Sharbuckle Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Are you going to arrange to have somebody feed them while you’re gonna? 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 I am still thinking about encourageing cryptic sponges and I thought about making my return chamber dark. A shell in it is already covered by a sponge, so I put a piece of cardboard over the top to block the fuge light. If songes begin to grow more readily I will do something less ghetto. 4 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, Sharbuckle said: Are you going to arrange to have somebody feed them while you’re gonna? Yes, they must be fed 6 days a week. A college student is interning in our area and we are hosting him. I will have him net 10 or so live shrimp every day for the ponies to hunt. My sister will stop in every other day and feed them frozen mysis and check on the system to make sure all looks well. 2 Quote Link to comment
Sharbuckle Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 10 minutes ago, vlangel said: Yes, they must be fed 6 days a week. A college student is interning in our area and we are hosting him. I will have him net 10 or so live shrimp every day for the ponies to hunt. My sister will stop in every other day and feed them frozen mysis and check on the system to make sure all looks well. Awesome. Its so nice to have people to rely on. I freak out even when im gone for one night haha. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 My sister is the best. She had seahorses in the 90s when it was tough keeping them so she understands what to look for. I don't trust the college student which is why I am only having him feed them live food. He can't do anything wrong to degrade the water doing that. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Here is a pic of the red tree sponge I bought a few weeks ago. I put it under an overhanging rock covered in red grape macro algae. I figured it was less likely to grow hair algae on it there. Also I read on another forum that sponges like silica. For those of you who remember, I was a participant in the Nualgi experiment a few years ago. Most folks were of the opinion that Nualgi was mostly silica. Anyway I had bought a small bottle but had stopped using it when I got seahorses. I do remember that my natural sponges in the tank really seem to flourish. So I am now dosing the Nualgi once again for the red tree sponge and hoping it will clear up my sand at the same time. 7 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 I needed to do a thorough cleaning of the display tank before we head to the Carolina hills for vacation, so I decided to try and get more flow down on the sandbed. Its tricky because the sand is fine and is easily turned into a sandstorm! I pointed the strongest powerhead straight down and towards the glass. Of course it did create a sandstorm and a bald spot. As I watched this take place, I noticed that as the sand built up dunes around the bare patch, that it was actually a pleasing effect (helped by the fact that the glass floor has been painted underneath the same color as sand)! I moved some rock and coral to aquascape the dunes and I decided I like it. I will really like it if there is enough flow down near the sandbed to keep it clean of cyano or diatoms. Now the seahorse tank is REALLY MULTI-LEVEL, a bb patch, a SSB area and a DSB plateau. When I come home from vacation I am going to work on getting a mated pair of rusty gobies, neon gobies and maybe a blenny from KPAquatics. They will need to be QT for quite awhile in my 10 gallon since they are wild caught but they should be nice additions. 7 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 I had a rusty gobie in my 4g pico. He was fun even though he didn't come out much. The tank looks great, good luck with the vacation! 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 6 hours ago, teenyreef said: I had a rusty gobie in my 4g pico. He was fun even though he didn't come out much. The tank looks great, good luck with the vacation! Maybe with a pair they will be braver, I hope. I think I remember yours. Some one else had one too, maybe Gena? Or Kimberbee? Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 We arrived home from our vacation with our grown kids and their families, (which was great) and the seahorses did wonderfully. Even my sand looks better. I am catching up on water changes and maintenance. 5 Quote Link to comment
Sharbuckle Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 23 minutes ago, vlangel said: We arrived home from our vacation with our grown kids and their families, (which was great) and the seahorses did wonderfully. Even my sand looks better. I am catching up on water changes and maintenance. Great news 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 That's good to hear Dawn, welcome home! How are the new dunes holding up? I really dig the new look, neat solution to changing the circulation! 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 8 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: That's good to hear Dawn, welcome home! How are the new dunes holding up? I really dig the new look, neat solution to changing the circulation! Thanks Christopher, even after a fun vacation its always good to be home.😊 The dunes are holding up great. I was really pleased to see the sand still in place and looking so good. I am not sure which factor is the cause (for the sand looking clean) since there are 3 possibilities, LOL. 1. The new circulation pattern, 2. Dosing the Nualgi, or 3. Not doing so many water changes which may have allowed the nitrates and phosphates to get in the correct ratio. I also changed the resin in my ro/di a couple of weeks ago. I guess if the sand gets rust colored again after I return to my normal water change routine, I will know that too many water changes are the problem and will have to work on the ratio of nitrates and phosphates, since reducing water changes is not an option. I love the new look myself. Even my sister (who watches over my tank) commented on how much she liked it. It feels authentic to me. Even the ponies seem to love it since they have more options to hitch in different flows. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 Here is a pic after we got home. I did a WC and normal husbandry. As you can see the sand is much improved. 4 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 Isn't she gourgeous! 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Look at those happy ponies! 😍 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 15 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: Look at those happy ponies! 😍 They love the new scape because they have so many different areas of the tank to hitch in different flows. 2 Quote Link to comment
hinnenkm Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Tank is looking great and your ponies are looking happy 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 She’s absolutely beautiful. Happy to see the ponies doing well as always 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 On 6/28/2018 at 1:18 PM, hinnenkm said: Tank is looking great and your ponies are looking happy 🙂 Thanks, Eve always looks happy when food is coming to the tank. She is a chow hound. Delilah is following in Eve's footprints but she still can't eat like Eve. Samson is fussy and often needs to be target fed or else the girls will eat everything and he doesn't get anything. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 On 6/28/2018 at 2:58 PM, fishfreak0114 said: She’s absolutely beautiful. Happy to see the ponies doing well as always 🙂 Yes, she is a grand ol' gal. Its good to have everyone healthy. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 Delilah's cirri waving in the flow along with the gorg's shedding. The new tree sponge is doing well so far. I have been dosing Nualgi which seems to agree with it. 4 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 All the pony's are so pretty. This tank is so peaceful. Love it Thanks for the updates. 1 Quote Link to comment
Dos Ocho Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Looking great as usual!! Love the tree sponge. Well done. 1 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Cool sponges! I was just getting reacquainted with the cryptic zone idea and you're adding inspiration to give it a go in the back chambers. 1 Quote Link to comment
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