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shornik
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Thanks. That's the intention, though I seem to be in a constant state of worrying if there are enough pods in the tank for the fish to eat or if my brine are hatching to feed them...... and so on and so on
S&M's Seahorse IM Lagoon 50 Build
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shornik
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So it's been a while since I posted an update. Partially that's because I lost all my fish, you can read about that here if you want https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/all-my-fish-died-why.255503/ and didn't feel like posting much after that occurred. The gist is I a) did a water change and stirred up the sanded too much, b) added the new water several degrees higher than the tank water, or 3) had some kind of toxic dino's. In any event I had to start over fish-wise.
So a few weeks ago I went to my LFS and they had these beautiful looking cardinals, Ochre striped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus compressus)
and a few soft corals, a kenya tree
and a Chili coral (sorry bad pic, and at night it really swells and the polyps come out so I'll try to get one and post it later),
and 3 more gorgonians, a Purple and a Yellow plume,
and a Corky Finger (which is a Bryozoan actually)
and 2 more macro algae, Flame and Red Grape.
So this is what the tank looks like now....
And the most exciting news, well I love my corals and fish now, but my last out of town trip is coming up this week and I've ordered 2 Erectus from Seahorsesource.com and talked with Abby for quite a while, she is great! The ponies should arrive once get back in town after this weekend, fingers crossed that everything goes well with the tank while I'm gone.
So a few weeks ago I went to my LFS and they had these beautiful looking cardinals, Ochre striped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus compressus)
and a few soft corals, a kenya tree
and a Chili coral (sorry bad pic, and at night it really swells and the polyps come out so I'll try to get one and post it later),
and 3 more gorgonians, a Purple and a Yellow plume,
and a Corky Finger (which is a Bryozoan actually)
and 2 more macro algae, Flame and Red Grape.
So this is what the tank looks like now....
And the most exciting news, well I love my corals and fish now, but my last out of town trip is coming up this week and I've ordered 2 Erectus from Seahorsesource.com and talked with Abby for quite a while, she is great! The ponies should arrive once get back in town after this weekend, fingers crossed that everything goes well with the tank while I'm gone.
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shornik
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Well I did it, 2 H. erectus ordered and shipping today for delivery tomorrow. I'm both really excited and nervous at the same time, more than any other fish I've purchased. But I think I've done everything I can to get ready for them, will post pics tomorrow once they are in the tank, I can't wait
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shornik
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Alright well they arrived, two cuties! I am still so nervous!!!! Here are just a few pics, they've only been in the tank for less than hour. According to the acclamation instructions I tried feeding but I didn't see them eat yet, I'll soak the mysis in garlic next time and see if that prompts a response. They were holding on too each other in the bag wondering I'm sure just what the heck was happening to them on their journey - luckily not too from Seahorsesource.com in Ft. Myers to their new home in Orlando, but still in a dark bag in a box for about 18 hours would make me just a little nuts.
After floating for about 30 minutes I reached in and gently put them in the tank, more nervousness!!! They seemed to settle pretty well but the larger one, I can't tell the male from the female yet, is not "erect" I hope that is normal and they are breathing relatively heavily. I'll keep watching them, I think that is about all I will be doing today. At least one, the smaller one seems to have lightened up just a bit so hopefully that's a good sign. Anyway, first pics - no names yet....
and...
After floating for about 30 minutes I reached in and gently put them in the tank, more nervousness!!! They seemed to settle pretty well but the larger one, I can't tell the male from the female yet, is not "erect" I hope that is normal and they are breathing relatively heavily. I'll keep watching them, I think that is about all I will be doing today. At least one, the smaller one seems to have lightened up just a bit so hopefully that's a good sign. Anyway, first pics - no names yet....
and...
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shornik
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OK, so apologies in advance for posting so much today but I'm pretty excited. The bigger one is swimming around much more and going from one coral/gorg/rock to hitch onto, but the smallest one is still content to cling to a gorgonian in the corner. At least once in a while they end up together for support. Will try feeding again in a few hours....
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shornik
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Feeding/Eating update. So I fed the tank yesterday 3 different times and I only saw the bigger seahorse eat and that was during the last feeding. They both are definitely swimming around the tank more and seem more energetic and mostly recovered from shipping. I fed them this morning with a different tactic. I do have cardinal fish in the tank and they sure can eat a lot. So what I did was first put in some @LRS food which is bit more chunky that the piggie cardinals attempt to shove in their mouths. Then I turned the pumps off and dumped in a cube of mysis soaked in garlic. That did the trick, I saw the big one eat and chasing mysis around. I saw the littler one eat maybe one mysis - which isn't great but its a start at least - and it was definitely swimming and hitching to try to eat others. So hopefully each feeding will a be a bit better (fingers crossed). I didn't get any pictures of them eating as I was just trying to watch both of them to make sure they ate something. When I feed later I'll see if I can get a short video.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Where did you get them from? They are cuties! Do you have a feeding dish?
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shornik
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I got them from http://seahorsesource.com and I don't have a feeding dish. If I remember correctly when I spoke with Abbie she said they didn't use a baster when feeding them, but now that you mentioned it I'm going to call them to verify that I heard that correctly. I do hope that what you mean by a dish is the technique of turning off the pumps and using a baster to place all the mysis in one place where the seahorses can "graze"? I have natural hollows in the rocks that can be used as a "dish", so I'll try that during the next feeding time, thanks for the suggestion.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
I love Dan and Abbie. They are such nice people.
I didn't use a baster but a tube to guide the mysis down to the dish. You don't want that mysis going everywhere, as you'll have nutrient issues in no time, you'll be wasting food and feeding things you don't need/want to. If you use a dish, it's all in one area and the seahorses will eat most of it without waste. I didn't turn off my pumps, but thawed and rinsed the mysis and then soaked them in saltwater so they would sink and stay on the bottom. If your pump still blows them around, it's best to turn that off. On my first seahorse tank I had to turn it off, so I had an airline hidden in the tank that would turn on to continue some aeration. I plugged the pump into a bathroom timer, so it would automatically come back on without me remembering.
I attached my feeding station to a Mag float so that bristlewroms wouldn't climb in the dish as they were eating. My anthias caught on as well as started sitting in the dish waiting.
I didn't use a baster but a tube to guide the mysis down to the dish. You don't want that mysis going everywhere, as you'll have nutrient issues in no time, you'll be wasting food and feeding things you don't need/want to. If you use a dish, it's all in one area and the seahorses will eat most of it without waste. I didn't turn off my pumps, but thawed and rinsed the mysis and then soaked them in saltwater so they would sink and stay on the bottom. If your pump still blows them around, it's best to turn that off. On my first seahorse tank I had to turn it off, so I had an airline hidden in the tank that would turn on to continue some aeration. I plugged the pump into a bathroom timer, so it would automatically come back on without me remembering.
I attached my feeding station to a Mag float so that bristlewroms wouldn't climb in the dish as they were eating. My anthias caught on as well as started sitting in the dish waiting.
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shornik
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I've only talked with Abbie, but you can certainly tell how much they care about their seahorses, it would be amazing if all LFS's etc. would be like that. So after your initial reply and this last one with your description (thank you!) I have a plan. I have one of those @InnovativeMarine gourmet food defroster things
And so what I'm going to do is close the bottom cup so no mysis can drift down and place it near some of the gorgonians that the horses have started to hitch too. So they'll have a ready made place to hitch and the food will stay in the cup. The fish won't go into the cup (hopefully) the only think that might are the cleaner shrimp I have but I'll deal with that if it happens. I'll try it out tonight when I feed. Again thanks for the suggestion.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Well that looks interesting!
d2mini
5000 Club Member
Cool tank!
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shornik
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Thanks @d2mini
An update on the feeding station. In short it didn't work, the sea horses didn't quite know what to do and maybe the depth of it was too much. I'm not quite sure, they kept checking it out, and the mysis stayed at the bottom but they never ate, or I never saw them eating from it. However good news! They ate just fine this morning. Here's a video of them eating, the 1st part is with the pumps off and the 2nd is after I put them on. With the pump on the littler one (I think the female) definitely goes after them so I'll play around with pump on or off over the next couple of feedings. Anyway I'm feeling a little bit more relieved to see them eat and see them swim around and explore the tank more and more.
An update on the feeding station. In short it didn't work, the sea horses didn't quite know what to do and maybe the depth of it was too much. I'm not quite sure, they kept checking it out, and the mysis stayed at the bottom but they never ate, or I never saw them eating from it. However good news! They ate just fine this morning. Here's a video of them eating, the 1st part is with the pumps off and the 2nd is after I put them on. With the pump on the littler one (I think the female) definitely goes after them so I'll play around with pump on or off over the next couple of feedings. Anyway I'm feeling a little bit more relieved to see them eat and see them swim around and explore the tank more and more.
Female is definitely the one on the red gorg in the video. Really cute to see them eat. They are adorable. Hope they do well for you. They look great so far.
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shornik
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That is stressful, where did you get yours? The nice thing about getting them from seahorsesource.com is that they are already eating frozen so its a bit of a relief. I am though still tweaking how to feed the other fish and the seahorses so that the seahorses get enough.
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shornik
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Nothing much to report, thank goodness. I'm just enjoying the tank. Tested nitrates and they seem to be consistently at 10mgL, I am feeding a lot of food for the ponies and cardinal fish so I'm willing to live with that reading. I'll keep checking every few days to ensure the tank can handle all the food/waste, but so far so good. Here are a few more pics to make this post more exciting...
Mine actually came from SHsource.com also. One lasted a week, second lasted 2 weeks, last one has been 5 weeks so far and JUST TONITE ate some frozen I had mixed w/brine! So, I'm very hopefulNothing much to report, thank goodness. I'm just enjoying the tank. Tested nitrates and they seem to be consistently at 10mgL, I am feeding a lot of food for the ponies and cardinal fish so I'm willing to live with that reading. I'll keep checking every few days to ensure the tank can handle all the food/waste, but so far so good. Here are a few more pics to make this post more exciting...
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