Dawn's pony garden.

[vlangel]

3 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

 You are doing a wonderful job of trying to save her. The rest is  up to her. I hope she eats soon. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Thanks Deb and glad to do the updates.  I feel like she has a whole cheering section in her court and that encourages me.

[vlangel]

18 hours ago, Sharbuckle said:

I hope you can get her eating! What luck that she ended up with you. Fingers crossed. 

Thanks Sharbuckle.  I hope so too.

[vlangel]

18 minutes ago, Subsea said:

Glad you got electricity back.  While I take great comfort  in being able to get off the grid and knowing how to live off the land, I take greater comfort  in microwave ovens & iPhones.

Me too.  I am like you in that it is fun until I want to heat up my cooled off coffee in the microwave!  How did I ever become so spoiled? ?

[Orangutran]

Baby seahorse still alive and kicking?

[vlangel]

4 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Baby seahorse still alive and kicking?

Yes, and I think I saw an orange-ish tinge to its belly.  I remember when I was raising seahorse fry, after they ate their bellies were orange-ish from all the bbs.  Maybe I imagined it but it is the most positive sign so far.  She might look a wee bit fatter too.

[Sharbuckle]

43 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Yes, and I think I saw an orange-ish tinge to its belly.  I remember when I was raising seahorse fry, after they ate their bellies were orange-ish from all the bbs.  Maybe I imagined it but it is the most positive sign so far.  She might look a wee bit fatter too.

Good news! 

[deetu]

On 11/14/2018 at 11:00 AM, vlangel said:

Those of you who read my journal on the fish fortress may have read that I upgraded the flow in that tank.  Since that freed up the tunze, I moved it to the pony tank.  It packs a punch in the 30 gallon XH since I have it at full flow which is around 1500 gph. I have it pointed almost straight down so as to not slam the seahorses into the rock structure.  It is very effectively lifting particulate up into the water column to be filtered.  The rest I will syphon off the bottom every other day.

It's funny how everyone does something different.  I got a pretty deep shell that I used as a feeding trough.  I put a piece of clear ridged pipe right in the corner of the tank going into it.  I would use a turkey baster to push it slowly down the tube into the bowl. They had places to hitch on while eating and would wait patiently there for me to feed.  It kept the tank a lot cleaner being able to spot feed like that.  They would clean their plate 😁

My first shell came from a crab stuffed shell in grocery store that I bought "for my husband" for dinner. He was touched I thought of him until he saw the shell in the tank lol  Another came from cruise ship that had oysters appetizer.  They cleaned them thru a steam cleaning system without detergent for me.

Miss my horses...  should have held out for the bigger tank lol

 

Time to name the little one 🤗

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, deetu said:

😁

 

 

Time to name the little one 🤗

I know, I was thinking the same thing.  I am pondering possibilities.

[Snow_Phoenix]

That's one lucky baby seahorse. She could've wound up anywhere, but she came to the right home, to the right person. Hope the little one pulls through and makes it to adulthood. 

[vlangel]

7 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

That's one lucky baby seahorse. She could've wound up anywhere, but she came to the right home, to the right person. Hope the little one pulls through and makes it to adulthood. 

I think she is an adult Snow.  She does not look like the erectus babies I raised 4 years ago.  She is stubbier and chubbier.  I think she is a dwarf seahorse.

 

I also think she is eating because her belly looked orange-ish.  Baby brine shrimp will do that.

[vlangel]

Travelling can be stressful with a marine tank but seahorses present their own special problems.  Mainly feeding but I have figured that out with using ghost shrimp and my sister willing to come once a day to care for them.  We are visiting our son and his family over the weekend and its not the best time as it turns out...

 

Delilah has been off the last several days.  She just doesn't seem sharp.  She wants to eat but then nice big pieces of mysis drift right past her.  I have no idea what is wrong.  I guess I need to move her in the 10g to QT her.  I will not ask my sister to treat her however because that is rigorous changing out 5 gallons of water every day.  She will either make it or she wont. 😕

 

On top of that I have this dwarf seahorse that came with the ghost shrimp.  She seems to be doing well but she needs more care than my sister can provide with 1 stop a day.  I have decided to ask a neighbor to care for it.  I will have the bbs all hatched and enriched ahead of time, then keep them in the fridge to slow their bodily functions down.  Hopefully my friend can strain a 1/3 cup full 2Xs a day with WCs following.  I am hoping that will sustain the dwarf but I really don't know.  

 

The reef tank seems like a cinch compared to the seahorses.  I will just have some pre-measured food that gets dumped in.  I may even try out my auto feeder.

[Tamberav]

Goodluck! It must be nerve wracking to leave them. Sea horses are so beautiful but you basically summed up why I have never tried any. I have no one to help care for them either 😞 Your neighbor and sister are awesome for trying to help!

[vlangel]

8 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Goodluck! It must be nerve wracking to leave them. Sea horses are so beautiful but you basically summed up why I have never tried any. I have no one to help care for them either 😞 Your neighbor and sister are awesome for trying to help!

Yes, they are.  I own them big time.

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Goodluck! It must be nerve wracking to leave them. Sea horses are so beautiful but you basically summed up why I have never tried any. I have no one to help care for them either 😞 Your neighbor and sister are awesome for trying to help!

I tried Pipefish twice - Dragonface Pipefish once for my SW tank & brackish pipes for my brackish tank (years ago). Maintenance was very, very difficult and the greatest challenge was keeping them healthy rather than well-fed (for me). I lost the dragonface pipes to a bacterial infection, and the brackish pipes 'vanished' one by one from my tank, so I presumed they died as well. I could feed them, just couldn't keep them. I don't think I'll try pipes or ponies anytime soon. I love the look of bluestripe pipes, but I don't think I have the skill to keep them yet. 

 

---

 

Love your ponies btw, Dawn. Post more pics! 

 

P.S. I just googled up dwarf pony pics and my gosh, they're so tiny and adorable! Come in all sorts of colors and patterns too! 

[vlangel]

On 11/21/2018 at 10:32 PM, Snow_Phoenix said:

I tried Pipefish twice - Dragonface Pipefish once for my SW tank & brackish pipes for my brackish tank (years ago). Maintenance was very, very difficult and the greatest challenge was keeping them healthy rather than well-fed (for me). I lost the dragonface pipes to a bacterial infection, and the brackish pipes 'vanished' one by one from my tank, so I presumed they died as well. I could feed them, just couldn't keep them. I don't think I'll try pipes or ponies anytime soon. I love the look of bluestripe pipes, but I don't think I have the skill to keep them yet. 

 

---

 

Love your ponies btw, Dawn. Post more pics! 

 

P.S. I just googled up dwarf pony pics and my gosh, they're so tiny and adorable! Come in all sorts of colors and patterns too! 

From my understanding pipes have a lot of the same vulnerabilities as seahorses, especially in regards to bacterial infections.  

 

I had CB banded pipes from Ocean Rider and they lived about 2 years for me.  I have no idea what a normal lifespan is so I can't say if I did well with them or not.  I did enjoy them and may get them again.

[vlangel]

I just returned today from visiting kids out of state.  It was such a flurry of activity Thanksgiving, then packing and preparing the aquariums that I was not sure if I would come home to tanks and fish in good shape or not.  Surprisingly, everyone was good.  Even Delilah who had gotten moved into QT while we were gone.  In fact she is so much better that I will probably move her back into the seahorses display sometime this week.

 

Also the little dwarf seahorse was fine.  A neighbor watched her for me.  I sent a 5 gallon bucket of newly made saltwater and 2 containers of enriched bbs.  I knew the bbs would lose nutrition each day but I was trying to keep it simple.  Anyway it worked.

 

Now hatcheries are in full swing and all the tanks got water changes.  All is well with the fish!

[debbeach13]

Welcome home. Every thing sounds good. I know it can be nerve racking to go on vacation. Good tank sitter is a treasure!

[WV Reefer]

17 hours ago, vlangel said:

I just returned today from visiting kids out of state.  It was such a flurry of activity Thanksgiving, then packing and preparing the aquariums that I was not sure if I would come home to tanks and fish in good shape or not.  Surprisingly, everyone was good.  Even Delilah who had gotten moved into QT while we were gone.  In fact she is so much better that I will probably move her back into the seahorses display sometime this week.

 

Also the little dwarf seahorse was fine.  A neighbor watched her for me.  I sent a 5 gallon bucket of newly made saltwater and 2 containers of enriched bbs.  I knew the bbs would lose nutrition each day but I was trying to keep it simple.  Anyway it worked.

 

Now hatcheries are in full swing and all the tanks got water changes.  All is well with the fish!

I’m so glad it all went well! 😊

[vlangel]

6 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Welcome home. Every thing sounds good. I know it can be nerve racking to go on vacation. Good tank sitter is a treasure!

Thank you, its good to be home.  My sister is a gem and so sweet for always taking care of my ponies.

6 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

I’m so glad it all went well! 😊

Its always a relief to get back and find out that everything was fine.

[vlangel]

I read some articles by a well known seahorse keeper about hitches and flow.  It made me think about my set up so I made some changes.

 

Here are the 2 tanks side by side:

She said seahorses prefer soft hitches.  I moved the corky finger gorg back into the pony tank as that was always a favorite.

 

 

The pony tank has the same very high flow but now there is nothing the ponies can be swept into.  Also the upper portion is now open so they can swim and flow surf which seahorses enjoy doing.

[Sharbuckle]

Wow tanks are looking super cool! I love it. Also great news that the dwarf seahorse is still kicking ‘ 

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, Sharbuckle said:

Wow tanks are looking super cool! I love it. Also great news that the dwarf seahorse is still kicking ‘ 

Thanks Sharbuckle.  My husband Dave calls the little dwarf Jr even though she is a girl, ha ha!  Anyway here is a short clip of Jr.

I am keeping her in the 5.5 gallon AIO.  I have a tank divider partitioning her off so I can feed her bbs in a thick density.  Then when I feel she has eaten enough I turn the return pump on and the prizm pro skimmer.  They pull the bbs through the screen divider where ghost shrimp are waiting to feed on them.  It's not the best situation having a dwarf seahorse in a shrimp tank but it is what it is.

I have 2 hatcheries going under the seahorses display.  I had to get them off my kitchen counter, Uhhg!

[debbeach13]

You are so dedicated. Great job.

[Tamberav]

Wow! So cool! Great job! What is the lifespan of the little dwarfs? 

 

 

[vlangel]

2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

You are so dedicated. Great job.

Thank you Deb.  I must confess that I did not want this responsibility, but it was my order of shrimp that ripped her from her ocean home.  I need to do the best I can to provide for her.

 

15 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Wow! So cool! Great job! What is the lifespan of the little dwarfs? 

 

 

Thanks Tam, I think I remember reading that 2 years old is a long life for a dwarf in captivity.  Bbs even if its enriched is not the same as eating a varied diet in the wild.