Dawn's seahorse garden. Farewell 36g bowfront!

[gena]

Oh no!!!! Not the yellow polyps! I hope you can figure it out. I'll do some searching too and see if anything comes up. I'd hate for you to lose those beauties!!!!!

Has your lighting changed at all? Seems to be lots of people attributing declining yellow polyps to a light issue. I don't remember what lighting you run but if it's T5 maybe it's time to change the bulbs?

[vlangel]

Oh no!!!! Not the yellow polyps! I hope you can figure it out. I'll do some searching too and see if anything comes up. I'd hate for you to lose those beauties!!!!!Has your lighting changed at all? Seems to be lots of people attributing declining yellow polyps to a light issue. I don't remember what lighting you run but if it's T5 maybe it's time to change the bulbs?

It is T5 and the bulbs are getting near the age to be changed so maybe. I could probably fix that tomorrow if I can get my car out of the driveway(we have ice).

[teenyreef]

I hope replacing the bulbs takes care of the problem!

[Sk8n Reefer]

How old are the bulbs- I hear change T5 every 6 months, 9month or a year

[Felicia]

Oh no! That is weird to hear that the yellow polyps are receding. I thought those were supposed to be beautiful weeds! Could your water maybe be super clean because of the new sump set-up and they aren't getting enough nutrients?

[Rural]

From what I read on RC on a thread that got into it pretty extensively, instead of doing it the way Arce did it, (and that is what I was going to do), one can use a volt meter and stick 1 prong in the ground of the outlet and the other in the water when 1 piece of equipment is plugged in and measure any current in the water. That way you can see what any equipment is leaking into the water. That sounds less unnerving and I think my hubby has one of those that I got him for Christmas many moons ago!

 

 

Yes, that's much safer than sticking your hand in!

 

 

Merry Christmas to you as well Mark!

 

I couldn't believe it when I read your post because one of the guests that we invited had that same gadget that you showed pictured, (the outlet tester) in his car. Dave got his voltage meter and they set out for our basement to fix my problem. First we tested all the outlets, (both the upstairs display tank and then the basement sump). We decided since both tanks are hooked together any problems with either could impact both. They were good. Then Dave used his volt meter by putting 1 prong in the ground of the outlet and 1 prong in the tank water. It read 110 volts!!! It was the same in both tanks. So we began unplugging equipment 1 by 1 to find the bad actor and it turned out to be my chiller, much to my dismay. That is fairly new, (bought in June) and the most expensive piece of equipment I have. Steve our friend asked to see the owners manual and while he was reading the manual he read that the chiller should be grounded. He was testing the timer strip cord I was using and the extension cord and he discovered that the ground prong was broke off on the extension cord. Can you believe it? We switch out the extension cord for another and the volt meter read 0.

All I know is that I am so glad that I never was grounded good or I might have felt more than a little zap! Anyhow I don't think I should have any more trouble.

 

glad you figured it out. 'round here we dont have those fancy meters to test our electricity... we use a long blade of grass or wheat and you place it on the electric fence and slowly advance it, decreasing the distance to your hand. once close enough, you will feel a little tingle if it is on.

 

again this is electric livestock fences but the results shouldnt be THAT different. just have a defibrillator ready!

 

I have been watching the BRS 50 weeks of reefing with the 180g tank. Last week was 29 and Ryan talked about how alk, CA, and Mag work with each other and how they impact your tank. This week he discussed kalwasser. Its hard to believe but I never really considered using that method to keep up my alk an CA until now. I guess that is because my usage was low and slow before. If changing to reef crystals does not remedy most of my tank's need for alk and CA, then I think I will try kalkwasser in my ATO. Of course that probably should including some sort of redundancy in case the ATO fails like a float switch in the sump to shut the ATO pump off.

 

i'm with kat on this one. dosing pumps have made a huge difference in my tanks.

[Felicia]

If you decide to dose something like B-Ionic like I do, a dosing pump is definitely the way to go. I was always dosing by hand and would end up forgetting or something because the dosing pumps were so expensive. Then I got the BRS peristaltic dosing pumps, which were fine but they had to be plugged into some type of timer, so I was using cheap light timers. I had several issues with those light timers getting messed up and overdosing my tank. I now have the Jebao DP-4 and I love it. I haven't had a single issue and its made in the same factory as the expensive multichannel dosing pumps. Plus you can buy it on Amazon for only $68 plus free prime shipping.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Programmable-Auto-Dosing-DP-4/dp/B014KKCILE

[vlangel]

I hope replacing the bulbs takes care of the problem!

Me too, teeny!

How old are the bulbs- I hear change T5 every 6 months, 9month or a year

I think they are about 7 months old, so not ancient but getting to place of needing changed. Because most of my coral are low light I have always waited for 9 months but I don't want to lose the yellow polyps so I will try new bulbs first.

Oh no! That is weird to hear that the yellow polyps are receding. I thought those were supposed to be beautiful weeds! Could your water maybe be super clean because of the new sump set-up and they aren't getting enough nutrients?

I have wondered about that Felicia. I am trying to let the tank go a little bit longer but of course Adam and Eve are my first priority. I could try feeding the tank but again I worry about Adam and Eve. If it comes down to choosing whose needs get met, well its no contest...Adam and Eve come first!

[vlangel]

glad you figured it out. 'round here we dont have those fancy meters to test our electricity... we use a long blade of grass or wheat and you place it on the electric fence and slowly advance it, decreasing the distance to your hand. once close enough, you will feel a little tingle if it is on.

 

again this is electric livestock fences but the results shouldnt be THAT different. just have a defibrillator ready!

 

 

 

i'm with kat on this one. dosing pumps have made a huge difference in my tanks.

Ha ha, we had horses when I was a kid and we used the blade of grass trick all the time to test the electric fence to see if it was operating! I knew just which types of grasses were better conductors than others. That brings back memories.

[vlangel]

If you decide to dose something like B-Ionic like I do, a dosing pump is definitely the way to go. I was always dosing by hand and would end up forgetting or something because the dosing pumps were so expensive. Then I got the BRS peristaltic dosing pumps, which were fine but they had to be plugged into some type of timer, so I was using cheap light timers. I had several issues with those light timers getting messed up and overdosing my tank. I now have the Jebao DP-4 and I love it. I haven't had a single issue and its made in the same factory as the expensive multichannel dosing pumps. Plus you can buy it on Amazon for only $68 plus free prime shipping.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Programmable-Auto-Dosing-DP-4/dp/B014KKCILE

Thanks Felicia. So does the dosing pump dose straight B-ionic 2 part? Any chance the 2 part could be added to the freshwater ATO reservior?

[Felicia]

Thanks Felicia. So does the dosing pump dose straight B-ionic 2 part? Any chance the 2 part could be added to the freshwater ATO reservior?

B-ionic can't be added to the ATO reservoir as far as I'm aware. I'm really not as knowledgeable on the kalkwasser in the top off water method. It's always seemed so not exact to me since you have to know how much you lose to evaporation each day. For me that changes a lot because I don't have central heat and air because our weather is so mild. But since my house can be anywhere from the 50's to the high 70's, my evaporation amount changes constantly. Also depending on if it's rainy/foggy or dry, my humidity changes too and again my evaporation amount changes. The pump I sent the link to is more for the direct dosing method. I use B-ionic 2 part and magnesium and you just adjust until you figure out exactly how many mLs of each you need each day to maintain the level you want. Then you set it and forget it. I have 3 little dosing containers that hold each of the 3 chemicals. The only time you need to adjust is once you've had a lot of coral growth or if you get new things that are using Ca and Alk more quickly.

[vlangel]

B-ionic can't be added to the ATO reservoir as far as I'm aware. I'm really not as knowledgeable on the kalkwasser in the top off water method. It's always seemed so not exact to me since you have to know how much you lose to evaporation each day. For me that changes a lot because I don't have central heat and air because our weather is so mild. But since my house can be anywhere from the 50's to the high 70's, my evaporation amount changes constantly. Also depending on if it's rainy/foggy or dry, my humidity changes too and again my evaporation amount changes. The pump I sent the link to is more for the direct dosing method. I use B-ionic 2 part and magnesium and you just adjust until you figure out exactly how many mLs of each you need each day to maintain the level you want. Then you set it and forget it. I have 3 little dosing containers that hold each of the 3 chemicals. The only time you need to adjust is once you've had a lot of coral growth or if you get new things that are using Ca and Alk more quickly.

Thanks Felicia, that is very helpful. I think I like your method the best so far because I don't trust my rate of evaporation to be as constant either. Today I tested for everything, (that I have test kits for). I was very pleased to see that everything was where I wanted it to be. PO4 was less than .25ppm, nitrates were 5ppm, alk 8dKh, CA 410 and mag 1280. I am using Reef Crystals now so that is helping.

[Felicia]

Thanks Felicia, that is very helpful. I think I like your method the best so far because I don't trust my rate of evaporation to be as constant either. Today I tested for everything, (that I have test kits for). I was very pleased to see that everything was where I wanted it to be. PO4 was less than .25ppm, nitrates were 5ppm, alk 8dKh, CA 410 and mag 1280. I am using Reef Crystals now so that is helping.

Glad to hear the reef crystals are helping. If you can avoid dosing and just do water changes with the reef crystals, that will definitely be the easier route. I didn't want to commit to dosing, but once I got my current dosing pump and got it all automated its super easy and my levels stay really stable. This is definitely a bigger issue for me though with the gigantic clams sucking up all the alk.

[ReefWeeds]

Here is a pic of the seahorse tank with the green slimer in the center-back. Who knows, maybe it make it after all. Thats good news but I also have some bad news. My beautiful yellow polyps are slowly receeding and I don't know why. I have tried feeding them and I am at a loss at what the problem is.

 

That slimer DOES look like it is making a comeback!!! You have the prettiest mushrooms in that tank. They're all so pretty. That one near the food dish is beautiful!

[vlangel]

That slimer DOES look like it is making a comeback!!! You have the prettiest mushrooms in that tank. They're all so pretty. That one near the food dish is beautiful!

Its crazy about the slimer. I originally thought it would like to be high in the tank but it seems to like it down on the sandbed.

Thanks, I like how the mushrooms look too. Most of my coral are the super easy and what some folks even consider nuisance coral but I like them. With the water being 70° I gotta take what will live in those conditions.

[vlangel]

I have been thinking about Adam and Eve's nutrition lately. They literally eat like horses but both are extremely picky. Actually the only frozen food they will eat is frozen mysis and brine shrimp. They will eat most anything live that is small enough for them to snick. To vary their nutrition I gut load live food but I do not feed live often except when I go away. I think I will try mixing a very small amount of krill pieces among their mysis. Maybe they wont notice while they are chowing down and inadvertantly eat a little until they get accustomed to eating a slightly more varied diet.

[teenyreef]

I have been thinking about Adam and Eve's nutrition lately. They literally eat like horses but both are extremely picky. Actually the only frozen food they will eat is frozen mysis and brine shrimp. They will eat most anything live that is small enough for them to snick. To vary their nutrition I gut load live food but I do not feed live often except when I go away. I think I will try mixing a very small amount of krill pieces among their mysis. Maybe they wont notice while they are chowing down and inadvertantly eat a little until they get accustomed to eating a slightly more varied diet.

Good idea! Kind of like sneaking vegetables into the kids' favorite foods

[vlangel]

Good idea! Kind of like sneaking vegetables into the kids' favorite foods

Exactly!:-)

[Felicia]

The slimer really is looking way better! I missed that originally when I looked at the FTS.

 

Are krill very nutritious for seahorses? I know for lionfish they are a good food for weaning because a lot of predator fish will go for it before other frozen food, but its not nutritionally valuable and can cause issues with their digestion if you feed too much. No idea if that would apply to seahorses though.

[vlangel]

The slimer really is looking way better! I missed that originally when I looked at the FTS.

 

Are krill very nutritious for seahorses? I know for lionfish they are a good food for weaning because a lot of predator fish will go for it before other frozen food, but its not nutritionally valuable and can cause issues with their digestion if you feed too much. No idea if that would apply to seahorses though.

 

 

 

O I did not know that about krill. I only know some other keepers feed it on occasion. I wasn't planning on feeding it often, just occasionally. I do feed frozen enriched omega brine shrimp on occasion too. I know brine shrimp on their own are almost no nutrition but I am hoping that there is some good stuff in omega brine shrimp. I only feed that once every 2 weeks or less though. I make mysis their staple.

[vlangel]

Bad news folks, this morning I see both Adam and Eve have bacterial infections! :-( This is disheartening as I am shocked that my husbandry is inadequate but there must be a lapse somewhere that is allowing pathogenic bacteria to get a foothold. Both seahorses are in QT being treated with Furan 2. I have enough for 1 round of treatment. I will try to get some more in the mean time. The good thing is caring for my ponies in QT is easier with my new sump and water change system. I treat them in a 5 gallon salt bucket with some fake plants for hitches. Everyday i will get fresh salt water from my brute can to fill a new empty bucket, add the furan 2 and then the seahorses and their plants. Then i can just dump the other bucket they just used down the drain.

 

I will take the QT time to syphon the sand bed and do some extra good husbandry on the DT tank like lifting the rockwork and cleaning under it.

[Kijho]

Oh no! Really sorry to hear, but wishing for a smooth and speedy recovery !

[gena]

Sorry to hear, Dawn! Sounds like you have it under control though. Your seahorses are lucky to have you .

[markalot]

I hope the horses recover quickly!

 

 

PO4 was less than .25ppm, nitrates were 5ppm,

 

IMO this is the issue with the yellow polyps. Slimer doing better, polyps receding. Can you get a Salifert PO4 kit and test with it to get a more accurate reading?

[yoshii]

Bad news folks, this morning I see both Adam and Eve have bacterial infections! :-( This is disheartening as I am shocked that my husbandry is inadequate but there must be a lapse somewhere that is allowing pathogenic bacteria to get a foothold. Both seahorses are in QT being treated with Furan 2. I have enough for 1 round of treatment. I will try to get some more in the mean time. The good thing is caring for my ponies in QT is easier with my new sump and water change system. I treat them in a 5 gallon salt bucket with some fake plants for hitches. Everyday i will get fresh salt water from my brute can to fill a new empty bucket, add the furan 2 and then the seahorses and their plants. Then i can just dump the other bucket they just used down the drain.

 

I will take the QT time to syphon the sand bed and do some extra good husbandry on the DT tank like lifting the rockwork and cleaning under it.

Oh no!

 

Good thing they've got an experienced fishy mom.

I don't know too much about seahorses, what are the main causes for them to get a bacterial infection "out of nowhere"?

*catching up on the last few pages*

Noooo not the yellow polyps! They are so gorgeous!