ughhhh I have some work to do!
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vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I do not think diatoms will hurt your ponies. They just annoy us as they detract from the tank's beauty. I can't remember but if your hitching plants are plastic you can dip them in a solution of bleach water and rinse until you cannot smell bleach anymore. Also bleach evaporates and leaves no residue so you can leave plant to air dry after rinsing. Then you know the bleach is gone. Its very toxic but it cleans diatoms and algae very well and rinses off without leaving a residue.
Awesome find and really interesting story! That seahorse is now living in royalty.
I'm wondering though where you heard about the conservative status of the dwarf seahorse? :/
You should also look into breeding them if you're up for it! I think the dwarf species are not particularly difficult to rear.
I'm wondering though where you heard about the conservative status of the dwarf seahorse? :/
You should also look into breeding them if you're up for it! I think the dwarf species are not particularly difficult to rear.
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jaws789832
Active Member
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/fish/dwarf_seahorse/index.html
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2012/dwarf-seahorse-05-03-2012.html
Those were just some of the links that I read that are saying they are possibly going endangered. As far as I can tell though they haven't been put on the list yet and some of the more reputable dealers who aren't selling them anymore said it was because they aren't profitable, not because of the list. They stated that their numbers are rebounding and that they probably won't make the list unless another disaster happens in the Gulf. That's why I decided to go ahead with this project.
heheh as far as breeding I might not have much of a choice, lol. One male is already pregnant, and all of the males (I have 4 known males atm) are doing their little shimmy whenever they get close to a female. Its awesome to watch. I have already been thinking I might need to step up to a 10 gallon. This 5 gallon worked way beyond my expectaions, so I would probably just try to mimick it but use a 10 gallon instead. So far I am able to keep up with the brine hatching with lots to spare, all of the ponies seem to be growing really well and my auto feeder is working superbly. My only dilemma is, if I ever want to go on vacation for more than 3 days I am going to have to teach and pay someone to hatch and feed the brine, because the feeder only lasts max 3 days before it must be filled.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2012/dwarf-seahorse-05-03-2012.html
Those were just some of the links that I read that are saying they are possibly going endangered. As far as I can tell though they haven't been put on the list yet and some of the more reputable dealers who aren't selling them anymore said it was because they aren't profitable, not because of the list. They stated that their numbers are rebounding and that they probably won't make the list unless another disaster happens in the Gulf. That's why I decided to go ahead with this project.
heheh as far as breeding I might not have much of a choice, lol. One male is already pregnant, and all of the males (I have 4 known males atm) are doing their little shimmy whenever they get close to a female. Its awesome to watch. I have already been thinking I might need to step up to a 10 gallon. This 5 gallon worked way beyond my expectaions, so I would probably just try to mimick it but use a 10 gallon instead. So far I am able to keep up with the brine hatching with lots to spare, all of the ponies seem to be growing really well and my auto feeder is working superbly. My only dilemma is, if I ever want to go on vacation for more than 3 days I am going to have to teach and pay someone to hatch and feed the brine, because the feeder only lasts max 3 days before it must be filled.
OP
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jaws789832
Active Member
For those of you who might want to know, I thought I would give a little insight on my feeding and husbandry regimen. Dwarf seahorses are definatly high maintenance and take a bit of time to care for. Between my 120 gallon reef tank, and this little 5 gallon seahorse tank, I spend about an hour a day just on feeding and maintain the food.
This is my three stage brine shrimp hatchery system. The one on the left contains hatched brine shrimp that are being enriched with Dan's feed with probiotics. The middle one contains hatching or newly hatched brine. and the one on the right contains fresh saltwater that is being oxygenated. The system is set up on a rotating basis. Every day around 5pm I sieve the enrichment vessel and the newly hatched through a 120 sieve and transfer them into the fresh saltwater vessel. I then add the dan's feed to this (which I blend up using a magic bullet). I wash and clean the 2 dirty vessels, and refill them with saltwater. to the middle one I add 1/2 teaspoon of decapped brine shrimp and the other one I let bubble to reset everything to the beginning.
At 8 AM the next morning, I turn off the bubbles on the enrichment vessel, give it a few minutes to let the brine swim to the top, then net out the enriched live baby brine, rinse them in some RO/DI water, and place them into the feeding vessel next to the seahorse tank. I also put about 5ml of phyto (ocean magic) in the vessel so the brine have something to munch on in the vessel.
Then with a program through my apex, a pump kicks on at 11AM, 4pm and 9pm, Causing the feeding vessel to overflow into the seahorse tank and thus feeding the seahorses 3 times a day. I was doing it 4 times a day but it seemed a bit much. Durring those time the apex also kicks off the skimmer and filter for about 20 minutes allowing the seahorses to eat freely without the brine being sucked into the filter side. Then the filter and skimmer kicks back on, cleaning up the mess, usually there is brine swimming for about 2 hours on the seahorse side, before the filter gets them all.. I then rinse and repeat this every day, and it seems to be working great so far. Since I am a fireman I work for 48 hours straight. The night before I go to work I fill up the 2 right vessels with saltwater and let them bubble overnight. In the morning before work I scoop out a generous amount from the enrichment vessel and put in the feeding vessel, and add 1/2 teaspoon of the decapped eggs to both the other vessels. I do this in case one of them crashes while I am at work I will have a backup. My worry is when I get home from work having enough brine alive to be able to feed, because I won't have any fresh brine for about 20 hours after arriving home. So far there has been plenty of brine alive when I get home and it hasn't been an issue.
Now for the tedious and nerve wracking part. For husbandry I do a 40% water change every 6 days, the day before I go to work. I know it sounds like a lot but in a 5 gallon tank its only 2 gallons. The hard part is getting everything perfect. I triple check salinities and temp before doing the water change. Doing a 10% in my 120 DT, heck if the salinity is off a little or the temp is a few degrees higher of lower, it won't change a thing in the DT due to the volume of water, but on this little guy even a 1 degree temp difference causes a pretty big spike. Temperature is the hardest part. I keep the seahorse tank at 75 degrees + or - .5 degrees using a heater and a fan hooked up to the apex. In the summer around here the fresh saltwater hangs around 80 degrees so I always need to cool it down which I do using icepacks in double baggies. Its a pain because if I am not checking the temp every few minutes I will overshoot the target temp then I have to heat it back up. I first take that little syphon brush I have and just brush the whole tank off to get the debris free floating and let the filter and skimmer suck as much of it up as possible. I let it settle a little bit then start a syphon and Suck the as much of the debris out as I can through the filter sock. I then pour this water back into the tank. I do this because with 2 gallons I am not able to get all the dirt and debris out and it gives me one more suction out. I once again let it settle a bit and then do it again, once again through the filter sock. I set this water aside and refill with fresh saltwater. I then take the filter media out of the filter, rinse it in the old socked saltwater, replace the little bag of carbon I run in the filter, rinse the skimmer cup and put it all back together. Usually my temp does not change at all and I maintain a salinity of 1.024. On the day I get home from work I empty and clean the feeding vessel (there isn't too many brine in there at this point), refill and restock with brine and get ready to do it all over again. Its funny because the ponies seem to be getting used to this system and when the see the little scrub brush enter the tank they just swim in a circle around the tank, always staying on the opposite side from where the brush is. Before I start I find the baby of the group (which can be quite challenging sometimes) as she is the one I worry about sucking up and not noticing.. Its probably going to get real interesting when I have a slew of babies but I will deal with that when the time comes.
The tank sits next to a window and I allow indirect light in from sunup to sundown, and my little aquamax nemo light provides artificial lighting from 2pm to 10pm. I also added the oxydator mini and it seems since doing that the diatom bloom is going away and that the horses are much more active, so I am wondering if I was a little O2 deficient before. It also could have been a PH problem (high in CO2 and low O2, which I don't check because I figure with the amount of water changes there isn't really much I could do about it). Once a month I give them a treat by adding Apocalypse Pods from algae barn which I was hopping would start a colony on the filter side but I think they all get eaten up too fast. I buy pods and phyto once a month for my DT to keep my mandys fat and happy so I just get an extra bag to add to this tank sort of as a treat.
Anyways, if you have any questions or suggestions feel free to hit me up. I don't think I can do much more but anything to make it easier is always welcome. As you can see this definatly isn't for a hands off aquarist and it takes a bit of time and effort.
This is my three stage brine shrimp hatchery system. The one on the left contains hatched brine shrimp that are being enriched with Dan's feed with probiotics. The middle one contains hatching or newly hatched brine. and the one on the right contains fresh saltwater that is being oxygenated. The system is set up on a rotating basis. Every day around 5pm I sieve the enrichment vessel and the newly hatched through a 120 sieve and transfer them into the fresh saltwater vessel. I then add the dan's feed to this (which I blend up using a magic bullet). I wash and clean the 2 dirty vessels, and refill them with saltwater. to the middle one I add 1/2 teaspoon of decapped brine shrimp and the other one I let bubble to reset everything to the beginning.
At 8 AM the next morning, I turn off the bubbles on the enrichment vessel, give it a few minutes to let the brine swim to the top, then net out the enriched live baby brine, rinse them in some RO/DI water, and place them into the feeding vessel next to the seahorse tank. I also put about 5ml of phyto (ocean magic) in the vessel so the brine have something to munch on in the vessel.
Then with a program through my apex, a pump kicks on at 11AM, 4pm and 9pm, Causing the feeding vessel to overflow into the seahorse tank and thus feeding the seahorses 3 times a day. I was doing it 4 times a day but it seemed a bit much. Durring those time the apex also kicks off the skimmer and filter for about 20 minutes allowing the seahorses to eat freely without the brine being sucked into the filter side. Then the filter and skimmer kicks back on, cleaning up the mess, usually there is brine swimming for about 2 hours on the seahorse side, before the filter gets them all.. I then rinse and repeat this every day, and it seems to be working great so far. Since I am a fireman I work for 48 hours straight. The night before I go to work I fill up the 2 right vessels with saltwater and let them bubble overnight. In the morning before work I scoop out a generous amount from the enrichment vessel and put in the feeding vessel, and add 1/2 teaspoon of the decapped eggs to both the other vessels. I do this in case one of them crashes while I am at work I will have a backup. My worry is when I get home from work having enough brine alive to be able to feed, because I won't have any fresh brine for about 20 hours after arriving home. So far there has been plenty of brine alive when I get home and it hasn't been an issue.
Now for the tedious and nerve wracking part. For husbandry I do a 40% water change every 6 days, the day before I go to work. I know it sounds like a lot but in a 5 gallon tank its only 2 gallons. The hard part is getting everything perfect. I triple check salinities and temp before doing the water change. Doing a 10% in my 120 DT, heck if the salinity is off a little or the temp is a few degrees higher of lower, it won't change a thing in the DT due to the volume of water, but on this little guy even a 1 degree temp difference causes a pretty big spike. Temperature is the hardest part. I keep the seahorse tank at 75 degrees + or - .5 degrees using a heater and a fan hooked up to the apex. In the summer around here the fresh saltwater hangs around 80 degrees so I always need to cool it down which I do using icepacks in double baggies. Its a pain because if I am not checking the temp every few minutes I will overshoot the target temp then I have to heat it back up. I first take that little syphon brush I have and just brush the whole tank off to get the debris free floating and let the filter and skimmer suck as much of it up as possible. I let it settle a little bit then start a syphon and Suck the as much of the debris out as I can through the filter sock. I then pour this water back into the tank. I do this because with 2 gallons I am not able to get all the dirt and debris out and it gives me one more suction out. I once again let it settle a bit and then do it again, once again through the filter sock. I set this water aside and refill with fresh saltwater. I then take the filter media out of the filter, rinse it in the old socked saltwater, replace the little bag of carbon I run in the filter, rinse the skimmer cup and put it all back together. Usually my temp does not change at all and I maintain a salinity of 1.024. On the day I get home from work I empty and clean the feeding vessel (there isn't too many brine in there at this point), refill and restock with brine and get ready to do it all over again. Its funny because the ponies seem to be getting used to this system and when the see the little scrub brush enter the tank they just swim in a circle around the tank, always staying on the opposite side from where the brush is. Before I start I find the baby of the group (which can be quite challenging sometimes) as she is the one I worry about sucking up and not noticing.. Its probably going to get real interesting when I have a slew of babies but I will deal with that when the time comes.
The tank sits next to a window and I allow indirect light in from sunup to sundown, and my little aquamax nemo light provides artificial lighting from 2pm to 10pm. I also added the oxydator mini and it seems since doing that the diatom bloom is going away and that the horses are much more active, so I am wondering if I was a little O2 deficient before. It also could have been a PH problem (high in CO2 and low O2, which I don't check because I figure with the amount of water changes there isn't really much I could do about it). Once a month I give them a treat by adding Apocalypse Pods from algae barn which I was hopping would start a colony on the filter side but I think they all get eaten up too fast. I buy pods and phyto once a month for my DT to keep my mandys fat and happy so I just get an extra bag to add to this tank sort of as a treat.
Anyways, if you have any questions or suggestions feel free to hit me up. I don't think I can do much more but anything to make it easier is always welcome. As you can see this definatly isn't for a hands off aquarist and it takes a bit of time and effort.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Thank you for sharing in such detail how you care for your little DSHs. All seahorses are a bit high maintenance but the dwarfs top them all, which is why I have not ventured into them yet.
I have read threads from other DSH keepers and some of them keep newly hatched bbs in the fridge a couple of days. The cooler temps keep them from metabolizing as fast so they keep their egg sac longer. That might be another way to have a reserve of food when you come home from work. They are not as nutritious but perhaps are better than nothing.
I do think your set up is ingenious, especially given your work schedule. If I ever do DSHs I am going to mimic your tank set up because its the best I have seen thus far.
Did you get your companion DSHs from Seahorse Source? Dan is a great resource if you ever have questions.
I have read threads from other DSH keepers and some of them keep newly hatched bbs in the fridge a couple of days. The cooler temps keep them from metabolizing as fast so they keep their egg sac longer. That might be another way to have a reserve of food when you come home from work. They are not as nutritious but perhaps are better than nothing.
I do think your set up is ingenious, especially given your work schedule. If I ever do DSHs I am going to mimic your tank set up because its the best I have seen thus far.
Did you get your companion DSHs from Seahorse Source? Dan is a great resource if you ever have questions.
How you had any major problems with temperature fluctuations before? I mean because usually a few degrees of temperature swing during the day is not cause for concern. At least that's what I understand. My tank swings at least a degree or two.
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jaws789832
Active Member
Yeah during the day in a gradual change up and down it is probably no problem but I would assume if the temp went from 75 to 80 as it would from a sudden water change that it would cause some stress for the ponies. I might be wrong though and it might not be an issue. I try to keep all my tanks within 1 degree at all times though. I was always taught that stability is the key to any thriving marine aquaria
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
If I use bleach for any cleaning, I follow up by dipping in Prime. It removes chlorine. Followed by drying out completely. Have you ever tried that method?
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Amazing set up and description of their care!
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I never have used prime but that would be a good extra precaution. I used to service accounts for a pet store that I worked for. I did their fish tank maintenance for about 5 years. Back then most of the tanks were fowlr systems with bleached coral skeletons so I got very good at rinsing everything really well and I never had a problem.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I agree that most marine life does best if things are kept as stable as possible. A 5° change is more than I would be comfortable with, especially since dwarf seahorses are so small. I think you are doing the right thing.
What kind of heater do you have? My tank room is in the lower 70s, usually 70-71 and my seahorse tank is always below 75. But I still get like 2-3 degrees fluctuations with my 150w heater in the sump of my 40B. It's a digital one too.
Keep in mind though that in the wild seahorses are usually found in shallow areas and the temperature difference there between night and sunny day can be a good amount.
Keep in mind though that in the wild seahorses are usually found in shallow areas and the temperature difference there between night and sunny day can be a good amount.
OP
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jaws789832
Active Member
I use the 25 watt cobalt easy therm. I do have everything hooked up to the apex. The apex is what runs all my systems so all I needed for this tank was an energy bar. The heater kicks on at 75.5 and off at 76 degrees and a little fan I have over the tank kicks on at 76.5 and off at 76 degrees. as you can see, since its summer its mostly the fan kicking on except at night a few times the heater had to kick on
want2bsleepy
Active Member
What a great thread!!! I love it! Keep the photos coming!
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jaws789832
Active Member
Well I must be doing something right. All the ponies are still alive and I even have a new addition with more on the way. Seabiscuit is still doing great and almost as big as the other mares now. Still hairier (weedier? has more hair like apendages coming off of her) than the others but seems to be getting along fine. The tank is looking good but is pretty high maintenance. It gets pretty dirty in a weeks time so I have to stay on top of the water changes. Heres a picture of the newest member. Goldilocks (the bigger horse in the picture) is less than an inch long and is one of the smaller mares I have (just to give you a size reference). Poppa (not in the picture) still looks like he is going to burst so I am expecting more any day.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I am happy to hear that your tiny ponies are doing so well. And I love the name you chose for your original. Seabiscuit was a racehorse with heart so it seems fitting.
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Awesome!!!!
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
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