S.Gigantea Owners,,, little help?

Juck · #1 09/30/2006, 07:42 PM

Umm,, I was just doing a water change and my Gigantea shrank down a little (as it always does when I do a w/c) and I noticed what almost looks like an extra mouth behind the first one.

The thing in question was real hard to get a photo of,, but there's a hole in the end of it,,,, it looks like a little extra mouth.

Is it just a mutant tentacle or what?

Any ideas?

BonsaiNut · #2 10/01/2006, 10:00 AM

Never seen anything like it. Certainly doesn't look like anything BAD - i.e. like an injury. Maybe it is thinking about splitting

shutiny · #3 10/01/2006, 12:54 PM

My Magnifica did that and it split 3 months later, different species but hope you'll have same result. Your Gigantea looks very nice.

Juck · #4 10/01/2006, 01:12 PM

Thanks,,,,

Well it's definitely another mouth because I just fed it a tiny bit of shrimp,,,, I stung the back of my hand on the anemone and the Occs were attacking me non-stop but it was still kinda cool to see both mouths feeding.

I'm almost tempted to frag it,,, but not quite,, will keep an eye on it and post pics if anything happens.

Juck · #5 10/01/2006, 05:50 PM

I just got a better pic of the 2nd mouth.

The anemone has partially deflated, looks terrible and has moved for the first time in 2 years. After all this time I thought I was in the clear with this thing,,, I just hope it's about to split and not melt-down.

Juck · #6 10/01/2006, 06:01 PM

The clowns seem to know something is wrong, they haven't taken any food at all today.

Here's a shot of the full anemone,,, it's about 50% deflated and looks dreadful,,, it's usually about 14" or so in diameter.

Juck · #7 10/01/2006, 09:07 PM

OK,, now I'm fairly sure it's splitting,, but it's not the same as when my BTA's split (they just rip themselves in half).

The gigantea found a point where two pieces of rock are touching and deflated itself, so about half of the oral plate was dangling in the the 'V' where the rocks touch. It then re-inflated a bit so the lower-half is wedged in-between the 2 rocks.

Now it seems to be 'walking' back up the rock and the anemone is starting to tear at the place it is jammed into the rocks. Hope that made sense. You can kinda see what's happening here:

OrionN · #8 10/01/2006, 11:14 PM

Keep us up date.

phender · #9 10/01/2006, 11:27 PM

Very interesting. I would have thought that the splitting process in your carpet would have taken many days if not months to complete.
Good luck. I hope everything goes well. Keep us up to date. I wouldn't try to help it. I seem to know what its doing. Please keep us updated. I don't think there is any record of gigantea dividing in captivity.

ricordiaking · #10 10/02/2006, 06:54 AM

Man this is great never before seen, more pics. Please keep a photo journal of this event to share with us all.

delphinus · #11 10/02/2006, 12:17 PM

How long have you had this anemone? At least 2 years if I read correctly.

Good luck!!

Doni · #12 10/02/2006, 01:09 PM

Awesome!! How is it doing today?

Juck · #13 10/02/2006, 01:17 PM

Well it's disappeared into the rocks at the back of the tank,,, even from the top I can just see 1 tiny part sticking out.

Something is definitely happening though,, my skimmer is going nuts and the skimmate stinks something awful,,, even worse than xenia-stench,, if that's possible. I've dropped a kilo bag of carbon in at one end of the tank,,, dunno if it will make any difference.

I'll wait until after dinner and then maybe I'll move a few rocks and see what's going on.

Juck · #14 10/02/2006, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by delphinus
How long have you had this anemone? At least 2 years if I read correctly.

Good luck!!

I can't remember if I got it in 2003 or 2004,,,, at least 2 years though. It never had any adventures or did anything unexpected until now.

I also have a 20"+ Haddoni that keeps me on my toes (keeps moving).

Rod Buehler · #15 10/02/2006, 04:25 PM

Way cool. Were there any changes in the system in the past few months that may have triggered the event?

Juck · #16 10/02/2006, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rod Buehler
Way cool. Were there any changes in the system in the past few months that may have triggered the event?

Not really,, it's a pretty boring tank,,,, 29g,,, just LR, dsb, 2 clowns a few turbos, a peppermint shrimp and the anemone. Lighting is a single 250w xm20k halide and a 65w 50/50pc,,, skimmer is a CPR Bakpak 2 with a MJ1200. Circulation is provided by 3 MJ1200's (plus the skimmer output) ,, no sump.

I do a 5 gallon w/c every week and top off about 1/2 a gallon a day with ro/di.

Othere than water changes and top-offs,, I don't do anything except change the bulbs every 6 months or so. No kalk or Ca dosing or anything like that.

sonofgaladriel · #17 10/02/2006, 04:41 PM

Wow! I hope this turns out well. Pretty exciting if it is indeed splitting and both half's recover. Best of luck with them!

Juck · #18 10/04/2006, 10:33 AM

ok,,, I just updated this,, there is at least 3 parts and one of them has melted down,,, I just did a small water change and now there are tentacles and gunk everywhere,, I'm going to take the clowns out,, the female is attacking the anemones mouth like crazy.

TheVillageIdiot · #19 10/04/2006, 10:39 AM

I think a full set of testing is in order.

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also, anything other than the anemones and clowns showing abnormal behavior?

Juck · #20 10/04/2006, 10:44 AM

lol,,apart from Nitrate, I don't have any of those test kits.

>> anything other than the anemones and
>>clowns showing abnormal behavior?

There's nothing else in the tank except for a Pepp and a few snails,, they seem alright.

TheVillageIdiot · #21 10/04/2006, 10:46 AM

I think you should get them or borrow some. In fact, take a small amount of tank water to an LFS, they should be happy to test your water for you and will have all those test kits.

bluerug · #22 10/04/2006, 11:04 AM

Hope everything turns out ok for you. And good luck. By the way those are some of the coolest pics i have ever seen with the two mouths.

OrionN · #23 10/04/2006, 11:25 AM

Best of luck.

catastrofe · #24 10/06/2006, 04:45 PM

Update?