Fishgirl2393 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 I've been told that any drop of water is a risk (so yes, reef tank water would be too). You could pass it through a UV sterilizer and that would probably work. Link to comment
spiraling Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I will be watching your progress! I have a fluval spec 2 that I would like to set up. Dry rock and dry sand that will be cycled. I would like to have some caulpera but its interesting that's where you think you got your amphipods from. Did you dip the plants in freshwater? This will be a longer project for me. Maybe next fall I can have the correct setup for them. I have a red sea max reef tank and frag tank so I know to be VERY pateint when setting up saltwater environments. You noted that now you are going for a larger tank 1 - what mods did you do or recommend for the 2 gallon 2 - why are you switching tanks now? Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Well, I've not updated in a while but in the next few weeks, I plan to get some more dwarf seahorses. And instead of the 10-gallon setup, I've set up a tiny 1-gallon tank on my desk. However, if I end up with lots of babies, I will upgrade to a larger tank (probably a 3-gallon). I DIY'ed a miniature protein skimmer for the tank with some parts from an old under-gravel filter and a medicine cup. It is air-driven and so far seems to work really well. The tank is the little "corner" shaped tank from walmart. I don't plan on a heater right now because the tank stays warm without one and is too small. I'm probably going to put an air stone/air hose in for extra circulation. The tank will get small water changes often. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 And the cycle is in full swing. Ammonia: 2ppm, Nitrite: 1ppm, pH: 8.1, nitrate: 0. Tank is not going to have live coral (because of the possibility of stings to the seahorses) or plants (because of the risks of hydroids and amphipods). I have a few dead barnacles (collected and cleaned) in there and a small piece of dry rock in there as well as a fake plant (I may change the fake plant which looks OK to a different fake plant that looks more saltwater eventually). I'll post pics soon (but not tonight). Still figuring out the lights. Want to go LED (not expensive LED since there will be no corals) so I'm going to be looking around. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Cycle results from today: Ammonia 4ppm (is this any cause for alarm for it to be this high?), nitrite 2ppm. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 And the ammonia/nitrite keep going up... today ammonia is 6-7ppm, nitrite is 3-4ppm. I've added Microbacter7 about 3 times. Is this normal for it to be so high? Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Ammonia still 7ppm. Nitrite still 3-4ppm. Is this normal? I've added Microbacter about 4 times now. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 The ammonia is STILL at 7ppm. What's going on? I would think that it would be lowering a bit by now. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Anyone tried the "Hatch-N-Feeder"? Does it work pretty well?I heard it's not a good idea. It creates a place for nastie bacteria to grow and possibly harm the ponies. Cool to see another tank. I didn't realize you started this. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Oh, I've had them before. Just had some issues due to predatory amphipods (they were large and ate the babies that were born every few weeks). I'm not using the hatch-n-feeder (that was from 2011). I've been watching your thread too! But yeah, I'm not sure why my cycle is taking a while to get going. Ammonia at 7ppm is pretty high to not move for about a week. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Hmmm.....I always use the prodibio products to quick cycle a tank. My cycles usually take about two weeks with dry rock. It's weird if your adding a bacterial supplement. Maybe try a different kind and see if that helps. Sorry, didn't notice dates. I heard about the amphipods to. I'm going with live macro, but doing freshwater dips to clean em up. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 Ammonia STILL at 7-8ppm. So, I'm going to do a water change tomorrow and try to add something to help this along. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I've used stability, or better is the prodibio. Good luck. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Still waiting on cycle to proceed. Ammonia still 7(ish)ppm and nitrite still 3-4ppm Link to comment
vlangel Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Still waiting on cycle to proceed. Ammonia still 7(ish)ppm and nitrite still 3-4ppm I am in the same mode as you, waiting for my seahorse tank to cycle! Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Tank has been cycled for a while. Been too busy to get the seahorses lately but will be ordering soon. Changed filtration/circulation from an air line (for circulation) and a DIY protein skimmer to a Whisper 3i (1-3 gallon air driven filter). It has carbon and PhosGuard in it. Still deciding on the light but I'm looking for a cheap LED fixture (doesn't have to be powerful). Link to comment
vlangel Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I am anxious to see your ponies! Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Not positive yet but thinking of ordering the ponies this week! Link to comment
vlangel Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 I will be excited to see them. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Exciting! Can't wait to see them. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Me too! I'm planning to order 4 (two pairs). However, if they breed fast, I will likely upgrade to a larger tank. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 That's cool. I can never get the babies to live longer than about a week. Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 That's cool. I can never get the babies to live longer than about a week. I know they say they can be raised together, but try separating them out into a bare tank with just an airline in it for flow. Just water changes to remove waste. That's just an idea. I have heard that getting enough bbs into the tank for the babies AND adults is hard. Don't know. I guess you could ask a breeder and see what they say. Could be enriching the bbs (do you?) is needed... Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 SUPER excited!!! I just placed an order for two pairs (4 seahorses) of dwarf seahorses!!! I'll post pictures of the tank as soon as I can and will post pictures of the ponies once they get here. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Finally some life added to the tank. Make sure,to post pics of the tank and ponies. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.