will a gig eat a bta?

geckoejon · Jan 3, 2015

hello,

i was wondering if a gig will eat a healthy bta and digest it without any issues? i was wondering for the purpose of zoo transfer....

i have had a blue gig for going on a couple months. it was bleached when i got it. the blue color has darkened a little, but the base / background still looks white. so, i am assuming it is from a lack of zoo. i treated, and it does not deflate. it just stays half inflated. if i fed it a bta, would that give it a good supply of zoo to maybe kick-start the zoo renewal process?

i have a couple other healthy gigs, but am too nervous to snip tentacles and feed the blue gig. i have a bunch of bta's and could spare one or 2

thoughts?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 3, 2015

The blue color does not come from zoox. Zoox are brownish.

Do you have a picture?

Are the other anemones in the same tank so zoox can possibly transfer through the water?

KorD · Jan 3, 2015

normally bleaching is from too much light, how is the mouth of the gig doing? is it tightly shut or gaping open.

Pictures would be a +

geckoejon · Jan 3, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The blue color does not come from zoox. Zoox are brownish.

Do you have a picture?

Are the other anemones in the same tank so zoox can possibly transfer through the water?

Yes, exactly... It has the blue color on the tips of the tentacles, but the base is still bleached.

I don't have pics on my phone. I treated over a month ago, put in my dt, and posted pics then. It looks the same.

Yes, there are 2 thriving multi-colored gigs in the same tank. I wasn't aware they they could transfer zoo through the water column.

Coryd, I doubt that the only reason new imported nems bleach is too much light... Maybe being yanked out of their original environment, thrown in buckets, shipped halfway around the world, and ect... IMO, more then likely losing the zoo in that process and not regenerating it yet...

geckoejon · Jan 3, 2015

here is a pic that i took a couple weeks ago of my gig cube. they all pretty much look the same...

Reefahholic · Jan 3, 2015

I wouldn't think that feeding an entire bubble tip would be a good idea.

Maybe a few tent's mixed into some food.

It typically takes up to 4 months in the right conditions and health for a gig or mag to regain all their zooxanthella.

Just be patient, he's gonna be a looker.

geckoejon · Jan 4, 2015

gotcha.... i am just surprised that the base color is still not darkening yet. i just really want that gig to thrive....

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 4, 2015

OK, it certainly is lacking in zoox. Whether the BTA even has the right type, I do not know.

OrionN · Jan 4, 2015

The healthy Gigantea should release zooxanthellae sometine and likely pickup by the bleached Gigantea sometime in the future. However, you should be able to do Zooxanthellae and the result shouold be quicker. You can stick a finger to the healthy Gig and remove the finger after a few tentacles attached. They have shuch attachment that you will ripped soem of it off. I would tuff this in a middle of a piece of food and feed it to your bleached Gigantea. This will not harm the healthy Gigantea. I have done it with no problem.

OrionN · Jan 4, 2015

Corals and other species of anemones will have zooxanthellae. Like Randy, I am not sure if these zooxanthellae is the right species. In your case I would use one or both of the healthy. It is likely that the population of Zooxanthellae in the anemone is a heterogeneous group with multiple strains or species. I read somewhere in the past that this is the case.

Reefahholic · Jan 4, 2015

So for gigantea, it's best to use gigantea tentacles?

OrionN · Jan 4, 2015

It make more sense. Not that another anemone species will not work but if I am going to do fecal transplant ( we start to do this for human with depleted bowel bacterial population) I would use human fecal instead of chimpanzee.

Reefahholic · Jan 4, 2015

OrionN said:
It make more sense. Not that another anemone species will not work but if I am going to do fecal transplant ( we start to do this for human with depleted bowel bacterial population) I would use human fecal instead of chimpanzee.

I just laughed so hard I spit my chicken nugget on the floor.

Yeah, I'm thinking that's the most logical way to go.

It makes sense to you the exact zoo to replenish that species.

OrionN · Jan 4, 2015

I am serious

. Soon you will see poop pills. We use this to treat people with Clostridium difficile infection/overgrowth in the guts. Probiotic capsules are bacterial capsules used to repopulate guts that got wipe out by too much antibiotics:tongue:

geckoejon · Jan 5, 2015

i was not aware that there were different types of zoo. thanks for the info. it would have been very convenient to just feed it a bta or part of one.after getting more info, seems like it would be wiser to stick with zoo from another gig though. i will try to get up the nerve to get a couple tentacles from each gig. imo, they are just looking fantastic, and i hate to mess with them. i'm just kind of worried about the blue one. it doesn't fully inflate, but doesn't deflate either.... just kind of in between and it's been a couple months...

Reefahholic said:
I just laughed so hard I spit my chicken nugget on the floor.

lmbo!

OrionN · Jan 5, 2015

If you don't have access to a healthy Gigantea, I would use other anemone speces or even LPS, or just let him be. As it is, with two healthy Gigantea, I just use one or two tentacles from each.