Blue gigantea

[Delphinus]

... I couldn't help myself. :redface: Thanks to Dave @ Wickedfrags.

Not eating yet, but has totally perked up today. Got my fingers crossed!!

Took 3 photos, they are more or less the same though. Apologies, probably could have just done 1..

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/bluecarpet1.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/bluecarpet2.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/bluecarpet3.jpg

[Monti-Man]

Oh Tony he's purdy:mrgreen:

Hope he does we'll for you.

[marie]

I am green with envy

[a4twenty]

he sure looks familiar :)

hope he gets his hunger back soon, i would imagine shipping is very stressful, he's looking pretty good though.

thanks again for all your help with mine.

[wickedfrags]

Looking good. How big is it now in your system? 8"+?

[michika]

I am green with envy

Same! That is one sweet new anemone!

Which tank has it found a home in?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Hah! You know Tony, I wondered when you added yourself to that order.....:)

Nice.

[Sushiman]

show off. :mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

Hey, I gotta show SOMEthing once in a while to justify my post count. There are far nicer tank systems out there than mine, usually it's me looking at everyone else's tank thinking "mannnnnn, these guys are all showoffs." :lol:

The two things that have me a little concerned are it's complete lack of zooxanthellae (it's white, not brown) and it's not eating. But, it's pretty early yet so hopefully it will come around. One of my other carpets was similarly white at time of purchase and darkened up within a few weeks. Although it wasn't nearly this to begin with, so it might not be a fair to be comparing them yet at this point.

May 12, 2004:
http://members.shaw.ca/hobiesailor/aquaria/anemones/Sgigantea_20040512.jpg

June 21, 2004:
http://members.shaw.ca/hobiesailor/aquaria/anemones/Sgigantea_20040621.jpg

@Dave - yeah it is sitting about 8" right now on account of its folds. If it chose to lay out flat I'd guesstimate it's more like 10" diameter.

@Michika - Yeah, fitting it is a bit of a challenge. It's currently in the cube, sort of kitty-korner AND underneath the ritteri. It's summer so the ritteri is particularly huge and causing problems trying to be about 24" (it's bugging my clam in there :( ..).

@Drew - Yeah, I know, I'm predictable..:redface: I was hoping to have seen some of the blues from the batch yours came from, but maybe they're not folks on Canreef.. So I had to take matters into my own hands.

[Monti-Man]

You know what though Tony.. Remember how you had said you thought that it was going to turn a more brown colour. You were right. I can see a very noticiable difference in the oral base and the outer tentacles for colour. I believe that both of the yellow ones that Drew and i got were bleached. But now after 2 weeks of lights and 2 feedings it is starting to change.It is starting from the outside in. But they are definetly getting darker.

When i feed mine the krill it was okay but not fast like it is with the tiger prawns. I feed it again today and it was gone in about 1 1.5 min. And the piece i feed is about a 1/2 inch that i soaked in selcon since last night. So you are right maybe it likes the bigger stuff.

I am sure all will be we'll. You are the most knowlesgeable when it comes to these guys so he is in the best hands.

Thanks for all your help with mine.

[Delphinus]

Day 6 update. Still not really a strong feeding response as yet, but has eaten small pieces of cut prawn when it was gently placed right on the mouth. Did notice the tentacles seem to be getting sticky, seems to be expanding a little more, although the mouth is not as tightly closed in today's pictures as it was on Saturday.

End-to-end diameter seems to be sitting at 8" but given that it's sort of potato-chipping itself in shape, I think if you took a measuring tape and followed along the contours it would measure closer to 12".

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/P6170006.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/P6170007.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/th_P6170003.jpg (http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/?action=view&current=P6170003.flv)

[michika]

Nice video! I love the way it moves.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Ditto. Nice flow, Tony....looks much more wavy-random than mine. Hmmm. Maybe I should stick one of my Koralia 3's in the tank (*sigh*...goodbye minimalist approach?....)

[digital-audiophile]

Tony,

Is this in the cube with your ritteri?

[Delphinus]

It is - it's just underneath the ritteri. I realize it doesn't belong in there long term but it was the only spot it would fit for now.

I tried a second video last night where I started off zoomed in on the carpet and then pulled back to reveal the ritteri above - thought it would be a neat effect, but 2 things kept me from posting it. 1) I had filmed it vertically, I thought it would be easy to rotate the frame 90 degrees (just like you could with a photo) but I couldn't figure out how to do that, and 2) when I pulled back enough to show the ritteri the exposure jumps off the scale. I might have had it on auto-exposure-lock. It looks like the sun is going supernovae. So I'll try again maybe tonight and see if I can do a better job this time.

The flow patterning where you see a displacement wave is caused by a maxijet with upgrade kit running off my wavemaker (a really long extension cord from one tank to the other). There are also two other MJ-upgrades but they are on full time. I found that placing them on a wavemaker is hard on the attachment bracket because they vibrate ever so slightly on startup. Eventually the little swing arm snaps off because of this. So I had an unused upgrade kit but no mounting bracket (because it had broken), so I used the standard suction cup mount for a Maxijet and just stuck the whole thing to the glass. So the fan shape flow output is more of a half-fan that follows along the glass. It's not really an ideal setup (this won't hold forever) but I do really like the flow effect I get from it. :)

[rusty]

That thing looks pretty sweet Tony!:mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

Guess this is about week 5 for the blue. I've formally hit the panic button tonight and by that I mean I've removed it from my 110g cube and placed it into my 40g shallow tank, which is probably what I should have done in the first place, just didn't want to rearrange things in there to make it fit.

The problem is it doesn't eat. Week after week of .. just .. just doesn't eat, just doesn't eat, just doesn't eat, doesn't eat, doesn't eat. It's losing stickiness and even placing small chunks of prawn in the mouth it fails to swallow.

The main concern I had about it being in the larger cube is that the theivous pests of a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp do anything in their power to defeat any attempt to feed it. I've had it with them, I hate them, really anything with claws are not to be trusted. The cleaner shrimp was supposed to be something I was going to babysit for only 6 weeks, that was two years ago. I don't think the guy is ever coming back to get his shrimp. And the peppermint I only had because I hoped they would eat aiptasia, I started off with 5 and this is the big meanie who seemed to outlast the other 4. Of course they never touched aiptasia, just like the other 20 times I've tried peppermints for this purpose, they've just been a big disappointment. These shrimp are done in my book. I've laid a trap for them and once caught they are going out. If I catch them I will be putting them on the livestock for sale forum ... freebies. Frankly I don't care if someone uses them to feed their eels ... stupid things have crossed the line for the last time.

Anyhow, I'm still concerned that the lack of a feeding response of *any* kind will eventually spell out that this carpet is doomed, but at least in my 40g there is nothing to steal the food. Only things capable of it are the clownfish and they are the stupidest fish in the universe, so they shouldn't pose a serious threat on that front.

The purple tries to eat just fine, except of course that it can't because the food gets stolen every time. Yep .. I can't wait to get those stupid shrimp out of there.

[Skimmerking]

It is - it's just underneath the ritteri. I realize it doesn't belong in there long term but it was the only spot it would fit for now.


Well I guess it is time to get the 280 gal going Tony. what the heck are you waiting for man. are ya YELLA or what. don't make me come up to CAlgary to help you set this up on my leave after AFghanistan...........

I mean it man....

p.s I love the color of it i may have to get some thing like that for my tank.

[Delphinus]

It is time and I try to work on it as I can. It's hard, I don't have your energy level. :lol:

Peppermint got himself stuck in the trap, haha, that didn't take very long at all. He had a pretty dour expression of sulking this morning (who knew that shrimp could be so expressive :lol:) He is now sumped, and the trap reset for now the cleaner shrimp...

[andestang]

Very nice looking Tony. I'm a little worried of the gaping mouth, had a RBTA have that happen and never recovered. Also had the same problem with little basterd shrimps, when your trying to nurse feed something they do take advantage :twised: I now have had a RBTA for 9 months and never really target feed it because of where it decided to settle in and seems to be thriving and growing - go figure :confused: Keep us posted.

[danny zubot]

Hey Tony, I've got a flame hawk who's developed a taste for peppermint shrimp if you want to get revenge.:biggrin:

[andestang]

Any update ? Hope its good.

[Delphinus]

I need to clean the glass before I can post a new picture but so far, so good.

The 40g has a feed mode for the wavemaker and so combined with no-shrimp-stealing-the-food, it's now eating. Yay!

It's lost a fair bit of biomass though (it's smaller than when I first got it). I should have moved it into this tank a lot sooner. The only thing is the 40g is really far too small to house 2 (never mind 3) carpets so I'm probably setting myself up for all kinds of flames once I post a picture of how badly overcrowded it is in there. :redface:

[Treebeard]

I promise not to flame you, but I am ready and willing to help relieve that overcrowding issue! :wink:


I need to clean the glass before I can post a new picture but so far, so good.

The 40g has a feed mode for the wavemaker and so combined with no-shrimp-stealing-the-food, it's now eating. Yay!

It's lost a fair bit of biomass though (it's smaller than when I first got it). I should have moved it into this tank a lot sooner. The only thing is the 40g is really far too small to house 2 (never mind 3) carpets so I'm probably setting myself up for all kinds of flames once I post a picture of how badly overcrowded it is in there. :redface:

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Ah, Tony. We all have our dirty little reef secrets (i.e. Regal Tang in a 55G...what?), so who are we to judge? Besides, you have that monster tank on the go.

I'm glad to hear it's eating, though. I think my carpet has lost some biomass as well, but it's also now eating more readily. The damn clown likes to yank the pieces of shrimp out of its tentacles and drop it away from the anemone, though. Where's the love in that? *sigh*

Danny, are you looking to get rid of that Flame Hawk? Been wanting one for a while :D

[andestang]

I promise not to flame you, but I am ready and willing to help relieve that overcrowding issue! :wink:

Help finish his tank ? :razz:

[danny zubot]

Danny, are you looking to get rid of that Flame Hawk? Been wanting one for a while :D

Maybe. Reef is up in the air right now. Another move could be in the future.

[Delphinus]

Pictures and movies from today..

Blue:
Comparing to the older pictures I see it's not only lost biomass, it's lost a fair amount of colour as well. :( It only "sort of" eats - it ate once this week and then hasn't again since (maybe just not hungry). A long, long way to go, before I think this guy is out of the woods. :(
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/bluegigantea.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/th_034.jpg (http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/?action=view&current=034.flv)

FWIW, here's the purple.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/purplegigantea.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/th_033.jpg (http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/?action=view&current=033.flv)

And now, let the real shame fest begin .. :redface: Here are pictures of the seriously overcrowded 40g carpet tank. Compare the green to what it looked like in 2006 (as seen in Drew's clownfish picture thread here (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=43652&))..

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g1.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g2.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g3.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g4.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g5.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn239/delphinus_photos/40g6.jpg

[fishoholic]

It might be a bit crowded but the carpets look happy and they don't seem to be bothering eachother. I wouldn't worry about it.

[andestang]

Tony, I hope it makes it through - I know how much you love these. :turn-l:

[Delphinus]

RIP - sometime between August 9 and 17. :(

[OCDP]

Sheesh man! First Drew's, now yours. Sorry to hear of the loss.. it sure was beautiful. :cry:

[Jason McK]

Oh sorry to hear Tony. It was great to see pics of the tank though.

J

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Sorry, Tony :( At least I feel good knowing that it wasn't any neglect or mishandling on my part. I guess these ones just weren't strong enough.

[Pier Pressure]

Does anyone think that maybe these carpets were dyed or something? There seems to be a high death rate of these and I read somewhere that somebody had one a while and it turned green. I know we get dyed fish sometimes that we can never keep healthy - is it possible that some anemones are being dyed to make them more attractive to the consumer?

You guys baby your tanks and I know your water quality must be excellent - so it seems really strange these are dying so rapidly, won't eat, etc.

[Phanman]

sorry to hear that Tony... my friends yellow died about 2 weeks ago too :cry:
He bought it about 2-3 weeks after you did.

[EmilyB]

Aw crap Tony, I hope it wasn't dead in there for a week?..:surprise:

[Monti-Man]

Tony i'm sorry you lost that one:(

Although i think it was a trend from the begginning. They all seemed to be from the same shipment and they all seemed to go out the same way?Mine and yours had issues feeding and myselfs and Drews just kinda lost its mass over a week period or so. Not sure if yours did the lossing mass thing.

How is the purple one? Mine is remakably we'll. Seemed to have a couple hick ups the last week or so but i think it was a flow issue. Maybe the purple guys are from a different collecting?

[Delphinus]

Purple is hanging on still and eats mysis so I worry less about it. (I still worry a little, but at least it stays put and eats, which is a good sign. It doesn't grow much though..) The blue was really starting to lose biomass towards the end despite efforts to keep it fed. It was really starting to wander badly before I had to go away so I was pretty worried about it, and am sort of not really surprised to find it MIA now that I'm back. Still rather frustrating and I wonder if I had maybe tried moving it sooner would I have had a little better luck. Although when I heard both yours and Drews had already checked out I was pretty sure this was going to be the outcome as well.

[Nate]

I have had mine for 4 months, under 8 54 watt t5s surrounded by a bunch of bubble tips which he over powers no problem. I have fed him mysis shrimp once in these four months, and he has not lost colour or moved around. I think the key to keeping this species for me is that my false percs feed him all the time. He is now at the point where he does not even mind eating pellets from the clowns...

Basically, when I feed, the clowns are trying to feed him and about 15 bubble tips aruond them. One thing I have noticed is that they have started breeding more frequently since the introduction of the carpet

Just my 2 cents

[Delphinus]

IMO, the key with this species is to start with a strong specimen to begin with. I knew going into this that the odds were not good because the blue was so incredibly bleached. The lack of a strong feeding response also concerned me from the get go. I tried this specimen nonetheless, just to see if I could turn it around and I had always wanted a blue one, so thought it was worth a try.

A lot of people think clowns make a difference ... I am not one of those though. :mrgreen: . Not saying they "can't" make a difference (they may well), but the mere presence of clowns does not guarantee success by any means - in fact, it can hinder success in some cases because they can beat up a weakened anemone pretty badly. Also if the anemone has no feeding response, then it likely pretty much doesn't matter much if it's you doing the attempted feedings or the fish.

So again for me it really comes down to the starting point and how healthy and strong it is to begin with. You take an assessment as best you can, and then you decide to run with it or not.

I still have 3 others, the two you sold me (one in 2004 and one in 2005), and one other from the recent imports, in particular to two older ones were strong from day one and continue to be. They even eat cyclops-eeze, you'd think this be an unlikely food on account of the size, but they react quite vigorously to cyclops in the water. I find that, once established, they are incredibly resilient creatures. The real question is getting them to that point of establishment...

[Nate]

As a note, I think that the clowns make no difference as per the being in the aquarium and in the anemone, but to make it so my lazy *** doesn't have to feed the anemone as much!

Also, the day after the clown eggs hatch, the anemone seems to be large and in charge, so feeding on them may occur as well, as they always hatch at night.

I am in the process of setting up a new tank that will have a bigger dedication to anemones 36 inch cube

[Delphinus]

That will be a nice size for the carpet for sure. My dream situation is something like a 72x30x14 tank for the carpets, perhaps lower stand than average, so that between it being lower and shallower than average to lend itself towards topdown views (it's be good for tridacnids too).