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| Thinking about dwarf seahorses | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 2 2008, 03:58:42 PM (271 Views) | |
| Post #1 Aug 2 2008, 03:58:42 PM | Dana |
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Hello all! I have a 14 gallon Oceanic Biocube. It had a possum wrasse, bicolor blenny, and a clownfish in it. However, yesterday some of the fish realized their sexy shrimp neighbors could be food. The possum & the clown have attacked and eaten 2 of the 6. So the fish are coming out, and going into other tanks. I think I read that Amie has sexy shrimp in with her dwarves? Anyway, this tank is already cycled and has rock, sand, soft corals and some purple macro growing in it. It has a Koralia Nano powerhead in it that I could remove, and get some filter sponge to cover the intakes. Other than those issues, would it be possible to have dwarf seahorses in this tank? It does get fairly warm without a heater, but I am planning on upgrading the computer fans I have in the hood. The original plan was to have seahorses when we purchased this tank. But the people over at saltwaterfish.com in the seahorse forum are very negative and made it seem like it was an impossible amount of work. I have a brine shrimp hatching dish from BSD, and am trying to start pod cultures after reading Amie's information on the subject. I currently have a bucket of whatever pods are in my sump, and I will start tiggerpods as soon as I can get a starter... Just wondering what your thoughts are with this, since at least 2 people on this board seem to have dwarves! Thanks in advance. |
breeding stock
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| aka Acrid | |
 
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| Post #2 Aug 2 2008, 04:48:14 PM | Andy |
| i am getting some i don't thing that you should let anything stop you from trying the worst thing that could happen is if they aren't doing well see if Amie or Suzy want them or take them to your lfs you will want to minimize your flow from what i understand is if you minimize it enough your soft corals want do so good but you can try anything there are no definite rules in this hobby and yes Amie has sexy shrimp with hers i am getting some to go with mine |
juvi
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| A.K.A. Sanddune600 | |
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| Post #3 Aug 2 2008, 09:15:28 PM | Amie |
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Sorry to hear that the fish attacked your sexy shrimp. I've never seen sexy shrimp in a tank with any fish so they obviously are extremely fragile. I had 2 small baby banggais in with them for about 2 months, but I don't think that counts. The problem I am finding with the dwarfs is that if they are not getting exactly what they need they just disappear. There's really no time to have someone come get them and take over. So maybe you should only get 2-3 to make sure you are comfortable with them first. I had one die by getting stuck to the heater. Another one got it's tail stuck in a HOB. That's when I realized that they couldn't have any mechanics. Suzy only has an airline in hers, but the water flow comes from a bigger tank. Mine is kind of setup the same way now. I don't have the extra airline, but I probably should add one. I love the sexy shrimp but I started with 5 and I'm down to 2. I lost one during acclimation but I'm not sure what happened to the other 2. I wish I could collect eggs from them so I could at least try and raise them. You can always get a start of tiggerpods from me. Just pm me. |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #4 Aug 3 2008, 06:46:47 AM | Suzy |
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One piece of advice I need to give you to consider about these little fish: Read the "advice" you get on SWF.com with a grain of Instant Ocean. I noticed that there are many people who read the set in stone rules on Seahorse.org and then repeat them to others on other sites. But, they don't even have them! I really am not a fan of the way Seahorse.org states you MUST treat these fish: using sterile water, using dog dewormer to kill any biodiversity, ect. I really try to give my fish as close to their natural environment as I can. I know they will not survive on just BBS. It is lacking in everything they need. Feeding it, even if we enrich it, will not replace what their bodies have evolved into eating for milleniums. But, it is nearly impossible (at this point) to feed them what they would eat in the ocean. I've found the fry too small to eat adult copepods, and it is really hard to have enough pod larvae to feed them. So, mine get both. The pods you have in your sump are too large for these fish. They will actually eat your fry. I would recommend putting a piece of bridal veil in your future dwarf tank to catch them. One more thing to consider: I think you could have a few full sized seahorses in a 12 gallon tank. They eat frozen food and are more active. Just an option...... |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #5 Aug 3 2008, 06:47:45 AM | Suzy |
| Oh, and WELCOME to UBT! It is nice to have another aquatic equestrian! |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #6 Aug 3 2008, 10:39:40 PM | Dana |
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Amie, Anytime you could spare a tigger pod starter culture I'd love to pick them up! So far your pod breeding method is working on the amphipods for my mandarin. The population hasn't really taken off yet, but they haven't died either. So it's good practice, I guess. Did I read on here that you updated your culture write-up? If so, could you email me the new one? I have the one you sent out right before you left the wmas board. Tank wise... My beloved little possum wrasse can't move into my 30g reef because the flame hawk living there was picking on him. So he will have to go back in the nano. So now the options are taking the little shrimps to my husbands tank at work and hope the lil clown there doesn't learn they are food. Or... We could set up a tiny little tank somewhere for the dwarves and shrimps. I would like to do this. We could convert our QT to a large refugium if we could plumb it to the tiny tank above. I don't know how to do this though, so we may go talk to Eric at Marine Aquatics about drilling a tank for us... I don't know. Fish drama is stressful! |
breeding stock
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| aka Acrid | |
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| Post #7 Aug 4 2008, 07:33:34 PM | Amie |
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Dana, I emailed you the updated document. I've got pods if you need them, just pm or email and we can work out a time to meet. Setting up a nano to a large refugium is always a good idea - it provides so much less maintenance for you because the tank is actually larger than it looks. Suzy might be able to help you out with plumbing ideas, she's done a ton of it herself. There's quite a few people her that have done things like that, I think. You might want to just post a drawing or pictures and get some advice. |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #8 Aug 5 2008, 08:52:57 AM | Suzy |
| I would only do a nano if I could have it plumbed to my larger system. Tiny tanks lose a cup of water from evaporation and the salinity goes up 10 ppt! Plus, the temperature issue. These daily fluctuations can be hard on any fish, let alone one of our more delicate species. |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #9 Aug 5 2008, 10:54:57 AM | Amie |
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Wow, 10 ppt, that's a lot, I should pay more attention to my 20 gallon tank with my maroon clownfish in it, I don't know how they stand the salinity changes. Good point - I love refugiums for more reasons that one. |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #10 Aug 8 2008, 05:05:47 PM | Dana |
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Sorry, it's been awhile between posts. So we decided to convert our 15g tall tank into the seahorse tank. This will be plumbed (is that how that's spelled, it seems wrong) into a 20g tank. The 20g will basically be a huge refugium. We will be doing larger sized seahorses. But first it has to cycle. Boo. =( How many horses would you recommend? I hoped to have 4 or 5. Exciting! Even though we now have to wait a week or two. |
breeding stock
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| aka Acrid | |
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