Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Lol "man-issues" That's not exactly how I'd describe it Yep the SPS thing sucks. For me I'm pretty sure it must've been the spongeodes sucking down all the alk. Recently it's just taken off with growth and I was being lazy and not testing my water Yep, it sucks. Presents an opportunity to get ponies though! I had also gotten lazy with testing since things were normally stable. I didn't think when I added several new SPS mini colonies about the effect on the alk. Now I know not to do that again. At least the spongeodes is doing well. Link to comment
Kfmmartin19 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Zia's got a bad habit of waiting until 1:30 in the morning to answer my pm's...the sleep deprivation is really starting to take a toll on my health and well-being. I may have to sue him to help fund this project Link to comment
Zia Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Zia's got a bad habit of waiting until 1:30 in the morning to answer my pm's...the sleep deprivation is really starting to take a toll on my health and well-being. I may have to sue him to help fund this project Hey its only 12:30 my time and all pms returned Im free im free. Wut do i do with all my time. Link to comment
Kfmmartin19 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Hey its only 12:30 my time and all pms returned Im free im free. Wut do i do with all my time. I sent u another Night. Link to comment
Zia Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Thanks! I know, I'll have to part ways with my precious hammer Any non-stinging corals make for acceptable tank mates. Seahorses do not learn from being stung and they will continually try to hitch to stinging corals or anemones until they develop infections and die. My general rule of thumb for corals in a seahorse tank is if it can catch and eat mysis or brine shrimp than it dosent belong in there tank. Larger species of palythoas included. Link to comment
eitallent Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 That is dry sand correct? There's a great deal on it at Petsmart right now for $27 for 40 lbs. Did you just dump in a bottle of live bacteria to seed it? Or did you seed it with some sand from your other tank? It looks like the perfect grain size and I like the price! I could have sworn C. prolifera was the big no-no one in CA. All the online stores say that one is banned in CA. Hmmm... Yes, it is dry sand and I use dry rock too in the Caribbean tank. I seed with Dr. Tims. I did not want HHs on LR and I know I had Bristle worms in the nano so I did not transfer anything over. Since I wanted burrowing fish I did not want bristle worms. I now dip everything and found teeny tiny bristle worms in the dip water. Hopefully I can keep them out. I have the C. prolifera in the Caribbean tank which everyone thinks is Oar grass. It is very attractive and it grows fast. The holdfasts will even grab rocks so I pull them off the rocks and keep in the sandbed. I got through with the silicone job in my AIO project. What a mess!! Make sure you have lots of newspaper spread around and paper towels. I also drilled the holes in the glass and sanded the sharp edges. For my first DIY project of this kind it turned out okay, not Christine quality though. If you have not seen this, here is where I learned a lot about handling acrylic and glass for aquariums: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM9oZkV3tGJuUUhgZaiGZkQ This is a very exciting thread! Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Any non-stinging corals make for acceptable tank mates. Seahorses do not learn from being stung and they will continually try to hitch to stinging corals or anemones until they develop infections and die. My general rule of thumb for corals in a seahorse tank is if it can catch and eat mysis or brine shrimp than it dosent belong in there tank. Larger species of palythoas included. Yeah, I'm still trying to sort out exactly what all to stock this tank with. I was planning to have a sandbed covered in Florida Rics since I assumed they were safe like mushrooms, but then I read that those and yumas are not a good idea with seahorses. Glad I hadn't already bought any! This is a great reference on what all is safe with seahorses if you guys hadn't seen it: http://www.seahorsecorral.com/Seahorse_Tankmates.html Yes, it is dry sand and I use dry rock too in the Caribbean tank. I seed with Dr. Tims. I did not want HHs on LR and I know I had Bristle worms in the nano so I did not transfer anything over. Since I wanted burrowing fish I did not want bristle worms. I now dip everything and found teeny tiny bristle worms in the dip water. Hopefully I can keep them out. I have the C. prolifera in the Caribbean tank which everyone thinks is Oar grass. It is very attractive and it grows fast. The holdfasts will even grab rocks so I pull them off the rocks and keep in the sandbed. I got through with the silicone job in my AIO project. What a mess!! Make sure you have lots of newspaper spread around and paper towels. I also drilled the holes in the glass and sanded the sharp edges. For my first DIY project of this kind it turned out okay, not Christine quality though. If you have not seen this, here is where I learned a lot about handling acrylic and glass for aquariums: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM9oZkV3tGJuUUhgZaiGZkQ This is a very exciting thread! Great! I ended up ordering that sand from Drs. Foster and Smith so thanks so much for the link! It was definitely my cheapest option. Petsmart had it even cheaper but then I found out they wouldn't ship to Berkeley for some reason. I'll get a nice deep sandbed for a jawfish with 40 lbs! Makes sense about the bristle worms. I think dry rocks and sand was the way to go for me in this tank because I don't need potentially harmful HH's in with my seahorses. I actually have never seen a bristle worm in my main tank (or the frag tank for that matter), so I'll just use some sand from one of those tanks to seed this new sand with bacteria. I'll get a small amount of well cured liverock to help seed the dry rock with bacteria. Yeah, the C. Prolifera sure looks nice. It looks like oar grass to me and it will make great hitches for the ponies. The piece I got is anchored to a small rock which I plan to place out in the sand so it doesn't take over the whole tank. Yeah, the silicone part is going to be a LOT of work. I hope I can do a good job of it. I'm glad to hear you finished yours! I may ask you some questions if I realize I don't know what I'm doing! I think I have an idea of how to do it though and I've caulked quite a few times so I should be able to pull this off...I hope... Man, you are brave drilling glass! Kudos to you! Thanks for the link! I'll have to watch those videos in preparation! Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Ya well...Zia's making me... K that's not entirely true but if anything doesn't go perfectly I WILL be blaming everything on him. Where's your thread? I have to be responsible :-( Which means waiting 2 years to start mine so all three of you better be updating regularly. Ima need a fix! Link to comment
Kfmmartin19 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 You can't have rics? On that list they have it listed as a 2 which means normally okay.I can't imagine rics would be dangerous hahaI was hoping to have a ric garden and zoa garden in the tank... Where's your thread? I have to be responsible :-( Which means waiting 2 years to start mine so all three of you better be updating regularly. Ima need a fix!Screw responsibility! Thread's in my sig Hey Felicia; u me and Zia should start a 3 Amigos seahorse club and Zia can photoshop pics of our ponies with sombreros for our sig.It'll be all the rage Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Yes, it is dry sand and I use dry rock too in the Caribbean tank. I seed with Dr. Tims. I did not want HHs on LR and I know I had Bristle worms in the nano so I did not transfer anything over. Since I wanted burrowing fish I did not want bristle worms. I now dip everything and found teeny tiny bristle worms in the dip water. Hopefully I can keep them out. I have the C. prolifera in the Caribbean tank which everyone thinks is Oar grass. It is very attractive and it grows fast. The holdfasts will even grab rocks so I pull them off the rocks and keep in the sandbed. I got through with the silicone job in my AIO project. What a mess!! Make sure you have lots of newspaper spread around and paper towels. I also drilled the holes in the glass and sanded the sharp edges. For my first DIY project of this kind it turned out okay, not Christine quality though. If you have not seen this, here is where I learned a lot about handling acrylic and glass for aquariums: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM9oZkV3tGJuUUhgZaiGZkQ This is a very exciting thread! AWESOME link!!!! Thank you! I had been wondering about this very thing since I'm not seeing any tank dimensions that fit my dreams. If you want to post the nitty gritty details about setting up your fuge, I'd be soaking up that knowledge too. It's so foreign ATM. You can't have rics? On that list they have it listed as a 2 which means normally okay.I can't imagine rics would be dangerous hahaI was hoping to have a ric garden and zoa garden in the tank... Screw responsibility! Thread's in my sig Hey Felicia; u me and Zia should start a 3 Amigos seahorse club and Zia can photoshop pics of our ponies with sombreros for our sig. It'll be all the rage Believe me, it's almost impossible to be responsible in that area right now. I stopped in to Petco to get cat nail trimmers and spent 15 minutes talking myself OUT of buying the 40 gallon breeder on the dollar/gallon sale. sigh. Must demonstrate to fiance that I can save $$! :-) Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Where's your thread? I have to be responsible :-( Which means waiting 2 years to start mine so all three of you better be updating regularly. Ima need a fix! I'll make sure to keep you updated! Too bad you can't start a seahorse tank with us Its funny how catching seahorse fever is. I've already got a guy in my local club turning his biocube into a seahorse tank You can't have rics? On that list they have it listed as a 2 which means normally okay.I can't imagine rics would be dangerous hahaI was hoping to have a ric garden and zoa garden in the tank... Screw responsibility! Thread's in my sig Hey Felicia; u me and Zia should start a 3 Amigos seahorse club and Zia can photoshop pics of our ponies with sombreros for our sig. It'll be all the rage Oh, I guess 2's are ok. I was thinking since its 0,1,2,3 that 2's probably are a bad idea. The descriptions "aside from the occasional rowdy specimen, safe" makes me think they're probably fine then. I wonder what makes a ric rowdy? I'd like to have a ric garden in this tank. And a high end zoa garden. And then lots of softies and gorgs everywhere else. We do need a seahorse club thread! I think Zia should start it since he's the only one with actual ponies right now. I like the idea of all have our ponies with sombreros in our sigs. I need a pony first though! Believe me, it's almost impossible to be responsible in that area right now. I stopped in to Petco to get cat nail trimmers and spent 15 minutes talking myself OUT of buying the 40 gallon breeder on the dollar/gallon sale. sigh. Must demonstrate to fiance that I can save $$! :-) You know, this tank is very budget friendly. Right now I'm only at about $375 for all the equipment and sand and rocks. Not bad for a reef tank! Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I'll make sure to keep you updated! Too bad you can't start a seahorse tank with us Its funny how catching seahorse fever is. I've already got a guy in my local club turning his biocube into a seahorse tank Oh, I guess 2's are ok. I was thinking since its 0,1,2,3 that 2's probably are a bad idea. The descriptions "aside from the occasional rowdy specimen, safe" makes me think they're probably fine then. I wonder what makes a ric rowdy? I'd like to have a ric garden in this tank. And a high end zoa garden. And then lots of softies and gorgs everywhere else. We do need a seahorse club thread! I think Zia should start it since he's the only one with actual ponies right now. I like the idea of all have our ponies with sombreros in our sigs. I need a pony first though! You know, this tank is very budget friendly. Right now I'm only at about $375 for all the equipment and sand and rocks. Not bad for a reef tank! $375??? That's amazing... What skimmer are you getting? I figure the skimmer and light is where it's going to fly out of the wallet the fastest. Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 $375??? That's amazing... What skimmer are you getting? I figure the skimmer and light is where it's going to fly out of the wallet the fastest. Basically, I'm keeping it so in budget my keeping an eye out for used stuff. I got the tank, stand, and light for $75 from a member of my local club. The light I have now is just an old Coralife power compact fixture that I got with the tank for $25 and then I had to buy a bulb. Its more than sufficient for the softies that will be in this tank, so I'm just keeping that fixture until I save up for LEDs. I'm going to be using the Tunze 9002 skimmer. Mark is being amazing and is sending me his used one from before he installed his sump. I'm at $375-$400 now for everything that I've bought so far. I still need to buy my acrylic for the AIO build, which I expect to cost $50-$100. I also need to make a trip to home depot for a few little things. Probably another $30 there. Then that's it until I start stocking. Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Basically, I'm keeping it so in budget my keeping an eye out for used stuff. I got the tank, stand, and light for $75 from a member of my local club. The light I have now is just an old Coralife power compact fixture that I got with the tank for $25 and then I had to buy a bulb. Its more than sufficient for the softies that will be in this tank, so I'm just keeping that fixture until I save up for LEDs. I'm going to be using the Tunze 9002 skimmer. Mark is being amazing and is sending me his used one from before he installed his sump. I'm at $375-$400 now for everything that I've bought so far. I still need to buy my acrylic for the AIO build, which I expect to cost $50-$100. I also need to make a trip to home depot for a few little things. Probably another $30 there. Then that's it until I start stocking. Nice work. I've been surfing craigslist daily in hopes of making a score and am thinking of going DIY for as much as possible, including the stand. At least it makes it feel like I'm making *some* progress. :-) Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Nice work. I've been surfing craigslist daily in hopes of making a score and am thinking of going DIY for as much as possible, including the stand. At least it makes it feel like I'm making *some* progress. :-) I saw the tank for sale and just decided to commit to this. I've lucked out with getting used things inexpensively. Definitely keep watching craigslist for a tank. Do you have a local club? That's a great place to look for used equipment and tanks. People also tend to set their prices lower through the local club. Also, keep us here on NR posted on what you need because a lot of us have used equipment laying around. I've got several things I'd be willing to gift to someone who needed them. Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 There's not much to post pictures of at this stage, so Lily agreed to model the tank for you guys. Figured you could get a perspective of how big the tank is. http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/photo34.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/photo38.jpg.html'> Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I have at 7000 points on my Walgreens/cvs rewards card Now wut! Buy antacids- you'll need them once you get the credit card bills for purchases!!!!. Link to comment
namxas Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 The black seahorses only stay shades of black, brown, or grey and are never going to have the potential to change to bright yellow. I'm afraid you're 100% wrong there my friend...I've had bright, bright yellow SH turn black, white, black and go back to yellow. This is one of them after it turned back to yellow...I wouldn't call it a "shade": Some SH never change color...this big WC male was always red: FWIW, Renee and I used to breed multiple species of SH, so we have some experience with them. We've also been moderators on what we consider the foremost SH-dedicated forum for several years. Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 I'm afraid you're 100% wrong there my friend...I've had bright, bright yellow SH turn black, white, black and go back to yellow. This is one of them after it turned back to yellow...I wouldn't call it a "shade": Some SH never change color...this big WC male was always red: FWIW, Renee and I used to breed multiple species of SH, so we have some experience with them. We've also been moderators on what we consider the foremost SH-dedicated forum for several years. Good to know. I guess I'm just tempted to buy the colored ones because at least I know they can turn yellow. Whereas if I just buy a plain black one, it may stay black forever. I've noticed from Zia's photos that his seahorses change shade a bit but are always yellow. I was thinking about getting some from the same breeder as him in the hopes that they will stay yellow most of the time. Buy antacids- you'll need them once you get the credit card bills for purchases!!!!. Exactly! Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 The acrylic has been cut!!! I went to TAP plastics after work and just got home with all the acrylic. It ended up costing me $55 for all the acrylic and cutting. Now I just have to glue it together and then silicone it into the tank. So excited to get going on this. I love DIY! Pile of acrylic and the Weld-On (aquarium safe) to bond the acrylic pieces together. Silicone doesn't bond well to acrylic so to stick the piece of acrylic together, I'll be using this stuff. Then to attach the acrylic to the glass is where the silicone comes in. http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3307.jpg.html'> The partition fits nicely in the tank. http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3299.jpg.html'> Overflow and hole for the return bulkhead. http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3301.jpg.html'> Also, the new bulb and mounting legs came for the light fixture today. I took the entire light fixture apart and gave it a really good cleaning before attaching the legs and putting in the new bulb. You should have seen the balls of dust that had built up in the cooling fans. Its all clean now and looking nice. Also, with the new bulb in it, the light color looks great. I compared it to the main tank and it looks to be about the same color, which is awesome because I fine-tuned the white to blue balance on my main tank to exactly what I like. I can't change the balance on the power compact fixture, but its already just right! Yes! http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3283.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3295.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3291.jpg.html'> While I've been typing this post, I heard a loud thud in my bedroom. I got up and walked in there and Lily was in the new tank. I placed her in there for the photos I took earlier, so apparently now she's decided its fun to hang out in there. Here she is being cute. "Well hello! You got this new toy for me right? So why do you seem annoyed that I'm in here?" http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/photo40.jpg.html'> "See, its a fun new toy!" http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/photo42.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Oh, I also got the supplies to build a seahorse feeding station. I want to try using one because its supposed to be convenient and less messy for feeding. Mine will be a combination of these two designs: http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/dscf2447.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/station_2.jpg.html'> Mine will be a clear box that will attach to the tank glass with suction cups. It will have cylindrical rails on 3 sides for the seahorses to hitch to while eating like in the first photo. I bought a 2 foot long hollow rigid tube like in the second photo to deliver the mysis shrimp down into the feeding station. Here are my supplies for building the feeding station: http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_3306.jpg.html'> Link to comment
FlCandy Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Dude! When I'm ready for them I am totally copying everything you've done. Sick and I love ponies! Link to comment
gena Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 You and your DIY skills amaze me!!!!!! And Lily is tooooo cute!!!! I wish I was setting up a pony/fuge tank. I LOVE this!!!!!! Link to comment
Felicia Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Dude! When I'm ready for them I am totally copying everything you've done. Sick and I love ponies! Wait to make sure it works first! But if it works, then you are more than welcome to copy my design. I love them too! So excited to be finally getting some! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.