrived. I don’t think I’m going to order any live animals until spring. The delay was due to worker shortages from Covid.

This is hit and miss. Acclimation could have been better but I understand your needs at the time.
light water movement and moderate light is all you can provide at this time until it perks up or melys. I too am in WI and its been worse than cold.
Was there a heat pack or two in the shipping container? IF not - I would address this with shipper although the burden may be on the shipping carrier.