Blasted POS JBJ nano

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

As most of you know I have been keeping my pair of Erectus in a 12G JBJ nano for QT. (47G is cycling)

I came home from work on Friday and went to feed them. My female was laying on her side in the sand bed gasping for air. I noticed right away the stock pump that came with the nano failed. No water movement or circulation for who knows how long. ( I was gone 8 hours and I didn't notice if the pump was on when I fed them before leaving for work... )

I was freaking out, but I knew enough to get an airline in there asap. I put the airline in there, no stone and picked her up off of the sandbed and held her for 10 mins. or so. While I'm holding her up the male is circling my hand like he was trying to protect or help her. I felt so sorry for him. I finally got the female to hitch to her favorite spot. She couldn't hold on very long so when I went to hold her again the male wouldn't let me! He wrapped his tail around her lower abdomen and he held her up for the next hour!!! I knew he had to be oxygen starved too since he was in the same tank as she was...but it didn't seem to effect him as badly. While he was holding her up I added a 10G Hang on the back power filter to the tank to help with circulation and air exchange. After about 1.5 hours total I noticed the femal started to perk up and wasn't breathing as hard. By the 2 hour point, she had shook the male off and was swimming around the tank. I couldn't believe she didn't die.

It is now Monday and the pair of sea horses are doing fine. It's like nothing ever happened. I'm keeping a close watch on them to make sure they don't have any lasting effects or secondary illness from this. They are acting normal and eating great.

I will always have an airline in my sea horse tanks from now on. That was to scarry for me. (and them) I even added one to the 47G tank that is cycling for them. If a pump fails, at east they have air.

I have written a strongly worded letter to JBJ about their pos pump that failed almost killing my sea horses. The pump isn't very old...4 months of use maybe? I'm ordering this for the nano...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

It has a maxijet pump....more dependable.

Just thought I'd share another one of my near disasterous days in my sea horse quest. I didn't have grey hairs untill I started keeping saltwater tanks.

[perpetual98]

You're a trooper. You march on when most of us would have given up on ponies.

As far as a letter to JBJ goes, don't hold your breath. I'm almost positive that there's several class-action lawsuits against them regarding their nano-cube line of tanks.

[dakar]

Any idea who was the manufacturer of the powerhead that came with the tank? Or did JBJ relabel some POS one as thier own?

One the possitive side... glad you found it in time, the MaxiJet likely will not let you down.... They seem to run forever.

[Sweetpea]

My goodness, Angie!!! I can certainly see why you'd be going gray! Looks like it's time to take stock in the hair color companies! As Eric said, you really are a trooper and a good pony mommy, too! :-)

[mutts]

angie! you have been having some luck with these guys! i'm so glad you stay with it though, you make it possable for all of us who don't have room for a pony tank to share the experance with you. i agree with tracy you are one of the best pony mommies around here! i'm so glad they are doing better

[JustDavidP]

Angie,

I too keep airlines in all my systems now. Some are battery powered and come on only in cases of power failure. Others are running 24/7. Just do yourself the favor and try not to use a diffuser or airstone that makes tiny bubbles. Best to attach a smallish length of ridgid tubing to the end and let the bubbles stay at a larger diameter size. There has been a lot of disussion about diffused air bubbles in seahorse tanks and how they may be one of the reasons for gas bubble disease and pouch problems in males.

Dave

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I'm not using a stone, just rigid tubing. I didn't want to chance the dreaded GBD. I DO have a large airstone on the 47G that is cycling. I will remove the stone, not the airline a few days before I'm ready to add the sea horses. With my track record......if there's a chance my ponies could get GBD, they probably would. On a good note.....if it ever happens, I have a long semi clear tube (6ft) that is 5 in. wide. I have read that if I fill it with water and put the pony in there and force it to the bottom, the pressure at the bottom will get rid of the GBD. Sort of like one of the hyperbaric (sp?) chambers. I hope I never have to try that! I can't remember where I read it. I will have to look for the article again and bookmark it.

Angie

Angie

[JustDavidP]

I'm thinking that this forum mod has found a new sygnathid guru in the making

Good work!

D

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Maybe in 50 yrs or so, I may know as much as you! Thanks David.

Angie