New Erectus pair

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I just wanted to post some pics of my new sea horses. The male likes to hang upside down to hunt for food. He drags the female around the QT tank. I'm not too sure if she wants to be drug around, but he doesn't let her go easily. I am so addicted to sea horses it's pathetic.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

just a few more pics

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

the end for now

[jojo22]

How pretty!

[JustDavidP]

Nice, healthy looking ponies!

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Thanks. I have a few ?'s about them. The male is alot lighter in color since I added the female to the QT tank. (I got the male 2 days before I added the female) He is more like a white with black zebra stripes now. Is he always going to be lighter in colore now? I know he's trying to impress the female.....ok, ok.....I'm impressed. (ok, so I'm not the female he's trying to impress, but she doesn't seem to care.) It takes only a second for him to completly change the color patterns. Right now he looks like a black and white leopard. Earlier he looked like a zebra, and last night he looked like a black and yellow zebra (if there was such a thing).

The new tank I have for them is a 47G perfecto column tank. The tank is
20x18x30. I bought the tallest tank I could find for this pair. I also have 4 - 10 G tanks for fry should I ever get any and 2 - 20G High tanks for grow out. And 1 40G for holding. I have a commercial brine shrimp hatchery on order and I am starting a rotifer culture for feed. (all of this the reason for the sale of my reef tank, which I sold to my boss at the LFS I work at.)

Because of space under the stand of the new tank, I can not install a sump. I will be useing a canister filter. Which one is the best affordable one for this sized tank? I have never used a canister filter before and I don't know where to start. I do know I will have to clean the canister about once a week. Does the canister filter come with all of the hoses to connect it to the tank or do I have to order them seperate? Does it cause microbubbles in the display tank like a HOB skimmer?

Of course, the 2 erectus do not eat frozen foods. The were listed as CB and eating frozen, but they do not. They have been eating amphipods and Palaemontes Vulgavis shrimp. How do I convert them to frozen? I have 200 of the shrimp arriving fedex tomorrow just incase they never take to frozen. I'm prepared to deal with that if need be. I just don't know how to attempt to switch them over to frozen. I add frozen first thing every morning. I wait at minimum 1 hour and then I add a few amphipods and 2 feeder shrimp. The amphipods are their favorite thing to eat. It takes them awhile to catch the live feeder shrimp. They are a little too fast for them. But they do catch them eventually. Sometimes I have to wonder if they are going to break their snout when they miss and hit the glass bottom of the tank. It's loud!
I repeat this 2 more times a day. Is there a better way to get them to eat frozen? They are healthy so I don't care what they eat, as long as they do. frozen is just less expensive.

Becuase this tank is so tall I'm going to use 1- 250w 20K Metal halide over it. I may add a few layers of screen over the top of the tank at first to get the ponies used to the halides. I will mount it higher than normal and I will add a fan to blow across the top of the tank to keep it cool. If need be, I will order a chiller. I'd take out a 2nd loan on my house for the horses if I needed to, that's how hooked I am. Pathetic I know. Funny thing is, now I got my hubby is hooked on them.

Thanks for the any suggestions.
Angie

Just a quick note on the Reidi's I have. I lost the smalles baby. She was eating and seemed fine. I just found her one morning on the bottom of the tank covered with snails. I'm not sure what happened there since I know she ate the night before and looked good, but the other 5 are all fine. It was a long process to get them all healthy and I learned a lot and I now have more sea horse meds than I ever new existed. But I'm prepared to handle most anything now, lol. If 2 months of sick H. reidis didn't curb my addiction to sea horses, I doubt there is anything that will.

Why can't I take up a simple inexpensive hobby like needle point or rock collecting? (That's a quote from my mother, lol who drives 1.5 hours to see my ponies that she thinks I'm crazy for having, but she has to see 2x a week

[JustDavidP]

Is he always going to be lighter in colore now?

No, He, she, they all will change color to match the mood and environment. Mine change every once in a while. When I got them, they changed colors and pattern every few hours. It's a matter of acclimation.

I will be useing a canister filter. Which one is the best affordable one for this sized tank?

Sorry.. I honestly have never used, nor know about canister filters.

Of course, the 2 erectus do not eat frozen foods. The were listed as CB and eating frozen, but they do not. They have been eating amphipods and Palaemontes Vulgavis shrimp. How do I convert them to frozen?

Take away the live.. I'm sure that they were eating frozen before.. most CB or tank raised do. The breeders can't afford to feed them live all the time. What has happened..is you took ponies who were eating McDonalds..and showed them Prime Rib. They will opt for the live foods as long as they are abundant.

I add frozen first thing every morning. I wait at minimum 1 hour and then I add a few amphipods and 2 feeder shrimp.

Ahhhh...they've trained you well! I'd wait an hour to get into my favorite steak house too! Seriously... feed them frozen..period. They can go a day without eating (actually, you should fast them one day a month). If you notice that they go ALL DAY without eating the frozen...on to the next step.

Feed them frozen with JUST A little live foods.. they will get frenzied up with the action of the live food..and will hunt it. In the mean time, they will accidentially take in some frozen. Do this and reduce the amount of live foods until you wean them off.

Sometimes I have to wonder if they are going to break their snout when they miss and hit the glass bottom of the tank. It's loud!

The noise you are hearing is actually the "snick" of the horse..and not as much a collision with the glass. The anatomy of their head and snout is such that they make a HUGE vacuum void and cause the "snick". It makes a loud snap sound. It's all good...

Becuase this tank is so tall I'm going to use 1- 250w 20K Metal halide over it.

Best of luck there. I actually reduced the light over my system. High nutrients + slow water + bright light = cyanobacteria and hair algae. Since dropping down the lights in my tank, the cyano and HA is gone. Also keep in mind that the ponies may look "rough" for a while..while their sunburned skin sloughs off. They will be fine..just as you and I are after we peel, but they will be affected.

Look here too:

http://www.seahorse-nw.com/New_Seahorse_Tips.html

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Thanks David, I will keep trying to get them to eat the frozen. I will not offer the live unless they have not eaten the frozen at the 8am or the 2 pm feeding. I will offer the live at 8pm feeding only. I think the female may be eating some frozen, but the male is not. He's the skinnier of the 2.

He eats the feeder shrimp well, but he is still thin. Maybe I need to deworm him? I have praziquantel. The directions on the bottle say to add 1t. per 20g of water. I thought it had to be eaten / ingested to be effective? Should I just order panacur instead? I'm not sure if the prazipro will deworm him by just adding it to the water.

As for the 250w MH, I don't know what other lighting to use. With the tank 30" deep, I'm afraid the macros and corals won't get enough light to survive. Coras in this tank will be........Gorgs, zoanthids, star polyps, ricordia, xenia, sinularia, colt, kenya, and mushrooms. ( along with as many different macros as I can find) I am also mixing reef mud into the new sand bed to give it a nutrient rich base for the macros and sea grasses.

Thanks again David..........If I keep asking you questions, (and you keep answering them) someday I will know 1/100th of what you know

Angie

[dsfdbutterfly]

I have personally used the Eheim and Fluval Canister filters. Both work well and neither add bubbles to the system as long as the out take is below the water line.

Eheim is probably a better filter but for ease of cleaning and starting and stoping once a week to even once a month not the best.

Fluval has a better set up for starting and stoping. The other positive for fluval is that you can add and remove filter media as you like. Parts are easy to come by. I got my Fluval 404 with all hoses and media off of ebay for just around $100.

I still run both filters on my fish only tank. If you have any other specific questions I have used these filters for years. Let me know.

Angie

[JustDavidP]

I'd not medicate your fish unless you know it is worms. Truth of the matter is that seahorses don't have a stomach. If they haven't been eating well, it is evident immediately. If your boy hasn't been eating well.. he would look skinnier than the other. Just keep up with the frozen food training, and if HE isn't eating well, begin to introduce more live foods until he is healthy. Unless you do this in a separate tank, the others may become fussy and eat the live only too. At that point, when he is sturdy again, you'll have to start the frozen food training over.

The corals you listed will LOVE that lighting. As a matter of fact, if left unchecked, the polyps will run amock. You may want to make them an "island" of sorts so they don't crawl all over the tank. Isolated in the sand bed, they can be controlled.

If you go with the MH lights..just make sure you acclimate the system to the new lighting. Slowly..

Dave