dixie reefer Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Who has ordered from kp aquatics? I'm thinking about placing a big order with them but want to know everyone's experiences with them, first. Quote Link to comment
Fence13 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I've not heard much about them. That generally makes me a bit nervous. After several irritating experiences with some vendors, I'm very cautious about ordering from new small shops. I also got the approval for the seahorse tank to be the new third tank in our household!! Does spousal consent work if you're not married yet? I'm also sure that any girlfriend that lets you get a seahorse tank is probably worth keeping around for awhile. 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 KP Aquatics Is awesome, I've only bought their uncured live rock so far but so many people that have gorgs and sponges on this site get them from KP because the pricing and quality is the best. I'm sure more are going to chime in because most of the seahorse tanks are KP Aquatic filled. 2 Quote Link to comment
Geekzeek Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Are seahorses pretty hard to keep? Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hard to keep? Not if they are captive bred. Wild caught seahorses, yes, are quite difficult to keep, and tend to die prematurely. Captive bred seahorses have been successfully kept even by complete beginners, so long as proper caution was taken when planning and setting up the aquarium. The most difficult aspect of seahorses is probably managing the high bioloads they produce in an aquarium. Why do you ask? 1 Quote Link to comment
Geekzeek Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Was thinking about one for when I setup the 1.5g. Quote Link to comment
flypenfly Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Do Seahorses get ich? I have a tank that had ich that I'm leaving fallow for six to seven weeks, just have inverts in there. Quote Link to comment
RC1313 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Was thinking about one for when I setup the 1.5g. Are you thinking about dwarf seahorses? I don't know much about them but IIRC most seahorses need like a 15 gallon column tank min. Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Are you thinking about dwarf seahorses? I don't know much about them but IIRC most seahorses need like a 15 gallon column tank min. Full sized seahorses actually need 30g minimum. The height thing is not actually a requirement for their well being, but rather a requirement for them to be able to breed, because their mating dance requires quite a bit of vertical space (roughly three times their height). Dwarf seahorses, difficulty wise, are somewhere between wild caught seahorses and captive bred seahorses. Though if you spend the extra money to captive bred dwarves, they are a bit easier. The issue with dwarves is that the bio load they produce is incredibly high for such a small space. Managing that is the most difficult part of keeping them, in my opinion. Daily brine shrimp hatching can get tiring, too. I would recommend reading the article on Fused Jaw for more information about the subject. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fence13 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Question for the masses: How do you handle the low flow requirements for the seahorse tank? Do you use multiple small powerheads or one larger one on the side (Like an MP10)? Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Question for the masses: How do you handle the low flow requirements for the seahorse tank? Do you use multiple small powerheads or one larger one on the side (Like an MP10)? The "low flow requirement" is a common misconception about seahorses. They are not as strong of swimmers as, say, wrasse, but they can handle high flow. The key is to have one or two areas of low flow where they can rest when they tire of playing in the high flow areas. Everyone who has high flow in their seahorse tanks agrees that their 'horses love playing in the current. The only concern with high flow, other than having some areas of low flow, is making sure that the flow is not so high that it blasts the seahorses against the tank wall, which is normally not a problem. That said, I have known people to do it both ways, some (particularly those with smaller tanks) use just one strong powerhead, and others use multiple less strong powerheads. I personally will be using two 425 gph Hydor Koralia powerheads in my 40g AIO to provide the bulk of my flow. 1 Quote Link to comment
The Aquarist Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hello My seahorse eats her food, but when she snicks the frozen mysis up, she does a coughing motion, like another snick. It looks as if she is trying to swallow it down. Sometimes she spits the food out, but that is rare. I've had her for almost a week now. Tank is 20 gallons. Quote Link to comment
dixie reefer Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Is the food getting stuck? Sounds like it could be too big. Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 It could be too big. If you haven't already, try switching to Hikari Mini Mysis. What species is your seahorse? Medium sized seahorses (H. Fuscus, H. Capensis, H. Fisheri, etc) are sometimes too small to eat full sized mysis. Particularly H. Fisheri, which have an adult size of 2-3", if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment
The Aquarist Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 She's not too big. She's an erectus seahorse. I don't think the food is too big because she even does it for the small ones. However, for the small ones, she only does the coughing motion one time. Anyways, she is eating the food. Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Hm. You may try posting this on seahorse.org. Unfortunately, my knowledge in this area is limited, but the folks at the .org (Dan U, for example) will be able to help. Quote Link to comment
dixie reefer Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Totally off topic but, I got the new pony tank yesterday!! Head over to my tank thread and check it out! http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/331321-dixies-mixed-reef-turned-pony-palace/ 1 Quote Link to comment
Fence13 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Very nice tank and also great looking horses! I was just able to pick out the rock for mine today. Got about 20lbs or so of pukani dry rock for $2/lb. Great deal, now unfortunately I have to wait until I get the rest of the equipment figured out. 2 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Who has ordered from kp aquatics? I'm thinking about placing a big order with them but want to know everyone's experiences with them, first. A large portion of the stuff in my tank is from KP Aquatics. They're awesome! Everything has always arrived happy and healthy. I've never had a single loss out of like 5 different orders from them. I even had an order get stuck an extra night during shipping and everything was still healthy and happy when I finally got the package. Definitely speaks to how healthy KPA's corals are. They have great prices for very generously sized corals. The gorgonians are much larger than any I've purchased locally. They have great customer service and always throw in some awesome freebies with your order. I really don't like ordering livestock and coral online, but I really love KPA. They're the only online vendor I order from regularly. Do Seahorses get ich? I have a tank that had ich that I'm leaving fallow for six to seven weeks, just have inverts in there. Seahorses can get ich although it often isn't visible on their skin like on other fish. You may not see it, but it can get in their gills and cause other symptoms. I'd definitely make sure to leave that tank fallow for a full 6 weeks to make sure all the ich has died off. You definitely don't want to infect your seahorses with ich. Question for the masses: How do you handle the low flow requirements for the seahorse tank? Do you use multiple small powerheads or one larger one on the side (Like an MP10)? The whole low flow thing is definitely not true. Seahorses can handle and actually enjoy quite a bit of flow. The trick is just to design the tank so that there is brisk flow in most areas, but there are also calmer areas where the seahorses can go to rest. I run one MP10 set on continuous mode at about 60% power on my 30 gallon cube seahorse tank, so its quite a bit of flow and my seahorses have no issue with that much flow and often play in the flow near the powerhead. Its really going to depend on your system and your personal preferences whether you want to use one larger or several smaller powerheads. Totally off topic but, I got the new pony tank yesterday!! Head over to my tank thread and check it out! http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/331321-dixies-mixed-reef-turned-pony-palace/ Yay! Exciting! I'll go check it out I've got a new video of my seahorse tank! 3 Quote Link to comment
JLynn Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Nice to see your ponies doing well, Felicia! Bit off topic, but have you heard about Tami Wiess' "Snowshine" Erectus? If not, check out her article on them at fusedjaw.com! They are lovely! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Nice to see your ponies doing well, Felicia! Bit off topic, but have you heard about Tami Wiess' "Snowshine" Erectus? If not, check out her article on them at fusedjaw.com! They are lovely! No, I have not! I'll have to go check them out Here's the article JLynn was talking about if anyone is interested. Misty definitely looks like her snowshine ponies! http://www.fusedjaw.com/breeding/introducing-the-snowshine-seahorses/ Quote Link to comment
Fence13 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Did everyone see that Seahorses got the main cover of Coral Magazine for the Jan/Feb 2014 issue? Haven't read it yet, but I am still rather excited. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Did everyone see that Seahorses got the main cover of Coral Magazine for the Jan/Feb 2014 issue? Haven't read it yet, but I am still rather excited. I saw that! I don't have a Coral subscription but I plan to buy that issue. Is it at the stores yet? Quote Link to comment
Fence13 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I saw that! I don't have a Coral subscription but I plan to buy that issue. Is it at the stores yet? It was delivered to me today. So I would hope so! Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 It was delivered to me today. So I would hope so! I'll have to stop by the LFS sometime soon then and buy a copy. Quote Link to comment
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