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Dwarf Seahorse Startup


Tnwolf

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Hello,

Starting a new dwarf seahorse tank and need some advice. 

 

Start with 10 ponies and 2 dwarf pipefish.

 

Setup will be pretreated with Panacur.

 

Tank: 6.1g Aquatop Euro bow front (which I plan to black out back panel. Unsure on substrate (bare or sand). Dead rocks. Will be running a 1-10g rated aquatop sponge filter. Will have Blue Hypnea and Red Ogo for macro with fake mixed in for extra hitching. Would like to include 2 coral mushrooms like a blue and a red Discosoma since I read they are harmless to dwarves. Tank will be first stocked with copepods after cycled. 

 

Cuc: Nassarius, trochus and cerith snails. Plus 3 sexy shrimp.

 

I will have 1g hang on refugium in back stocked with copepods and chaeto as well as a couple snails with sand.

 

Food: Mainly enriched bbs and copepods which I will have in a 10g tank. 

 

Here is my questions: I know bare would be easier to clean than sand but unsure since I would have Nassarius in tank. Can they handle bare bottom? Also, can Discosoma handle Panacur? Read they can but wanted to make sure. Lastly, which species of copepods work best with dwarf seahorses? Thank you.

 

Richard

 

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growsomething

No experience with seahorses or pipefish here,  but best of luck starting it.  Have you grown macro before?  It can take a lot of nutrients for me, and a medium-strong light.

 

 

 

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If your feeding that amount of livestock properly, your nitrate and phosphate levels are much more likely to be too high rather than too low.  While a fuge and external pod production will certainly help, I don't expect it to be enough to fully the nutritional needs of a dozen creatures, so I would count on feeding it daily.

 

Will you be running a chiller?  Low temps (<74F) are critical to controlling vibrio, which is a very common disease in seahorses who have relatively weak immune systems, and the lower temperatures are critical from keeping it from growing out of control.

Edit: Also why pretreating the tank?  I've never heard that recommended and I don't believe panacur helps against vibrio.

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I don't think copepods will be suitable for dwarfs, they may just be too large for them.


I suggest daily hatching Baby brine shrimp (Artemis). Less than a day old BBS is nutritional for the dwarf ponies. Anything over a day old should be enriched with spirulina for they will no longer have nutritional value.

 

They need live BBS to survive, and fed at least twice a day.

 

Everything else looks OK from what I can see

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@DaJMasta I was not thinking of running a chiller since they like it around 72 and my house is normally 60s. I will keep that in mind and look into it though so thank for bringing that up. Also, a few forums I read recommended dosing with Panacur for Hydroxides. The copepods were a combo idea for clean up and extra nutrition but main dies would be enriched bbs at least twice a day. Instead of culture, may just buy a few locally and throw them in every now and then.

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@Draco My main food supply was going to be enriched bbs at least twice a day. I read Tigger were prone to harrase but Tisbe did not. They were suppose to be a combo of clean up and added little snack for a variety of protein. That said, I have rethought and decided to add to refugium only to help maintain and a few baby Tisbe may wash into main tank for snack but not keep a running culture on the side. But my main source would be bbs. Thank you for the help.

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