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Coral Vue Hydros

Dawn's seahorse garden. Farewell 36g bowfront!


vlangel

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I am very pleased with how Adam and Eve are settling. Eve was a little slower to take to the frozen mysis but now they both try to snick it out of the end of the turkey baster! Hopefully I can entice them off their hitches and over to the shell feeder I made for them. I am hatching bb for the pipefish who still don't seem interested in frozen mysis. They are eating some enriched adult brine though. A lot of food gets wasted though. I can see why pony tanks need good filtration and skimming!

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Where did you get your Seagrass?! Love the pony tank!

 

I actually had the feather caulerp and cheato in the sump of my LPS bowfront tank for years. Just when I was adding the pony tank to the system a fellow hobbyist sold me some red flame dragons breath. Then I bought some blue scroll macro from got2 envy. The long flowing red macro came from my LFS on a mushroom rock. I have never bought from Gulf Coast Ecosystems but I hear very good things about them.

Thank you for the kind words regarding my tank. I love it too!

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What a gorgeous garden :).
Thank you Gena. I do love all the color, especially as I am fond of both red and green!

 

I see blue scroll! :haha: Someday I will work up the courage to do a pony tank...someday...
Yes, I totally understand Maria, I held off for a couple of years because of the next level of care that seahorses need. Mostly it was the 2-3 feedings a day when one wants to go on vacation that stumped me. I think I have it figured out. Anyway they are marvelous little creatures!
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My LPS tank must really love getting the left over enriched mysis from the seahorses because my corals have never looked better! Even the little frags I bought last weekend look great and happy.

The ponies also seem happy as they spent about 3 hours in a courtship dance yesterday afternoon/evening! All is well.

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Today my pipefish finally came and ate the frozen mysis. What a relief since they weren't eating only a little adult brine. Maybe they just had to get hungry enough?

I also found my green lettuce nudibranch, "Romaine" in the filter sock in the sump. Good thing for him that I use that filter sock to catch pods, he probably would have starved down there since I don't use it as a fuge anymore.

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I have a major case of seahorse addiction! I have taken some pretty cute pics of the ponies and now all my avatars are seahorses, I changed the screen saver on the Mac to...you guessed it, a seahorse! I can't seem to help myself.

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Post pics! If you don't have space send them to me and I'll upload them to my imageshack account.
OK OK Mark, I'll post some pics. I have dragged my heals about becoming a premium member but I need to do that.
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OK OK Mark, I'll post some pics. I have dragged my heals about becoming a premium member but I need to do that.

PICTURES!!!

AND PONIES!!!

I really want some for my fuge in my upgrade

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Here's lookin' at you kid! The first pic is Adam. He is striped with dots. Eve is the 2nd pic and she has saddles and blazes. She is showing them off in the 3rd pic! They are only the ordinary colors but I still think they are very beautiful in their own right.

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My clam is looking really "happy as a clam". The other frag pics are the new corals I picked up when I went to get adult brine to help settle in Adam and Eve. Its always dangerous going to a LFS that you don't often go to. I had lost my Duncan when I was using water from the dehumidifier and this little Duncan was very colorful. I also loved that blue mushroom. I hope it spreads all over that rock. (Then maybe I won't have to syphon off bubble algae as much, ha ha!).

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One thing puzzles me about the tanks. The pony fuge tank grows a lot more algae than the LPS tank. There is both the green film algae on the glass,(which you can see that the pony tank glass doesn't have near the clarity of the LPS tank even though I cleaned them both yesterday)and a little cyano in the front right in front of a power head of all places! Either its the difference in using very mature LR in one and fairly new cycled dry rock in the other, or its the cuc. The LPS tank has hermits, a cuke and a serpent star,(none of which are safe for ponies so the SH tank has snails, peppermint shrimp and a green lettuce nudibranch,(named "Romaine"). I'm thinking it must be the LR.

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One thing puzzles me about the tanks. The pony fuge tank grows a lot more algae than the LPS tank. There is both the green film algae on the glass,(which you can see that the pony tank glass doesn't have near the clarity of the LPS tank even though I cleaned them both yesterday)and a little cyano in the front right in front of a power head of all places! Either its the difference in using very mature LR in one and fairly new cycled dry rock in the other, or its the cuc. The LPS tank has hermits, a cuke and a serpent star,(none of which are safe for ponies so the SH tank has snails, peppermint shrimp and a green lettuce nudibranch,(named "Romaine"). I'm thinking it must be the LR.

Is it different kelvin lighting

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Is it different kelvin lighting
Oops, you are right. I forgot that the light fixtures have different bulbs. The pony tank still has the stock bulbs, 2 actinic and 2 10k. The LPS tank has an actinic, a purple, a 10k and a coral daylight. Maybe that is the difference????
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Oops, you are right. I forgot that the light fixtures have different bulbs. The pony tank still has the stock bulbs, 2 actinic and 2 10k. The LPS tank has an actinic, a purple, a 10k and a coral daylight. Maybe that is the difference????

Have a look at my thread, I have a 6500k bulb and the corralline has fully covered the bottom after 4 weeks

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Have a look at my thread, I have a 6500k bulb and the corralline has fully covered the bottom after 4 weeks
Wow Toby, that was fast for coralline. I am assuming you did not use Purple Up or any other products? My tanks don't grow coralline very well and when it does grow its the deep maroon variety rather than the purple. I will just keep stirring the sand where the cyano is and keep an eye on my nitrates and phosphates. Ponies are messy eaters so keeping the nutrients low is not possible. Fortunately most macros, softies and LPS like the water a little dirty.
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Wow Toby, that was fast for coralline. I am assuming you did not use Purple Up or any other products? My tanks don't grow coralline very well and when it does grow its the deep maroon variety rather than the purple. I will just keep stirring the sand where the cyano is and keep an eye on my nitrates and phosphates. Ponies are messy eaters so keeping the nutrients low is not possible. Fortunately most macros, softies and LPS like the water a little dirty.

I use no products just a 30% wc every week, when I get fish or sps that will go to 30% wc twice a week. Do you have any recommendations for ponies because im going to get a 16g display and a 14g fuge :) :)

the fuge will be filled with algae and im going to keep phosphates and nitrates down to a minimum. Will they be ok in a 14g with 300gph flow?

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I use no products just a 30% wc every week, when I get fish or sps that will go to 30% wc twice a week. Do you have any recommendations for ponies because im going to get a 16g display and a 14g fuge :) :) the fuge will be filled with algae and im going to keep phosphates and nitrates down to a minimum. Will they be ok in a 14g with 300gph flow?

A 14g is too small for any of the "regular" seahorse varieties. Seahorses need height especially to stay healthy. Nearly all seahorse keepers and forums recommend a 30g tank/pair that is minimum 20" high. Unfortunately a 14g is too big for the dwarf variety of seahorses. They need a small tank so their food, (which is primarily newly hatched baby brine) can be fed densely several Xs a day. I guess they aren't really hunters, they just wait for the bb to float past their nose. Anyway it would require too large amounts of bb to be cultured daily in a 14g.

I chose the "regular" seahorses because they now are captive bred and will eat frozen mysis. CB are a little pricey but they have been raised for many generations in aquarium conditions so their chances of long term survival is much better than a wild caught pony. I also chose H erectus because I read that they are the hardiest and the best beginner seahorse. Finally its important that a seahorse tank is kept in the lower temperature range or the ponies are vulnerable to bacterial infections. I guess since they don't have scales like fish they succumb more easily to pathogens. I keep my tank 71-74 degrees and that requires a chiller. Seahorse.org has a lot of good info as does fusejaw.com on seahorse care.

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A 14g is too small for any of the "regular" seahorse varieties. Seahorses need height especially to stay healthy. Nearly all seahorse keepers and forums recommend a 30g tank/pair that is minimum 20" high. Unfortunately a 14g is too big for the dwarf variety of seahorses. They need a small tank so their food, (which is primarily newly hatched baby brine) can be fed densely several Xs a day. I guess they aren't really hunters, they just wait for the bb to float past their nose. Anyway it would require too large amounts of bb to be cultured daily in a 14g.I chose the "regular" seahorses because they now are captive bred and will eat frozen mysis. CB are a little pricey but they have been raised for many generations in aquarium conditions so their chances of long term survival is much better than a wild caught pony. I also chose H erectus because I read that they are the hardiest and the best beginner seahorse. Finally its important that a seahorse tank is kept in the lower temperature range or the ponies are vulnerable to bacterial infections. I guess since they don't have scales like fish they succumb more easily to pathogens. I keep my tank 71-74 degrees and that requires a chiller. Seahorse.org has a lot of good info as does fusejaw.com on seahorse care.

Ok thanks, ,maybe they are best left away from me

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O my, tonight I noticed my curlique anemone is dividing. I don't know if the Sheriff, my pistol shrimp will host both nems or if one of them will vacate the premises? If I can remove it without injuring it I'd be willing to give it to anyone who would pay the shipping. There is a pic of it in the invert section under Anemones.

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Well I was wrong about the curlique nem, it never did divide. However my rbta did divide. Now I have 3 which is really too many in a 36g tank with other corals. I make sure its healthy and take it to my LFS for credit.

 

I tried to teach Adam and Eve to snick mysis from a feeding dish today. Eve got the idea but she likes to see her food move so that's a problem. Adam didn't even get the idea. Maybe he isn't the smartest pony in the barn?

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