Kailyn's 5.5g AIO

[Shyla8]

Oh can I ask where you got your dwarfs & were they captive or wild?

I got mine from ccritters.com and I believe they are wild caught because they are cheaper than what you find captive bred to be. Seahorseworld.com is another place I saw them and I think those are wild caught too. Are you planning on getting wild caught ones or captive bred?

[Shyla8]

I am gonna be a grandma I hope

I just watched one of my male and females do the mating dance and saw the eggs get transfered from the female into the males pouch, it was sooooo cool!

Now I just gotta wait the 10 or so days and hopefully I get new babies!!!!

 

Now they either really like my tank because that was really soon or they just breed like rabbits lol

[URFAVORITEHOBOIN]

I know of one gal near me that has some about 30 & I offered to buy some of her fry but she hasn't ever really responded. If not I may just see if I can find someone to ship some or order them from a captive breeder. I'm not a big fan of wild caught additions to tanks but thats just a person view. I'll keep up with this to see how they do.

[Wendy]

Wow Shyla your tank just leaves me speechless.

 

You have done a great job blending corals and macros and now critters into a really great looking pico. The Dwarf Seahorses make a super fantastic addition.

 

Agreed!!! Gorgeous tank & love the dwarfs!

[Shyla8]

Thanks Wendy! I love your tank too!

 

Couple pics -

 

One of the dwarf pipes who came out for feeding time -

 

One of the original babies (born in the shipping bag) -

 

The male seahorse I am expecting new babies from -

 

The female he paired with is the one pic above in the red grape algae macro. I lost the green grape algae again. Ugh! This macro stuff is killing me lol.

[URFAVORITEHOBOIN]

Nice close-ups! Thats amazing you have a fry that survived a bag birth! My suggestion is to trim your caulerpa into smaller individual specimens. That way when they go all asexual you don't lose the entire algae. It's worked like a charm with my feather

[Mr. Microscope]

This is awesome! Seahorse love!

[Shyla8]

Yeah I had 11 survive in the bag, however it must have been stressful so that number went down to 5. But the 5 are going strong. Have yet to see if they are males or females.

And I am due to have a male have babies soon. Sometime between now and Saturday it should be. I am so excited!

I already went and got a 2.5 gallon tank to put them in for raising them and see if it helps to separate them. I do not know what i got myself into! lol

I just have to get myself a cheap light for the top and some base rock.

 

And Thanks Mr. M

[Solarflare8806]

this is absolutely a great and fantastic tank! Its really beautiful!

 

GReat joB!!!

 

also really good photos too!

[Shyla8]

Ok so I woke up today and there were 2 tiny little babies! I guess the daddy gave birth sometime in the night or maybe early this morning. I only found two but will keep checking for more. I sectioned them off in a cut off plastic cup with little holes in it for flow. This way I can concentrate thier food and they won't get lost of hurt in the rest of the tank.

If I can get pics I will but they are like 1/4 inch big and I am not sure you would even be able to see them lol.

 

I have a 2.5 gallon ready to be set up for the babies to grow out in. It will be safer with no other inhabitants but them and I will be using fake items like plants and such and boiled rock so nothing gets introduced. I hope it works out well!

[JBM]

so you have to feed them baby brine shrimp everyday?

 

cant feed them mysis? i'd love to get some dwarfs but i am very scared (not to mention the fact that im not home 18 hours a day)

 

keep up the good work,

[Shyla8]

Yeah you have to feed them newly hatched brine, so you constantly need a culture going for them to hatch. I feed them at least daily, sometimes twice a day. I am pretty sure the babies need to eat twice a day. It is a constant thing, so no vacations lol.

 

I think I read they could eat mysis but they would have to be live and they will eat pods as well. Its really not for someone who isn't really dedicated I am finding. But I am home all day anyway and I love em

 

Oh and I found another baby when I did my water change so make that 3 babies total!

[c_k_kuehne]

Very kewl Shyla -- good luck with the babies -- we're root'in for you and the dwarf's.

[Shyla8]

Ok oddly enough I lost two of the older babies today and I have no idea why. Its really sad

The 3 new babies are still fine though. I woulda thought if I lost any it would have been them. Ugh!

 

Hopefully I just get the 2.5 up fast so I can get all the babies in there. It should be better for them and hopefully not lose any then. We shall see!

[JBM]

i wish the very best for you & your dwarfs.

[Mr. Microscope]

Ok so I woke up today and there were 2 tiny little babies! I guess the daddy gave birth sometime in the night or maybe early this morning. I only found two but will keep checking for more. I sectioned them off in a cut off plastic cup with little holes in it for flow. This way I can concentrate thier food and they won't get lost of hurt in the rest of the tank.

If I can get pics I will but they are like 1/4 inch big and I am not sure you would even be able to see them lol.

 

I have a 2.5 gallon ready to be set up for the babies to grow out in. It will be safer with no other inhabitants but them and I will be using fake items like plants and such and boiled rock so nothing gets introduced. I hope it works out well!

 

Congratulations!

 

Seems like you might be better off just keeping them in the tank in your sectioned off plastic thing with holes in it. Maybe put a few small pieces of macro in there for them to eventually attach to. I'm no seahorse expert though.

[Shyla8]

Yeah for a week or two they will be ok in there since they are very tiny. After that they should go in the growout tank so they have more room and all the babies can grow out together.

I don't want to risk them with the live stuff in the Pico, they could be stung by things or what not. the parents are ok in there but the babies are so little.

 

Oh and there is some macro in the cup holder for them to hang on to. I stuck a piece of graciliara from my fuge in there.

[URFAVORITEHOBOIN]

I just love this tank... & am getting very jealous of your dwarfs. I'm just waiting to get some cash to order a few. Kinda worried my g/f is not gonna like the idea of having to set up a QT for fry. But I glad to see all your success so quickly with them. A lot of people can't get fry to last much more then a few days on the first few rounds of fry. As the horses get older supposedly they give birth to healthier fry & are better parents. Can't wait to see how things go from here on out!

[Shyla8]

Thanks UR. I still expect more from myself as far as keeping them goes, lol. I guess thats a good thing tho. I get really upset when something doesn't work right, like I am very sad to have lost those 2 babies.

 

On another note, the dwarf pipe pair I have in there also have eggs lol. I know they are much harder to raise and not even sure if they will live. I do now however know who the male and who the female are. I am gonna read up some on them because the adults seem to be pretty hardy, only had two and still have 2. I wonder what it takes to raise the babies and if its possible to raise all babies together. Hmm.

[Shyla8]

Ok really, I am hoping to save you all trouble by saying this.........

Nobody get dwarf seahorses! I really mean it lol, you will become obsessed like never before. I also think the bigger seahorses will be the same and they need larger tanks so stay away from them too lol.

 

I swear I go in there and count them daily to make sure everyone is there, sometimes even twice a day. They are so small and even in a 5.5 it seems they can get lost. Since the tank was not set up especially for them I get concerned with the hydroids and such. I can't treat the tank because of the gorgonian and possibly the shrimps. It becomes crazy and I find myself wanting to set up a whole bunch of mini tanks, like the 2.5 I just set up for the raising of the babies. My males seem to always want to mate! Thank god I have 2 weeks after they do before the babies come and so they can't go getting pregnant during that time.

Then I want another 5.5 thats set up just for them so its safer and I freak out when I lose one, like the last 2 older babies (since then all are well though, even the 3 new babies and I haven't lost any adults). The one older baby that was left is half the size of the adults.

Now I am worried about feeding them other items and enriching their bbs with stuff and I am about to go insane! So before you even get started with this - Don't! lol Have a kid instead, they are easier!

 

Well I hope you all enjoyed my little rant

[JBM]

My males seem to always want to mate!

 

seems par for the course

 

 

Have a kid instead, they are easier!

 

 

wanna trade? my daughter looks innocent, but is very far from it

[Shyla8]

wanna trade? my daughter looks innocent, but is very far from it

 

Lol already got one but thanks for the offer

 

This was actually her tank or i should say is. She wanted a yellow fishie so thats how we got Yell the watchman. I thought it would be neat to pair it with a pistol which she picked out.

 

Then of course I decided to put the dwarf sh's in there. One day it will be all her tank again lol.

[c_k_kuehne]

No worries Shyla it's all really new at the moment -- 6 months from now you won't be sweating it 1/2 as much as you are now. At that point you'll just let nature take it's course and not worry so much about it.

[Shyla8]

Maybe your right ck. I lost the 3 babies from the last daddy, but I also gained 11 more babies as of today lol. So for christs sake I hope I can keep these babies alive!

 

I still have the one older baby, who came to me in the shipping bag, on its way to being an adult. Looks like I am hoping to just move the new babies to the 2.5 as soon as its ready and leave the rest in the pico.

[Shyla8]

Ok still have the newest babies doin good. Time for a couple pictures....

 

Sept FTS -

 

You lookin at me?? -

 

Tiny little baby -