Kailyn's 5.5g AIO

[URFAVORITEHOBOIN]

Yes Hydroids are a huge risk with dwarfs. Next time you set up just use dry base rock with live sand & your risk of hydroids is much much less. BTW my 5.5 has been set up for 3 months now just waiting for some dwarfs I'd gladly take some off your hands! Pretty much goes they are either happy & breed like crazy or die off & don't mate if their requirements aren't made. So I'd say your tank is golden with how things are going with them. How are the dwarf pipes doing Never heard of them but it's growing on me to read up on them.

 

Nice photos! I just stepped away to smoke & Bam you posted some updated shots before I submitted my post. Thats a sweet snap of the dwarf looking back out of the tank!

[Shyla8]

Yeah not liking those darn hydroids but then this tank wasn't originally set up for Dwarfs, so therein lies my issue. And if I remove the dwarfs the tank will still be fine for the other inhabitants lol. This just goes to show you, gotta plan ahead.

 

If I can get my dwarf babies to pass a certain point I may just be able to supply you with them lol. I had a bad time with the first babies because they were disappearing on me but I also wasn't ready for them since they came in the shipping bag with my first pair.

 

Then the next ones I had were the last three and I think the water change had something to do with that, also I was cutting some macros etc, so who knows. This last bunch of babies which are actually 10, not 11, are doing ok so far and I am thinking of moving them to the 2.5 and see if that helps in them living. They are so tiny they are in that cut off cup you see in the pic at the moment and have tons of room! So I am not sure if I should just move them now or give them another week. You just wouldn't believe how tiny they are and the food can't escape them in the cup. In the 2.5 it would be like the ocean to them lol.

I am still thinking I want to try the move tho, I am sure there will be more babies coming, so lets see what works best.

 

The pipes are doing fine, I haven't had a single issue with them. They come out during feedings but they basically stay in and around the rock. They eat the live brine with the dwarfs. I wasn't able to find much info on them either but they seem to be hardy. I saw the male with eggs and now I don't. What happened to the babies I have no idea but I thought someone told me they were harder to raise than the pony babies. I'd say try em, I like mine.

[URFAVORITEHOBOIN]

I hate to say it but the Acans or pistol shrimp could be the reason for missing babies... Either one I don't think has a preference for fry vs. mysis shrimp which are about the same size. I know for a fact my pistol is one mean son of a gun. He has just picked a part my emarld & any hermits who have even come remotely close to his tunnels. My tank was set up with the intention to have dwarfs but I didn't do the full blown dwarf set up of fake plants & bare bottom (aka boring looking tank) I figure in a month or so you'll have things figured out with the fry.

[Shyla8]

The last 3 babies I lost were sectioned off in their cup so I know it was not the pistol or acans. I found them dead in there after a water change (well the next day). As for the original babies, I dunno why I lost them. I have 2 hermits in there and 2 sexys and my pistol was an inch big when I got it. Its still only 1 1/2 inches and he never seems to bother anyone. If he were to kill anything I would think it would be the pipes since they are on the ground in the rocks with the pistol and goby.

I think the babies are just so tiny they are very sensitive to anything. There is also a lot of stuff for them to get lost in in that tank.

I don't mind the fake plants and stuff, but bare bottom is blah. I put black sand in my baby tank, easier to see them in. We'll see what happens!

[Shyla8]

Ok just a quick update on this tank, I still love it more than my others lol. I don't even know why it works so well for a small tank but it does.

So since the last month shot every time I would see this tank "Welcome to the Jungle" would pop into my head and I got really tired of that lol. So this past weekend, when I did my normal weekly water change, I did a lot of pruning back and moved some stuff around. If you think it still looks full then you should have seen it before lol.

Some macros had died or gotten eaten in the interim of this tank and I noted that in the first post. The dwarf seahorses are temporarily moved so they can be wormed for 9 weeks with 3 different types of medicines since they were wild caught. I also had some hydroids in this tank that I was worried about them being around. So after moving the dsh I fw dipped the macro the hydroids were in and I don't see many if any at all anymore. I still feed the brine shrimp daily because the pipes are still in there, so we will see. The dsh have only had 2 weeks of treatments so far anyway, so I have time to see what happens in here and putting them back in.

Anyway here are a couple pics and small video -

 

Yell peaking out -

 

FTS 10-20-10 -

 

Video of what I see when watching the tank (I love the flow) - Click to view -

[.Newman.]

i like

[BigRok]

Looking good! That's one heck of a macro tank.

[Clavius85]

Really nice pico. Good work.

[Shyla8]

Thanks a lot guys! I really love this tank, the parameters are always good, the macros grow pretty well. Well some more than others lol. The fish are sooo easy to keep.

I look at this tank and like it a lot more than my 50g reef. In fact I wish I could have this tank be my 50g but then at the same time if it were, I bet I would have a lot of issues.

I think I will have this tank for a very long time

[Markushka]

Pure win IMO.

[Mr. Microscope]

July FTS -

 

How's the green fingery guy in the middle doing? Looks like it's slowing getting smaller. I almost brought some of this back from the cape to put in my tank, but decided it wouldn't make it back on the bus.

[Shyla8]

Thanks Mark!

 

Mr M, thats short codium and it was fuller when it first went it. I believe its still growing but slower than some others and its gotten flatter and out to the sides more, not so much standing up. But if you look in the Oct pic, there is also a piece I removed from the other bunch and put on the right.

 

This stuff is pretty hardy, it most likely would have been fine. I brought home some from the beach and it sat in a container for a while and was still fine. Its not like most macros and dies fast. Hope that helps.

[bearwithfish]

this tank is wonderful!!! i have considered doing dwarfs myself in a pico but i am a bit intimidated... any tips for the uninitiated??

[Shyla8]

this tank is wonderful!!! i have considered doing dwarfs myself in a pico but i am a bit intimidated... any tips for the uninitiated??

 

Yeah, be ready to feed live brine daily lol. The tank itself is not a lot of work but making the brine and harvesting it and feeding every day can be a pain. And if you get wild caught ones, the deworming them in a separate tank so you don't kill inhabitants is tough, unless you plan on an all fake tank. The dwarfs aren't too hard when you take precautions, filter wise and inhabitant wise in case you have to treat the tank and watching out for hydroids. All that aside they are pretty cute

[JBM]

how are they coming along? Any losses?

[bearwithfish]

thank you i will continue to research looooooong before i attempt to set up.. i may start my own thread for info gathering please feel free to contribute everything you can......

 

again wonderful tank..

[Shyla8]

JBM - Well in the beginning I did but mine are all wild caught too so there could be age issues and stuff. I still haven't lost many except for babies which was partially explainable. In this tank I found after feeding for a while I got hydroids and they were on the glass and mainly in one macro plant. So during a water change I fw dipped it and killed them all. They may have been stinging and killing the babies. I also didn't deworm them upon getting them and this tank wasn't set up for dwarfs originally so I didn't take the precautions of adding them.

They are temporarily in another tank being dewormed and even had to go thru a cycle in that tank and I only lost 1 adult and a couple babies. Now that they are settled in the holding tank with all fake things and being treated I am ot getting hydroids nor losing any. I have 10 adults in there and 2 babies.

I am due to have more babies be born so I will see how they go in that tank.

Also I had a male who got an air bubble and he could only stay at the top of the water and not swim down. Most people would have said to cull it but I didn't have the heart and thought he would die on his own from lack of eating, however he is still alive today weeks later and I have seen him eating. Also recently I have seen him swim down some so maybe the bubble is going away or getting better.

They are tough in the beginning to get settled in with and I am sure everyone has some losses but so far I can't complain, they have done well.

Bearwith - I will be happy to give you some pointers if you truly wish to get involved with this, or anyone else. It can be rewarding, altho it does make me want to get larger seahorses as well.

[bearwithfish]

i would love your input here is the link http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=252039

[fote03]

That's an awesome tank! The ponies are sweet!

[lapulapu]

Those algae are gonna take over the tank