Dawn's 56g memorial seahorse tank!

[bobman]

Hope she comes out just fine

 

[vlangel]

Hope she comes out just fine

Me too. Today I added triple sulfa.

 

[melypr1985]

Oh I'm sorry to hear about Ruth! I hope she heals up well for you! I had a thought about this, though I saw your awesome innovation and my idea probably isn't as good as what you came up with.

At present, with the 4 ponies, they tend to get in the food bowl like a hot tub and then swish mysis everywhere with their tails. I am trying to come up with better hitches for them

I thought, why not drill a few holes around the sides of the dish and run some acrylic tubing or even straight pieces of plastic hanger through them... kinda like a bird perch but underwater. Yours ended up much cooler than my idea, but figured I would put it out there in case you needed a back-up plan.

 

[vlangel]

Oh I'm sorry to hear about Ruth! I hope she heals up well for you! I had a thought about this, though I saw your awesome innovation and my idea probably isn't as good as what you came up with.


I thought, why not drill a few holes around the sides of the dish and run some acrylic tubing or even straight pieces of plastic hanger through them... kinda like a bird perch but underwater. Yours ended up much cooler than my idea, but figured I would put it out there in case you needed a back-up plan.

Thanks Meredith. Ruth is tricky because her coloring can make a skin ulcer blend in. I am still not sure that her neck is an ulcer but I decided to play it safe. She is a bit depressed being segregated from her buddies but she is eating pretty good so hopefully all goes well and in 10 days she is back with her friends.

Your food bowl idea is a good one. I did want to get it off the floor if possible too and that has been working real well.

 

[vlangel]

Ruth does not seem to be responding to the triple sulfa which is worrisome. It does not look like it is advancing at least and she is still eating. I will try erythomyicin or tetracycline if the triple sulfa does not work.

In the good news side of things the DT and other ponies are doing quite well. This morning I took advantage of having what I term a modular reef and dismantled a lot of coral colonies into a 5 gallon bucket with tank water. The purpose was so I could syphon out trapped detritus and bubble algae. Since emerald snails are not seahorse safe, I just periodically manually remove bubble algae by sucking it out with a syphon hose. I can also scrub any coral colonies with a toothbrush if I see some hair algae starting. While I had many of the coral out I tweaked the 2 big rocks to change the scape slightly. Now I have a little room on the right to have some zoas or acans for color.

 

[vlangel]

Here is a June FTS.

 

[vlangel]

All the ponies were hiding except Eve, so here she is.

 

[melypr1985]

I like the new scape. Great job!

 

[vlangel]

I like the new scape. Great job!

Thanks Meredith!

 

[vlangel]

This is kind of a neat angle of the tank.

 

[vlangel]

My cute little Delilah in all her frills!

 

[vlangel]

Ruth finishes her treatment of triple sulfa tomorrow. She hunted down pods again today. She sure is not acting sick. Actually she never has and maybe she never was sick. I am trying to decide whether to return her to the DT or treat her with a different antibiotic. I guess I will decide tomorrow.

 

[vlangel]

Ruth finishes her treatment of triple sulfa tomorrow. She hunted down pods again today. She sure is not acting sick. Actually she never has and maybe she never was sick. I am trying to decide whether to return her to the DT or treat her with a different antibiotic. I guess I will decide tomorrow.

Turns out this morning that I saw improvement on one of the places on her back. That tells me that healing is taking place and that I was right to treat her. I should continue the treatment for another round since it is working. I am finally feeling more optimistic about her chances of recovery.

I also overhauled the amphipod culture yesterday. It was full of slimy dinos. I washed all the rock off in saltwater and shook out the cheato and moved both into a bucket with clean saltwater. Then cup by cup I removed water from the 5 gallon pod culture, scutinizing each one for pods. When I finished I put some pods in the fuge of the DT, some in for Ruth and saved some for the freshly cleaned 5 gallon culture tank. I returned the rock and cheato into it and I am sure they had pods too. I am pretty amazed how easy it is to culture amphipods considering how neglectful I am of that tank. I do a small WC maybe once a month and drop a shrimp pellet in occasionally. And when it is a mess, I overhaul it. It is an easy cheap source of food for the ponies.

 

[vlangel]

Ruth continues to improve and now I can see that she is growing new skin over the affected area. Most of her ulcerated areas have a thin layer of new skin.

She gets a 50% WC every day plus a fresh dose of triple sulfa. I am hoping she is totally healed by the 24th because we have a family vacation. I hate for my sister to have the added care for Ruth.

 

[Congaken]

That's really cool!

Hi, Rev...trying to get an answer as to the minimum size tank for the minimum # of seahorses...also, if I get dwarfs, can they subsist on copepods...grown right in there tank...planning to put the tank into my Hindu shrine...a picture of which is in the Do it yourself forum...regards...Ken

 

[Congaken]

Hi, my name is Dawn and I had been keeping a pair of erectus seahorses. Unfortunately a poor decision on my part caused my stallion Adam, to get popeye and die.

That got me thinking that a bare bottom tank would be less maintenance and probably healthier for the ponies. The problem is I do not like the looks of bare bottom tanks. I pondered the possibility of overhauling my tank and painting the bottom. That would be so labor intensive however, that I decided to see if it was feasible to consider a new tank. When I found that a 56 gallon column tank is 30" long and a similar footprint as my current tank, I got very excited. I can continue to use my light, hob overflow and other equipment. With an additional 20 gallons I cam keep 4 ponies. If I paint the bottom to simulate sand and I paint the back wall a lighter color the ponies will more likely sport lighter colors, like yellows, whites and maybe even orange-ish.

I did not have to think about it too long and have decided to go for it. I will keep you all updated on my progress.

THE BACK OF MY TANK IS BLACK PLASTIC...ANY PAINT THAT WOULD BE SAFE TO PAINT INSIDE THE TANK...?;Pompus

 

[vlangel]

THE BACK OF MY TANK IS BLACK PLASTIC...ANY PAINT THAT WOULD BE SAFE TO PAINT INSIDE THE TANK...?;Pompus

I have always been afraid to paint the inside of the tank due to something toxic leaching out.

 

[vlangel]

I have been on vacation but my sister says the ponies are doing fine. Tomorrow I will be back home and am anxious to see the herd.

 

[vlangel]

Well I have been home since the weekend and the ponies were all in good shape when I got back. However in the last 2 days I don't like how Ruth, who is in HT is progressing. She is not as alert or as interested in eating, even when I added amphipods. I am wondering if being on triple sulfa for almost a month and a half is having side effect. For that reason I am discontinueing the antibiotic and just going to keep her in clean saltwater. It will be up to her now to get better.

 

[want2bsleepy]

Well I have been home since the weekend and the ponies were all in good shape when I got back. However in the last 2 days I don't like how Ruth, who is in HT is progressing. She is not as alert or as interested in eating, even when I added amphipods. I am wondering if being on triple sulfa for almost a month and a half is having side effect. For that reason I am discontinueing the antibiotic and just going to keep her in clean saltwater. It will be up to her now to get better.

I hope she does!