Dawn's 56g memorial seahorse tank!

[vlangel]

I was away this weekend and came home to a fishy smell in the livingroom. The tank looked ok but I could not locate Eve, plus Ruth was pale. I was beginning to panic but then realized that it was my feeder shrimp tank that was making the smell. Something bad happened there but I found Eve and the ponies are fine.

 

[melypr1985]

Oh wow! I bet your heart was racing for a bit there. I know mine would be! Did you find out why Ruth was pale? Just one of those things?

 

[vlangel]

Oh wow! I bet your heart was racing for a bit there. I know mine would be! Did you find out why Ruth was pale? Just one of those things?

Yes, my heart was racing. I think Ruth was pale because she had not eaten and we weren't around walking past the tank like usual. As soon as she saw me put the feeding tube in she colored up right away.

 

[vlangel]

I am trying to get everything ready for Dave to care for the ponies while I am gone for 2 weeks. I will make 2 brute cans of water, have maybe 3 five gallon buckets of ro/di made for topping off, more feeder shrimp ordered and plenty of food.

 

[vlangel]

I was syphoning out detritus and moving some rock and coral...in the process I displaced a tiny bristle worm. I was about to suck it up when Ruth swooped in and tried to snick it. She learned (I hope) not to mess with bristle worms anymore! Big ones can be dangerous to a seahorse. My tank has very few but its nearly impossible to eradicate them all, especially when I allow them to live in the fuge.

 

[melypr1985]

I was syphoning out detritus and moving some rock and coral...in the process I displaced a tiny bristle worm. I was about to suck it up when Ruth swooped in and tried to snick it. She learned (I hope) not to mess with bristle worms anymore! Big ones can be dangerous to a seahorse. My tank has very few but its nearly impossible to eradicate them all, especially when I allow them to live in the fuge.

Oh man. Gross! It's kinda like when I hope my dog learned a valuable lesson not to eat plastic, wood, poo, diapers, pretty much everything that might kill her. Hopefully Ruth is smarter than my dog Sadie (I bet she is). She just keeps on doing it despite the vet bills

 

[vlangel]

Oh man. Gross! It's kinda like when I hope my dog learned a valuable lesson not to eat plastic, wood, poo, diapers, pretty much everything that might kill her. Hopefully Ruth is smarter than my dog Sadie (I bet she is). She just keeps on doing it despite the vet bills

O dear, that sounds very expensive! Hopefully Sadie outgrows eating foreign objects.

 

[ReefWeeds]

I found you, Dawn

 

[Chrisfish]

I hope all goes well while your gone, I know that feeling many of us have when we leave our sea creatures for periods of time. Keep us posted.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I've seen 2 bristleworm deaths over the years. :-(

 

[vlangel]

I found you, Dawn

Hey Rachel, you are here too!

 

[cody2cannon]

Are they hard to keep? And do they require low flow tanks??

 

[vlangel]

I hope all goes well while your gone, I know that feeling many of us have when we leave our sea creatures for periods of time. Keep us posted.

The good thing is Dave is my husband so the tank will be observed more than just once a day. He can call me and he and I will work through any issues together.

 

[vlangel]

I hope all goes well while your gone, I know that feeling many of us have when we leave our sea creatures for periods of time. Keep us posted.

The good thing is Dave is my husband so the tank will be observed more

I've seen 2 bristleworm deaths over the years. :-(

Ah that is sad. Ruth looks fine this morning so I feel pretty good that she wont have a problem from this episode.

 

[ReefWeeds]

Hey Rachel, you are here too!

I am!!! I'm not as active here, but am learning how to navigate things finally

 

[vlangel]

Are they hard to keep? And do they require low flow tanks??

I wont say that seahorses are hard but they do have special requirements that MUST be met to be successful with them. I will say that their husbandry must be topnotch also.
They do not require low flow and in fact actually they do best in tanks with high, medium and low flow areas that they can choose to hitch in. My tank is 20Xs turnover.

 

[cody2cannon]

What special needs would you say? Feeding?

 

[vlangel]

Feeding is one special need. They only eat crusteceans and in a tank they need to eat 2 - 3 Xs a day. Captive bred seahorses will eat frozen mysis but most wild caught will only eat live.

Guarding against bacterial infections is the next big need. There are no aquarium test kits to measure bacteria, so there is no easy way for the aquarist to know how much bacteria is in their tank and whether they are good or bad bacteria. That means that tank husbandry like detritus removal and filter socks/pads cleaning must be every 3 days. Also 20 - 30% WCs per week is not excessive for seahorses. And maintaining a temperature below 75° also helps control bacteria.

 

[cody2cannon]

Feeding is one special need. They only eat crusteceans and in a tank they need to eat 2 - 3 Xs a day. Captive bred seahorses will eat frozen mysis but most wild caught will only eat live.

Guarding against bacterial infections is the next big need. There are no aquarium test kits to measure bacteria, so there is no easy way for the aquarist to know how much bacteria is in their tank and whether they are good or bad bacteria. That means that tank husbandry like detritus removal and filter socks/pads cleaning must be every 3 days. Also 20 - 30% WCs per week is not excessive for seahorses. And maintaining a temperature below 75° also helps control bacteria.

Lol they are not for me then....[emoji26] not right now anyway

 

[vlangel]

I am!!! I'm not as active here, but am learning how to navigate things finally

Yeah, I always have liked R2R but it is not as tablet friendly.