130l Seahorse Setup

[TigerIssey]

I would be excited too.

Look forward to the piccies.

 

[mooey65]

Can't wait to see how they settle in.

 

[kelwoo]

Well after 369 miles, 10hrs, two very sore backs, a stiff neck and a much lighter wallet i am the proud owner of a pair of H. barbouri (zebra-snouted) and a pair of Doryrhamphus janssi (jans's pipefish). I also brought a branching hammer and torch for the nano.

Here's the picture of them

Can you see them?

Before i go mad on the piccy's i'll jsut give a quick update on the rest of the tank. Jackie and Chan are doing well, every time i put my hand in the tank they give me a good clean. The xenia is getting quite big now i would say she is about 4 times bigger now.

Sunny jr. is out most evenings now and eating well. sunny jr. out

And bloaty sunny jr. after eating

Friday was prep day, did a water change and checked the parameters in preparation for the SH.

Saturday was spent collecting and acclimatising, it was late by the time everyone was in the tank, and we both were tired and just wanted to go to bed so nothing else was done apart from feeding the SH and pipefish.

Sunday - Woke up and everyone seems to be settling in nicely, feeding time again!

(not the most flattering picture but still recovering from saturday and on strong pain meds for my arm)

And now what you have all been waiting for ........................ the pictures!
Haven't decided on names yet - waiting to see their personalities first.

My beatiful boy

My gorgeous girl

And the pipefish (which are the hardest fish to photograph ever!)

Not sure how many pictures i can add at one time so i will put the rest in the next post.

Kelwoo

 

[kelwoo]

Here are the rest of the pictures.

Some more of my boy

And of my girl

and the pair together

I will keep you posted as they settle in.

Connor how did you train your SH to eat from a dish? Can't really find any info out on it. How long did it take to train them? and what is your feeding regime and how much do you feed them? Just so i have an idea to make sure they're eating enough.

I'll try and get some more shots of the PF when they've settled in a bit more.


Kelwoo.

 

[SkiFletch]

Wow, that almost makes me want to try a seahorse tank

 

[TigerIssey]

Stunning seahorses.

Very beautiful, had always wanted them myself, really makes me want to try that.

 

[connorsbala]

Very nice....your girl is especially beautiful

 

[kelwoo]

Thank you , I think they're stunning. Definitely worth the wait and money.

However, since i have brought them home i have done nothing but panic and stress out!!

Are they eating enough? Are they healthy? Seeing all sorts of spots and stuff on them - is it their colouring is there a problem? Imagening all sorts of problem and stuff. I am feeling way out of my depth and all the reading in the world hasn't prepared me for them.

I'm sure everything is alright - they're eating well and seem lively enough but i can't stop the voices in my head of panic and worry.

On a less crazy note - i think i might have got the whole feeding bowl thing down. They both come over to the bowl to eat and occassionally eat the food from the bottom - think the bowl is to shaped for them and is making it difficult to see the food - so i have just brought a new bowl - we'll see if they like it any better.

And i think the male is getting frisky, he keeps going over to the female and dancing round her wiggling his bum and puffing his pouch - not sure she's that into him though, she keeps swimming away from him, and doesn't seem that interested.

Still haven't decided on names for them or the pipefish any suggestions?


I apoligise for my mad rumbling - but i want to make sure i do everything in my power to provide the best care for them, and venting my crazy to you guys with all your knowledge and experience helps. Thanks Guys and girls


Kelwoo.

 

[Trod]

Oh they are gorgeous, some great photos.
They are lovely animals which take a lot of dedication to look after. I take my hat off to you, I'm sure it'll be a great success
With all the Stress this hobby puts us through it certainly makes you wonder 'why do we do it'

 

[bagu]

BLOODY AWESOME!

they are gorgeous!

 

[kelwoo]

Oh they are gorgeous, some great photos.
They are lovely animals which take a lot of dedication to look after. I take my hat off to you, I'm sure it'll be a great success
With all the Stress this hobby puts us through it certainly makes you wonder 'why do we do it'

It certainly does - but then you see just how fantastic a marine setup looks and then you remember why we do it! And all the stress seems worth it!

Thanks bagu i think they're stunning and she is a real poser for the camera!

Well after my crazy rant the other day i feel a lot better. Everyone is settling in nicely and eating well. Manged to get them eating from a bowl the pipefish are too shy so i still have to feed them from the pipette.

The biggest news is ................ the SH are courting. Every morning and evening they do thier little dance, he changes colour and he chases her around circling each other and she matches his colour perfectly. It seems to be lasting about 30 mins at the mo. No sign of mating yet but they're definitely courting - so i have brought the first in the series of fry raising tanks in anticipation. I will try and get some picture or if i can figure out how to post a vid i will post a vid of them courting. So fingers crossed they will mate soon.

Will keep you posted.


Kelwoo

 

[TigerIssey]

Videos of that would be fantastic.

Fingers crossed

 

[kj23502]

very cool. They are stunning. I love the yellow on the female w/the contrasting black stripe. Great job!!!

Hope they do raise some babies. Are you ready for trying to raise babies

 

[kelwoo]

Ok so it's been a while since i last posted, so i think it's well past the time for an update.

Everyone seems to be doing well, infact very well. Both cleaners now have bellies full of eggs. Snails are going mad and laying eggs anywhere they can.

Snail eggs on the front of my glass

I decided that i needed some more cover and height in the tank, so i constructed a net out of orange rope and took days cutting the right lengths, gluing them in place and tying them with fishing line in place and finally making weights out of aquascape. I then did some pruning and tied some of my prolifera onto the rope to create a wall. Doesn't look much at the moment but at the rate the algae is growing it's not gonna be long till it's a complete wall. And the SH's love it, so do them pipes.

some piccys

full tank piccy

I have finally chosen names for the SH. The female is called Storm and the male Thunder. It seems to suit them.

I have a new addition to my tank - Merlin the mandarin, very very shy still settling in but is moving round the tank more each day. I will try to get a picture as soon as he lets me.

I have also added a UV steriliser as i know SH's are prone to infection - not gonna run it all the time just when i add new stock or algaes and maybe once a week. Thought it would also be useful when trying to raise the baby SH.

And i've saved the best till last - drum roll please........................

Come home saturday morning after checking out the LFS and discovered this

At first i thought someone or something had attacked sunny jr. but then i looked closer, and if I'm not mistaken (if i am mistaken please correct me) it was a small pile of eggs - SH eggs, i couldn't believe it. Don't know whether it was a successful mating i'll have to wait 14-30 days to find out, but they've tried i know they've been doing courtship dances but wasn't expecting mating quite so soon, they're only just at sexual maturity. OMG i'm so excited

Here's a closer picture

So my spare room is now a room full of small tanks all set up ready - all i can do now is wait and cross my fingers.

Well i think that everything to date will keep you all posted about SH and possible babies I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited

so TTFN

Kelwoo.

 

[ben1987]

wow thats very exiting! that would be awesom to see some tiny SH's