Pony Corrals

[dakar]

For what it's worth, I am going to use an XM over my seahorse tank. It will be a "green tank" with no coral, but LR, grasses, and macro. The yellow green should really provide the right spectrum for that application.

D

Ah I see the the oppottunity for some serious collaboration on pony corrals coming soon :)
Though I 'm undecided on lighting, likely going to have to go flourescent since the acryllic won't tolerate the heat.

[JustDavidP]

True...

AND... I'm drilling my 12G ViaAqua this weekend. That will be the pony tank. I'm using a 10 gallon sump underneath.

Any ideas for a small, but useful skimmer that can go in a 10 g sump with a return pump. I'm afraid of Seaclones and other junk, but think that remoras, bakpaks, etc. will not hang on a 10G. I also fear that any DECENT skimmer will overskim 20 or so gallons of water.

D

[dakar]

I split our posts off from the lighting thread, as it was obviously going to be a blatent hijack.

I've got a Jebo 180 I picked up, trying to remember from whom, but they are on the cheaper side, but have had it running on a 29g FO tank, actually works pretty good for light skimming, nowhere near the efficiency to strip a small volume of water. It'll fit a 10g tank too. The bakpack's may be a better choice though, i would imageine they are quieter too.

Going to try this without a skimmer and lots and lots of macro's, a llittle LR and sandbed since it'll be very light stocked I'm hoping all that plus weekly water changes will keep it stable enough. I'd hate to have to tear up the walls again to invent a sump for the wall tank. Primary concern is too much water movement returned from a sump.

[JustDavidP]

I agree..and thanks for the ideas on skimmers.

I want to include a skimmer in my sump because I travel a LOT. Having the skimmer would allow me sleep while in Washington DC, knowing that my water quality (especially with others feedin in my absence) is okay.

Thanks again,

Dave

[Reef_Angel]

DaveP.... you're doing Seahorses too? Where are you buying them from etc? II've got to get busy finding my favorite source sites for stock! If you want, lets share ideas, pics and stuff along the way. This is so exciting for me. Once Dave has it in the wall, I'm gonna go wild. This is my dream tank!!! Ooooooohhhh.... Il sounds a little bit like a spazz don't I?? :-D I see $$$ :smt051 out the window, but that's ok!

[Reptoreef]

Just send it flying my way...he he he

[JustDavidP]

Angel, There is another thread that I contributed to here. It has lists of seahorse references online. Go read. Good stuff.

I'm not buying...at least online etc. The Boston area has quite a few folks who breed H. Reidi. I'm hoping to buy/obtain a pair from them. I totally support tank raised ponies!!

Check in with you soonest.

Dave

[JustDavidP]

Ahem....

:mrgreen:

[JustDavidP]

:P

[dakar]

That's mean my friend.... just plain mean :lol:

Still cycling here..... We wanted to do a full cycle with new LR. couple more weeks maybe......

[Reef_Angel]

BEAUTIFUL!!! What more can I say? Pretty soon it will be my turn to show pictures!

[JustDavidP]

Well... you guys do the "right thing" and take your time. Like I said earlier, I've been reading and preparing for two + years.

I never had a cycle. Again, because I used mature/cured live rock, sand from other tanks, and water from my 75G, I don't think there was any chance for a cycle.

I got frustrated looking into a tank that was CRAWLING with pods, shrimp etc. and having nothing in there to enjoy it. Furthermore, I had to keep feeding the tank or I'd loose that beneficial fauna. It made no sense not to put the ponies in.

I'm lovin them. They're lovin the digs... It's all good.

D

[Whoyah]

David,

Lookin good. Can we get an full tank shot of the current tank?

[JustDavidP]

Sure ya can...

D

[Whoyah]

Nice. :thumbleft: What is the orange branchy stuff, sponge?

[JustDavidP]

Nope...faux coral... From That Fish Place.

I was using the real skeletons from my monti digis, but noticed that the SHs weren't "coloring up". They change color with mood, health and according to surroundings.

I called That Fish Place and told them that I was going to "break up" a fake coral for pony hitches and asked if they had any in the warehouse that were broken and that they could sell me cheap. I bought two moonlights from them too. They tossed in a broken coral for me.

D

[Reef_Angel]

I was wondering the same thing about Dave's orange branch there. We actually have the live version of the fake coral in our tank. I'd love to know what ours actually is. We have search for answers online, and all we have come up with is "orange tree sponge", and not to let it touch the air at all as it will die. We tried to frag it, but the frag to our knowledge has remained the same size and not changed at all. Ours in the tank has not changed much either. It adds nice color though!

[JustDavidP]

Digit sponges, or tree sponges grow much slower than those that are "encrusting". A lot of people have a hard time keeping ANY sponges in aquaria. Glad to hear yours is doing well. Sponges are GREAT tank mates for seahorses. Most corals however, are not. They sting the poor ponies. Gorgonians are a good choice there.

Dave

[dakar]

Anything special you are using for inverts/clean up crew for your corral David? I was thinking just some snails and maybe a sea cuke for ours would do it since they are so passive.

Looks like ours has finished her cycle... nitrate spike must have been very minor, and since I onlt tested a couple times over the last few weeks, everything is zero'd out across the board. Though she did manage to grow some large dark grey patches deep in the sandbed, so the bacteria must be populating things well. Going to wait out the next week or so to be 100%, but will start adding some macros this weekend, I'm sure Angel will do some major aquascaping over my method of just throwing the LR in there.

[Reef_Angel]

Also adding to Dave's question, what is the feeding plate for in the center of the tank? You talked about that earlier in the thread and I meant to ask then. Are you saying that the orange tree that I have in the 180G could go in the pony tank? That would look awsome in there. I see you put some zoas in there too. That's all cohesive as well? My Dave said that zoas will eat the fry if you get into breeding. Sorry about all the questions, but with all the reading I'm doing there are still so many unanswered questions I can come up with that aren't always found that easily. Thanks Dave for being so patient!!

[JustDavidP]

My clean up crew consists of 12 blue legged hermits and 6 scarlet hermits. They pay NO attention to the seahorses. I'd NOT get any other crabs, arrow, mythrax etc. as they may ACCIDENTALLY nip at the tails of a seahorse.

I also have a 3 inch red/pink banded serpent star (I'd stay clear of the "brittle" kind, as they've been known to hunt-especially the green ones)

I also have 12 nassarius snails, 2 mexican turbos and 8 astrea turbos.

I put in two pepermint shrimp to eat any aptasia.

Finally, I've put in about 6 live ghost/grass/glass shrimp who also clean up any scraps of mysid that float to the back of the tank, out of the reach of the ponies. As a bonus, they carry eggs and have babies about every two weeks. The seahorses snick up the babies whenever they can.

The orange sponge would be perfect in the pony tank. They don't sting like corals and would act as another hitching post. Also, pony tanks, being slow water tanks, and typically higher in nutrient load than a reef, would benefit from the additional filtering of ANY sponges.

Zoas and shrooms are okay in a pony tank. Yes, they could trap babies if you are breeding, but, keep in mind....

Baby seahorses, after leaving the pouch, float to the water surface. They do so in order to feed on plankton and to gulp air and fill their swim bladders. If they do not float, they will have bouyancy problems for their entire life. With that said, they will probably NOT get mixed up with zoas. You'd have to remove them from the tank into a rearing tank anyways. In a rearing tank, I'd not have any zoas.

The feeding dish is a nice idea, but my ponies have no use for it. They do NOT want to find food in a dish. They would rather hunt the food so I drop in the mysid and let it free float. Others who have ponies say that theirs DO eat from dishes. Mine do not. I've since removed the shell.

I got a 4th pony this weekend. Another female. I now have 1 male, three females, and two ORA Orange Male Reidi on order from a local supplier.

Dave

[Reef_Angel]

Thank you! That was an extremely informative post! You are going to be a big help to me as I get closer and closer to getting my ponies. The wall tank is going to be a pretty place for them, but my biggest problem with it is that it's up so high that I have trouble getting into the tank. Is there much maintenence "in the tank" once it's established? If it's alot, I may pick up a bow front tank and start a new cycle in that and use the wall tank for something else that I'm sure we won't have any problem deciding on what to fill it with. :) Thanks again Dave!!

[JustDavidP]

After setting up the tank, I rarely put my hands in. There are no stony corals knocked over or other issues to deal with. I'm also NOT keeping my calcium too high so shouldn't have TOO much coraline to scrape. I use a magfloat every couple days to keep the dusters from growing on the glass.

As a matter of fact, I can't remember when I was in the tank last.

Dave

[Reef_Angel]

Sounds like my wall tank may be perfect yet! I'm really hoping it is. It would be so perfect and beautiful. It's almost ready to, and I wouldn't have to start over or buy any more tanks. I'm at the point where I feel we have enough tanks up around the house. I'm going to use your brain often!! :)

[JustDavidP]

Someone may as well use it... :)

Most often, I'm used for my back.

Why can't someone just want the whole package? ;)

D

[Reef_Angel]

Oh, I'm sure you are!

[JustDavidP]

See...now I'm hit up for the "birthday donations" at work. Now I'm wanted just for my wallet!

:)