Dawn's 30g XH coral Pony corral!

[vlangel]

Thank you so much Chrisfish. I had to learn some things the hard way but fortunately I learned them before my animals suffered. The most important was to have 10Xs or more turnover in my aquarium. When I was running both aquariums from 1 sump I had less than 4Xs and algae build up was a problem. Now its under control and when I consolidated into just 1 tank even I was amazed how good it looked, ha ha!

 

[vlangel]

My tank has been through a rough patch lately. First I began to notice some of my coral were languishing/receding. They were hardy coral like gsp, yellow polyps and clove polyps. I do big WCs, about 21 gallons a week in 56 gallon sysyem but probably only 40-45 gallons of water after displacement and leaving water drainage space in the sump. I used IO but recently changed to Reef Crystals because my macro algae is growing great and sucking up Mg and CA. So, my theory is the water is too clean and stripped of nutrients for those coral. I also run an oversized skimmer 24/7. I am afraid to back off of any of those things because of the seahorses needing good water quality to ward off bacterial infections and gas bubble disease. Even with my strick adherence to maintenance my female is in a hospital tank being treated for a bacterial infection right now. I know all tanks go through ups and downs and its part of the hobby. As aquarist, we just need to keep on keeping on and get through it.

 

[melypr1985]

Sorry to hear of the troubles. I'm sure you'll pull out of it soon. You may end up dosing so you dont have to stop with the macro and major skimming and still keep your corals happy.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Aww no!! Sorry to hear of your troubles!

 

[Eienna]

Try feeding the corals.

 

[vlangel]

Sorry to hear of the troubles. I'm sure you'll pull out of it soon. You may end up dosing so you dont have to stop with the macro and major skimming and still keep your corals happy.

I did switch to Reef Crystals to add more alk, CA and Mag to the water. I kind of think that wont help the coral that are suffering because I think it is a nutrient problem.

 

[vlangel]

Aww no!! Sorry to hear of your troubles!

Thanks Krista. Eve is eating well in the hospital tank and I think the spot is ever so slowly starting to shrink. I treated a week with Furan 2 and now I am on my second round of Triple sulfa. I remember it was about 2 months when I treated Adam so I am optimistic that if I just stay with it she has a good shot at recovering. Its disheartening, especially since I was not lax on maintenance. I do close to 40% WCs per week on the tank and I always wipe all the glass every week. I must have missed something though.

 

[vlangel]

Try feeding the corals.

The problem with feeding the coral is most foods can potentially feed the pathogenic bacteria too. :-(

I have made the decision if a coral can not live with the seahorse conditions, then so be it. The seahorse's needs come first.

 

[vlangel]

Eve's spot is definitely shrinking which is so encouraging. This week the prognosis is better than things were looking a week ago.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

That's good news! How is she doing this week?

 

[vlangel]

That's good news! How is she doing this week?

She is still improving. I did a round of Furan 2 and two rounds of triple sulfa. A user on another forum who is a vet warned me about over using a sulfa so I am now just putting her in clean salt water daily but am not using any antibiotics. I am hoping her own immunity will continue to help her heal. I plan to turn the chiller down 2 more degrees in preparation of returning her to the display tank, 68-70. I am anxious to return her as her mate Adam still seems to be missing her.

 

[vlangel]

Here is a link to a video i took of Eve being reunited with Adam in the display tank. She still has a mark on her but it has been improving. Adam was pining and distracted and has not been eating well in her absence. He is so happy to see her in this video!

 

[Eienna]

That is beyond adorable. Made me cry!!

Beautiful tank you have, too!

 

[vlangel]

That is beyond adorable. Made me cry!!

Beautiful tank you have, too!

Is that crazy that a fish could love its mate so much? I couldn't look away, (which is why this video is so long). Thanks Eienna, i just hope i didn't jump the gun in putting her back in the display. It will really be tragic if she doesn't keep improving.

 

[Eienna]

It's a beautiful thing.

 

[vlangel]

I took another video of the lovers. I will warn you that they are doing a little more than just getting aquainted in this video.

 

[vlangel]

I think Adam is pregnant. His pouch is very full looking and Eve was slimmer and trimmer this morning. I will know for sure in a week and a half or so.

 

[vlangel]

Eve's mark is pretty much healed. I feel like we dodged another bullet. It is always such a relief when the ponies recover from an infection.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I forget, but what are you using for water movement. I can't seem to find a good solution for my 75.

 

[vlangel]

I forget, but what are you using for water movement. I can't seem to find a good solution for my 75.

I am using a Magdrive 9.5 pond pump with 10 feet of head pressure since the sump is in my basement. It has about 410 gph of flow out of the return nozzle but my tank is only a 36 gallon bowfront. Magdrives are sturdy reliable pumps but they do give off some heat. If i were using one in a 75 gallon tank in a cabinet sump i would use a split loc-line at the return(positioned at/near the center of the tank) so you Y off into 2 return nozzles. Then you should get similar flow out of each nozzle that i get and i am pretty satisfied.