Dwarf Seahorse?
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Lionfish Lair
Renee
That's really weird..... I need to go check my iPad and iPhone to see if there's a response that didn't get sent. I replied, but I'm not seeing it....
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Can't find it!!
A normal salinity is fine. Seahorse tanks are often fish only tanks and people tend to keep FO tanks at lower salinities. I wouldn't. My salt mixes at about .023 and that's what I roll with. If it mixed at 1.024, then that's what I would use.
Adult mysids are a little big for dwarfs, but they are still not without their purpose. They will eat the same food (BBS) as the dwarfs and will clean up the ones that die in the tank. One thing the dwarfs WILL go crazy for, is the nauplii of the mysids. My friend at Seahorsesource said he saw the dwarfs swimming and hunting for the nauplii, verses catching what they can by still being hitched. They are lazy little guys.
There's an important thing to consider when thinking of tank size and that's food density. The amount of food added isn't paired with the number of horses, but food density of the water. So, if you have 1 or a 100 horses, you'll still need the same amount of brine (that's an exaggeration, but you get where I'm going). They have to have a certain number of food items within reach. If the food is too sparse, there won't be enough floating by them. They seem to exert so much effort to do everything to NOT let go and chase food. It's so funny to see them stretch so much. So, you have to maintain the same density of brine for a 40 gallon (for example) as a 5 gallon which means a whole mess of brine for the 40 and a lot to clean up. That's where the mysids become beneficial.
Be careful of large critters in the tanks such as amphipods. We saw a battle with one and a dwarf once upon a time. He never got him, but the dwarf died shortly after due to unknown causes.
Are people using chillers on dwarf tanks now-a-days? I'm about 5 years parted from seahorses, so things may have changed in that time. I would think the chiller would need to be separated from the main part of the tank, as the flow needed to run the chiller properly may be stronger than a dwarf can handle. I'm going to go find a picture of the "chiller" I used on small tanks, such as a 24 gallon and 10g QT tanks.
When I was breeding seahorses, I sectioned off a 10 gallon and had the pump on one side and the horses on the other. The pump had an output tubing that went over the barrier and into the seahorse's side. The good thing was, to remove the brine, I would aim light at the pump and the brine would be attracted to that area, to then be sucked up in the pump and come out in a BBS net at the end of the tube. After 5 minutes of water running through the net, the tank was free of "old" brine.
Have you seen dwarfs in person?
A normal salinity is fine. Seahorse tanks are often fish only tanks and people tend to keep FO tanks at lower salinities. I wouldn't. My salt mixes at about .023 and that's what I roll with. If it mixed at 1.024, then that's what I would use.
Adult mysids are a little big for dwarfs, but they are still not without their purpose. They will eat the same food (BBS) as the dwarfs and will clean up the ones that die in the tank. One thing the dwarfs WILL go crazy for, is the nauplii of the mysids. My friend at Seahorsesource said he saw the dwarfs swimming and hunting for the nauplii, verses catching what they can by still being hitched. They are lazy little guys.
There's an important thing to consider when thinking of tank size and that's food density. The amount of food added isn't paired with the number of horses, but food density of the water. So, if you have 1 or a 100 horses, you'll still need the same amount of brine (that's an exaggeration, but you get where I'm going). They have to have a certain number of food items within reach. If the food is too sparse, there won't be enough floating by them. They seem to exert so much effort to do everything to NOT let go and chase food. It's so funny to see them stretch so much. So, you have to maintain the same density of brine for a 40 gallon (for example) as a 5 gallon which means a whole mess of brine for the 40 and a lot to clean up. That's where the mysids become beneficial.
Be careful of large critters in the tanks such as amphipods. We saw a battle with one and a dwarf once upon a time. He never got him, but the dwarf died shortly after due to unknown causes.
Are people using chillers on dwarf tanks now-a-days? I'm about 5 years parted from seahorses, so things may have changed in that time. I would think the chiller would need to be separated from the main part of the tank, as the flow needed to run the chiller properly may be stronger than a dwarf can handle. I'm going to go find a picture of the "chiller" I used on small tanks, such as a 24 gallon and 10g QT tanks.
When I was breeding seahorses, I sectioned off a 10 gallon and had the pump on one side and the horses on the other. The pump had an output tubing that went over the barrier and into the seahorse's side. The good thing was, to remove the brine, I would aim light at the pump and the brine would be attracted to that area, to then be sucked up in the pump and come out in a BBS net at the end of the tube. After 5 minutes of water running through the net, the tank was free of "old" brine.
Have you seen dwarfs in person?
Last edited:
Lionfish Lair
Renee
This is a QT tank, so it didn't have to be "pretty". That thing on top on the left in a "chiller".
It's an "Iceprobe"
It's an "Iceprobe"
Last edited:
Lionfish Lair
Renee
This was on a 25 gallon tank where it's actually drilled in.
If you look on the very back, you can barely see it...
If you look on the very back, you can barely see it...
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Baby Ray
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Wow!!!!! Thanks for all the information!!!!
I actually hasn't seen them in person but I have seen them in many videos and pictures.
. So would mysid not harm the fry? I just put a thermometer in my room and it is readying high 70's. Is that too high?
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Baby Ray
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Everyone has answered most of these questions but a few are still in answered like-Hey everyone,
I have always LOVED seahorse but I can't afford another 30 gallon tank for a normal sized seahorses so I have been looking into dwarf seahorses. I know you have to feed them enriched bbs 2 times a day but I am planning on feeding enriched bbs to my mandarin through the paul b target feeder so I would already have them. I had a couple questions:
1. How big of water changes a week?
2. How many bbs should I feed peeve serving?
3. I would like a 5 gallon tank but I can't find one I like. I don't want one with a sump because it will be on my desk. Any suggestions?
4. What's a good skimmer that is around $50?
5. What is a good, cheap chiller and heater? Can you have both in one?
6. Can I keep sexy shrimp with them? What other inhabitants?
Thanks
1. How big and often of water changes?
2. What is a base number of BBS per serving in a 5 gallon? I yea spoon of eggs?
3. What is a good cheap skimmer?
4. Are there any chillers smaller than the iceprobe?
5. Can I keep any other inverts like sexy shrimp? I have also seen people keep "lava red shrimp" with them (I think that is what they are called) I saw them on the seahorse.org website. Are they ok?
6. What corals can I keep with them that they can hitch too that also won't hurt them and can handle cold temps. Gorgonias?
7. What should I use for flow? Do I need anything?
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Baby Ray
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I was wrong, the thermometer is reading low to mid 70's. Is 70 degrees too low? Would adding s heart keep the temperature more stable even if I didn't need it very often?Wow!!!!! Thanks for all the information!!!!
I actually hasn't seen them in person but I have seen them in many videos and pictures.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Hard questions to answer and I'm not going to have very good answers for you on these.
1. That's a very individualized question. It will depend on the size of the tank, the number of critters, the type of filtration and the amount of uneaten food. My own tanks even have differing needs. Did you say what size tank for sure?
2. I have no idea of numbers. I hatched batches in 2 liter bottles and threw in enough for a snow storm looking scene. I also decapped my own brine, which I recommend you doing. I don't remember my recipe, but I'm sure I can find in on Seahorse.org. I'm Seahorsedreams there, but admit I have not been active out front in quite some time.
3. No idea. I had a number of smaller skimmers that were made for the JBJ Nanocubes and what not.... none of them worked well so I would buy it again. That was maybe 7 years ago, so there could be new products now.
4. Not any good ones, that I know of. We tried another small one that made similarly to the IceProbe... kindda, but it didn't do much temp wise. It was just way to small.
5. The Red shrimp are probably Hawaii's Opae ula, Halocaridina rubra? I used to get shipments of those once or twice a month. LOVE them. I used them as food for the juvenile "regular-sized" horses. I've never had them touch anything. I don't know anything about sexy shrimp.
6. We weren't keeping much with Dwarfs when I was involved. We were just starting. We were trying to figure out a CUC for them at the time and I'm sure we're way past that and into corals by now. We were testing snails with dewormer to see which lived through it, because of the hydroid issues that often came with Dwarfs. Because of the dewormer, we weren't using corals. The guide in the library, that's about where we were with them when I "left the scene, so to speak.
7. You'll need flow. It will have to be a protected pump or some type of sponge filter. It has to be gentle and you have to protect it from being able to suck in the Dwarfs.
I bet they are smaller than you think they are. I thought I had an idea, but then one year we had them at our booth at a fish conference and I couldn't believe how small they actually were!
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Baby Ray
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Thanks
1. I would like a 5 gallon tank and start of with 1 or 2 pairs so give growing room for babies
2. I would be using this hatchery -
http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c9/hatchery-dish-p183.html
No heater or air pump is needed and it has good reviews. It has a way of making sure no eggs are feed to the tank and no siphoning is needed
3. I will not need a chiller because I read the thermometer wrong. It is readying low 70's so I might need to get a heater instead just to keep the temperature stable
4. So would the Hawaiian red shrimp be ok with them?
5. If I got a small return pump would that be enough flow?
For a CUC I was thinking nasarius snails, micro brittle star, red shrimp (maybe), and mysid shrimp.
Do you not know of any corals that can stand cooler temperatures that DSH can hitch to? Toadstool? Is it no to photosynthetic gorgonias?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
I have one of those hatchers. They don't put out very much brine.
Yes, the shrimp will be fine.
Be careful with a heater in that size of a tank, as there's not many out there for that size. Get the smallest one possible that also has a good reputation.
A small return pump would be work like a adjustable Mini-Jet 404. I just saw where these were discontinued, so I'll have to see what a replacement is. You have to protect the dwarfs from being sucked in, so I built a partition. The partition was made out of a clear hard perforated plastic material. I don't remember the name of it, but I'll have a look. You can kind of see it in this picture...
The pump was one the other side of that.
I don't know anything about corals and dwarfs., but you would have to light the tank well for a Gorg and that will make the tank temps unstable.
Yes, the shrimp will be fine.
Be careful with a heater in that size of a tank, as there's not many out there for that size. Get the smallest one possible that also has a good reputation.
A small return pump would be work like a adjustable Mini-Jet 404. I just saw where these were discontinued, so I'll have to see what a replacement is. You have to protect the dwarfs from being sucked in, so I built a partition. The partition was made out of a clear hard perforated plastic material. I don't remember the name of it, but I'll have a look. You can kind of see it in this picture...
The pump was one the other side of that.
I don't know anything about corals and dwarfs., but you would have to light the tank well for a Gorg and that will make the tank temps unstable.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
They don't take readily to frozen foods and those that take it, seem to die prematurely.
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Baby Ray
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Thanks,I have one of those hatchers. They don't put out very much brine.
Yes, the shrimp will be fine.
Be careful with a heater in that size of a tank, as there's not many out there for that size. Get the smallest one possible that also has a good reputation.
A small return pump would be work like a adjustable Mini-Jet 404. I just saw where these were discontinued, so I'll have to see what a replacement is. You have to protect the dwarfs from being sucked in, so I built a partition. The partition was made out of a clear hard perforated plastic material. I don't remember the name of it, but I'll have a look. You can kind of see it in this picture...
The pump was one the other side of that.
I don't know anything about corals and dwarfs., but you would have to light the tank well for a Gorg and that will make the tank temps unstable.
I am going to try that hatchery anyways because it seems very easy to use. I have heard of other people who get a good amount of BBS out of it so I am going to take that risk.
For the tank, would the intake be just at the top?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
They were just getting into Gorgs about the time I parted. I know there's Chuck on the Org that was trying a lot of things. I forget his handle, something like cjm3fl. Anything you find out, you gotta bring the information back to us so we can know too
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