Connor's Seahorse Journal

[chrissaysyes]

I may have missed it but you are doing dwarf sea horses in this tank, correct? It will not be large enough to comfortably sustain any larger species. Just wanted to make sure you knew that. Also be prepared and efficient in hatching/seperating/raising brine shrimp as they'll be the primary food source for the DSH. Eventually it may be possible to ween them off of live foods but nothing beats some vitamin enriched brine

And 20 gal is the recomended minimum by experienced keepers etc, and i have a 19 Us gal...? 29 gal being preferable though.
Anyways, if they get too big, which i doubt, i will upgrade

Oh BTW, what is the preferred temperature of SHs? IS it around 23 degrees celcius?

The preferred temp varies from species to species, as does the tank requirement. Also, when people use smaller aquariums (i.e. 29g) theyre using taller variations of that size. The height of the tank is whats important as sea horses are laterally oriented animals. Some may do alright for sometime, but it doesnt take long for a pair to turn into much more than that. I saw someone mentioning fry so I hope you're not planning on raising more in there. It may be best to just go with like a single Kuda and then some not so fry safe but sea horse safe tank mates like different inverts and such. Sea horses are pretty delicate animals, if they get stressed due to being cramped then it wont take very long at all for them to find some sort of infection. That's why a lot of people who keep them these days dont use live rock/live sand/anything that could possibly contain some random parasite or disease. You say you've been reading for the past year so I'm sure you're aware of all of this, I'd just hate to see you jump in too fast and blow your money on some horses that dont last. They can be some of the most interesting pets.

 

[connorsbala]

Cheers for that Chris
The film on the surface is clear now, just took a couple of hours for the powerheads to get rid of it
And no, not planning on raising fry!!!!!!!!! If thye happenedto breed, id try and give the fry away as i really dont want to get into breeding again!
Did you happen to read this months issue of PFK? Look at p34, in the Ask The Experts Section. Someone asked whether a 50 litre tank (tetra aquaart) is suitable for a pair with CUC and algaes etc; and the reliable Mr Phil Hunt said it is, as long as they're captive breed etc.... Many people have also advised me that this is suitable, and they have said how i should setup the tank etc ie hitching posts. Where i work i have alot of help from my boss.
Thanks for the input Chris, you have been much help!
Ski, as ive said the surface is clear now. By recommending a sump, would this be to put a skimmer in and stuff? i have absolutely no room for a sump

 

[connorsbala]

Here's some pics There'll be abit more LR to come and loadsa Algaes etc

Just a quick question, can i add caulerpra and stuff after the tanks cycled, when i add snails (maybe hermits) or before the tanks cycled? And how do you plant it? With Karen Rose's tank (http/www.karensroseanemones.com/myseahorsetank.htm), would she have planted them in crevices of the rock or in the sand, where it then spread onto the rocks? Any ideas? IS it chaeto she's got in there?

 

[chrissaysyes]

Not trying to nit pick you or anything, Im glad you're doing lots of reading, that's almost always a sure sign for future success. The sump would help with circulating the water and sort of breaking up the surface, a protein skimmer would add a lot toward getting rid of the much that causes the film. With my setup, the water runs down to the sump via a weir box which helps some in clearing the film, then in the sump there is a HOB which serves as a storage for chemical media but also to cause some pretty serious surface agitation. Surface agitation is your best bet with breaking that junk up. It can get pretty serious as messing up the gas exchange can cause all sorts of problems including throwing the pH way off. Keeping your powerheads on the surface is a good way to cause plenty of agitation but if that solution cant be kept up permanently then an empty HOB filter will do the trick as a quick solution, just be careful not to build up too many air bubbles in the tank as I'm sure you know that can potentially lead to disease in the horses.

 

[connorsbala]

Cheers Chris!
Will be doing a water test later today. Does anyone know about the algaes, refering to when i can add them? OH and the tank is 100% clear now

 

[connorsbala]

Hey,
Just bought a little protein skimmer today, does a tank up to 30 gallons so im ok. Its an air driven one with the wood air diffuser, so will see if that makes a difference

 

[connorsbala]

Did a test aswell today:
Ammonia: 0.25-0.50
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-5

 

[connorsbala]

Just another lil update
After having the protein skimmer running for 24 hours, that scum on the surface has 100% gone! Its working well actually, foam rising ad theres a yellow like liquid on the collection cup (like melted butter), which i pressume is the skimmer doing its job
How often do i need to clean the collection cup from that liquid?
Also, i was reading on another site that someone, with a similar sized tank to me is getting 2 females instead of a M&F as he doesnt want the stress of them breeding? Can you do this, or will they become aggressive towards each other?If its ok, i might do that

 

[SkiFletch]

Two female what?

For the skimmer. Clean it out when either you can't see what's going oon in it, or it gets close to full, whichever comes first.

 

[connorsbala]

Two female what?

For the skimmer. Clean it out when either you can't see what's going oon in it, or it gets close to full, whichever comes first.

Cheers for that
2 female seahorses lol

 

[connorsbala]

Just an update!
Have done a water test today:
pH- 8
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate- 5

Everything's going well, added some algae cuttings from the main marine tank to see how they go and theyre doing great

Here's some pics of the tank so far...

Seeing more growth on the sand and the LR with diatoms etc
The reason why the protein skimmer's like that is that it doesnt fit in the hood, so the collection cups peeping out of the feeding hole. Have ordered a nice beech hood, so it should fit in ther fine, where it will then be placed in the back left corner. I added it just so that the scum on the water surface would go...and it has
Will monitor the readings for a few more days, if theres any rises i wont be getting any CUC. If it stays low, will add a few snails But will probs wait till next weekend as my dad may take me out as ill be off work that day
I might leave it a little lopnger as its a real pain gettign this hood off due to the hood and the Protein Skimmer, so may wait till the new hood comes (1-3 weeks), then add a bit more LR, then CUC. What do you think?

 

[SkiFletch]

Lookin good, what kind of decor in there? Macro? Corals? Both?

 

[connorsbala]

Cheers for that
There willl be some xenia fragged from the main marine, various finger corals etc and feather dusters.
Yeah, there'll be red and green grape caulerpra, razor and other types. LR wise, there'll be soem more fiji going in, aswell as a bit more tonga branch to cover the skimmer etc
Anyone recommend and macros etc for SHs?
Will post the results of todays test later too

 

[connorsbala]

Okay,
pH-8.4
Ammo-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-5
SG- constant 1.022
Temp-constant 24 degrees celcius
Adding some red grape caulerpra now , as levels have remained the same for a few days now

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

Too cool! I did not know there were aquatic equine lovers here!

Matt, what species do you have?

Chris, what do you have?


I am on my third generation and completely hooked on syngnathids! The perfect fish, IMO.