markalot Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Glad to hear everything is good. My automation works well but it's always nice to get home and see everything is ok. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Glad to hear everything is good. My automation works well but it's always nice to get home and see everything is ok. AMEN to that! I was catching up with your thread and I may need to get one of those web cam things so I can sneak a quick peek at the tanks from time to time. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 It is going to be rainy here in western PA so I think I will do a deep clean including maintenancing my mag 9.5 return pump, the koralias and changing the bulb in the UV. It's always scarey to me when I take plumbing apart, ya just never know when you put it back together if it'll leak. I will keep you posted! Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Good luck! Thanks teeny! It's 1 pm and I have yet to take anything apart, (do you think I am stalling?). I did scrub, scrape and brush both tanks thoroughly at least. A friend is suppose to go dog walking with me if it does not rain. The whims of the weather will determine what happens with my tank today! Link to comment
markalot Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Nice and clear, tank looks great! Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Well I stalled long enough so nothing got taken apart! I did take the pooch for a walk however. I also decided to take a pic of Adam hiding behind the macros! Nice and clear, tank looks great! Thanks Mark. The macros are starting to take off which is helping the tank look more mature. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Frenzy at the feeding trough! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 So cute! Sorry you didn't get your overhaul done but judging from how well everything is doing it seems you're safe with procrastinating for a bit Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 So cute! Sorry you didn't get your overhaul done but judging from how well everything is doing it seems you're safe with procrastinating for a bit I have good flow so most of the overhaul was to extend the life of my pumps. UV s although very helpful for seahorses are not absolutely necessary. It looks like a lot of rain next week for western PA so I think I will get lots more opportunities! Link to comment
jball1125 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 This is pure awesome, love it! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Tanks looking great- love that pipefish ? Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 This is pure awesome, love it! Thanks jball. Ponies are so sweet and charming but they are a bit of work! Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Tanks looking great- love that pipefish The tanks are getting there Sk8n. Thanks! I love those pipefish too and they are so easy to care for. They come to the feeding shell and just help themselves to frozen mysis and of course they keep the pod population in check!They are captive bred from Ocean Rider and were only $40 each. Of course then there is shipping but I was ordering the seahorses anyway. They need a 30 gallon tank but could go in with peaceful fish in a mixed reef from what I read. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 The tanks are getting there Sk8n. Thanks! I love those pipefish too and they are so easy to care for. They come to the feeding shell and just help themselves to frozen mysis and of course they keep the pod population in check! They are captive bred from Ocean Rider and were only $40 each. Of course then there is shipping but I was ordering the seahorses anyway. They need a 30 gallon tank but could go in with peaceful fish in a mixed reef from what I read. Tell me about the feeding shell- you've set up an area where they feed everyday. Do you have a picture? Why such a large tank- are they constantly swimming? Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Tell me about the feeding shell- you've set up an area where they feed everyday. Do you have a picture? Why such a large tank- are they constantly swimming? Actually the last picture you were looking at is of the feeding shell. It's is just a half of a clam shell placed in a low flow area of my tank. I set it up for the seahorses because they were wasting a lot of the frozen mysis when I just fed them from a turkey baster. They would ponder and watch the mysis just drift on by. By putting the mysis in the half clam shell I can suck out any uneaten mysis. Anyhow, the pipefish just started to hang near the clam shell too and began feeding from it as well. I am not sure why a 30 gallon tank is recommended, (that might be for a pair). Let me go back and read the info from Ocean Rider to make sure what I told you was accurate. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Tell me about the feeding shell- you've set up an area where they feed everyday. Do you have a picture? Why such a large tank- are they constantly swimming? OK, so I was wrong about some things. Sorry, they are $49 each now but they only need 20 gallons for a pair. They should have cooler tempatures like seahorses. My tanks run 71-74 degrees. That is cooler than most reef tanks. Probably a little warmer would be alright if the husbandry is excellant. For seahorses the reason is to discourage dangerous bacteria from getting a foothold. Since pipefish are related to seahorses they must be prone to bacterial infections as well. That would mean bigger water changes too plus an oversized skimmer is helpful. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Your pipefish are adorable! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 OK, so I was wrong about some things. Sorry, they are $49 each now but they only need 20 gallons for a pair. They should have cooler tempatures like seahorses. My tanks run 71-74 degrees. That is cooler than most reef tanks. Probably a little warmer would be alright if the husbandry is excellant. For seahorses the reason is to discourage dangerous bacteria from getting a foothold. Since pipefish are related to seahorses they must be prone to bacterial infections as well. That would mean bigger water changes too plus an oversized skimmer is helpful. Thanks for the info! Captive bred is awesome so they are acclimated to eating prepared foods. Do you have to run a chiller in the summer? That's a pretty low temp. I'll have to go to their website and check it out ? they are awesome creatures Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Yes, I have always run a chiller because until a month ago we didn't have AC. Even here in PA we get summer temps of 90's on occasion. I used to run my reef at 78-80 degrees. I took all last summer to slowly cool the reef tank down to seahorse safe temps. Nothing suffered at all which was surprising to me. I at least expected the coral to slow down growth wise but it didn't happen. Even my crocea clam is still growing well. I don't know if SPS would tolerate such cool water though. My corals are LPS and softies. Link to comment
flobees Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hi vlangel I am busy starting to gather equipment for my seahorse tank and I saw your pic. May I ask what are those green tall grass like looking plant at the back of your tank? Want to get some and start growing them in the new tank. Thanks Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi vlangel I am busy starting to gather equipment for my seahorse tank and I saw your pic. May I ask what are those green tall grass like looking plant at the back of your tank? Want to get some and start growing them in the new tank. Thanks It's a variety of caulerpa, very common. I call it feather caulerpa. It's a good nutrient export along with providing hitches for the seahorses. Beware though, without staying on top of the pruning it can get very invasive and also go sexual and spew milky spores all over. Continual pruning prevents it from going sexual. Cool tank! Thank you for the kind words! Link to comment
ml86743 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Anytime Ill be following along! Link to comment
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