Dawn's 56g memorial seahorse tank!

vlangel · Jan 25, 2017

cody2cannon said:
Lol they are not for me then....[emoji26] not right now anyway

Someday they might be nice and a better fit for your lifestyle.

vlangel · Jan 25, 2017

This is Ruth playing in the highest flow my tank has. Its deflected off the front glass but its from my tunze nanostream which is set at full flow, about 1500gph. She does this everyday just for fun.

That tells me that seahorses can not only tolerate high flow but at times they actually enjoy and choose to be in it.

Of course Eve in this photo is hitched up high where the flow is slow. However she can often be found directly in front of the rio powerhead hitched to the rock. Seahorses should be given differing flow strengths so they have a choice for whatever mood they are in.

Lionfish Lair · Jan 25, 2017

Ours would go flow surfing every day. It's probably a way to clear debris from themselves, but whatever the reason they seem to "enjoy it". They would each take turns sitting on a bubbler of sorts and looked like they were getting their brains knocked out. I don't subscribe to the low flow tank like I did 20 years ago and agree they need ordinary tanks with areas of higher flow and lower flow. They definitely go looking for it.

melypr1985 · Jan 25, 2017

You guys make me want a seahorse. I'll tell ya it's not going to happen any time soon, but it may in the future.

vlangel · Jan 25, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
Ours would go flow surfing every day. It's probably a way to clear debris from themselves, but whatever the reason they seem to "enjoy it". They would each take turns sitting on a bubbler of sorts and looked like they were getting their brains knocked out. I don't subscribe to the low flow tank like I did 20 years ago and agree they need ordinary tanks with areas of higher flow and lower flow. They definitely go looking for it.

I have wondered if that was the reason myself. Ruth being white in places shows me just how much algae grows on a seahorse, (its hard to see on Eve because she and the algae are the same color). Maybe the high flow helps blow off some of that?

vlangel · Jan 25, 2017

melypr1985 said:
You guys make me want a seahorse. I'll tell ya it's not going to happen any time soon, but it may in the future.

You probably should be careful...reading seahorse threads is what hooked me in, ha ha!

vlangel · Jan 26, 2017

I saw something terrible today. KB, my royal gramma who has always been a model citizen snapped at Eve today! It wasn't even over food. I have had him probably 4 years and he has never been a problem but I can't risk him hurting or stressing out the ponies.

Getting him out will not be easy! I will have to think on that a bit.

vlangel · Jan 26, 2017

KB is in the feeder shrimp tank. I got (2) 5 gallon buckets and removed all the coral, small rocks so that everything loose was in one of the 2 buckets. I moved the ponies in 1 of the buckets and put a battery back up aerator on it. Only the 2 large rock structures were left in the tank with KB. Eventually I wore him down and trapped him.

I have offered him to my son and if he doesn't want him a local reefer will give him a good home.

melypr1985 · Jan 26, 2017

vlangel said:
KB is in the feeder shrimp tank. I got (2) 5 gallon buckets and removed all the coral, small rocks so that everything loose was in one of the 2 buckets. I moved the ponies in 1 of the buckets and put a battery back up aerator on it. Only the 2 large rock structures were left in the tank with KB. Eventually I wore him down and trapped him.

I have offered him to my son and if he doesn't want him a local reefer will give him a good home.

Oh boy! I bet that was a bit of a task. Glad you got him out though

vlangel · Jan 27, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Oh boy! I bet that was a bit of a task. Glad you got him out though

It was not near as bad with a bb tank because nothing got stirred up when I moved or removed rock. KB was fast but I learned when I worked at a lfs that they all eventually wear out so I just gently wore him down til I could swoop underneath him and snag him. I am glad this is taken care of before I went away for 2 weeks.

vlangel · Feb 3, 2017

I have been at my son's all week. KB settled in nicely and acts like he has lived in my son's tank his whole life. He is a nice addition to the tank.

Back on the homefront my hubby tells me that the ponies are ravenous, which is a good sign. Last night was Dave's first solo water change. Since I did not get any frantic phone calls, I am gonna assume no news is good news.

vlangel · Feb 8, 2017

It sounds like my ponies are doing well under my husband's care. He is going to be a pro by the time I get back on Monday! I wonder if Ruth has grown while I have been gone? And I bet my fuge is a jungle!

Lionfish Lair · Feb 8, 2017

vlangel said:
I saw something terrible today. KB, my royal gramma who has always been a model citizen snapped at Eve today! It wasn't even over food. I have had him probably 4 years and he has never been a problem but I can't risk him hurting or stressing out the ponies.

Getting him out will not be easy! I will have to think on that a bit.

Oh wow. That's a shame!

vlangel · Feb 8, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
Oh wow. That's a shame!

Yes, I was disappointed about having to remove him but I am glad I saw the aggression before I left for SC for 2 weeks.
KB is doing fine in my son's tank and he is a nice addition to it.

vlangel · Feb 17, 2017

I am back home and I see that Dave took excellant care of the ponies in my absence. Ruth has grown while I was away which was cool to see.

vlangel · Feb 17, 2017

I will try to get some new pics soon.

melypr1985 · Feb 17, 2017

That's excellent news. I'm glad he was able to handle it on his own. My husband does ok when I'm not there, but I still get nervous and bug him about it. lol

vlangel · Feb 19, 2017

I cropped this so its a bit blurry but it shows how Ruth is growing. She is still smaller than Eve but she no longer looks like a pip-squeak!

vlangel · Feb 20, 2017

I had a birthday last Friday and Dave wants to get me 2 more ponies, which I am excited about. I will need to wait until April though because we have a few trips coming up and I don't want to leave newly acquired seahorses in someone else's care.

Should I get a pair or 2 females? I love watching them court but males definitely seem more fragile than females. I am not interested in raising fry so I am leaning toward 2 females. There is always the chance that I may get young ones and one turns out to be a male anyway.