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View Full Version : Help me decide....


pncstod
06/11/2003, 11:56 PM
We picked up the hex tank from Mickey today, and I am so undecided on what to do w/it. I have dreamed if doing Sea horses for over a year now and this tank is perfect for that but I am a little shakey about them now. Every once in a while I run into someone who warns me not to attempt them. And thier life span.......being so short, I will be heartbroken, theres also loss of the offspring.

I was thinking since I am home already raising a little boy, it would be neat to also be raising little fish. So my other two choices would be a breeding clown fish or Bangai cardinals.

minh_han
06/12/2003, 03:05 PM
What's the life span of a seahorse? And can they be successfully bred by home aquarists?

Breeding clowns shouldn't be too difficult. I would imagine though that you wouldn't need a 33T tank to do it. In fact, some regular 'ole 10G tanks might be better. I remember reading the Clownfish book that baby clownfish need a variety of sizes of food, from phytoplankton to rotifers and on up. Do you know anyone who is culturing their own phyto and pods? I'd love to do that some time. I think it would be great to be able to feed my tank all live food instead of the flake that I have now.

I don't know anything about breeding cardinals. If you're successful, I'd love some though! I think they're neat. Right now, I have 5 fish in the 125, and I would like to get a royal gramma and a mandarin goby. Other than that, I'm undecided on what to get.

pncstod
06/12/2003, 04:38 PM
I've been researching on and off for a year, but I am certinaly NO expert (so anyone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong).

Sea horses live for a about 2 years in captivity, I've always wondered what the life span of them in wild is. Yes, people do succesfully raise them but there is major loss of the brood. Since I am so captivated w/the sea horses, I would find this part extremely difficult.

The hex is perfect for seahorses, but I don't feel it's wrong for cardnials or clown fish. See this tank will be in our living room which is also our son's play room, I've heard stories of children tipping over smaller rectangle tanks, I feel the hex will be harder to tip. Regardles of what I do, the offspring will need another small tank.

Also, as far as a variety of sized food, that will be the issues in anycase.

Minh, Please wait on that mandarin dragnet. We would like one too, but we feel our tank is still not ready for a mandarin.


Colleen

minh_han
06/12/2003, 06:15 PM
The mandarin will be the last fish to go in, or at least after the royal gramma. I think there's enough pods, but I'll still wait. I still have to get this possible mantis out of the tank before I think about adding anything more. And I have to do something about the temperature fluctuations of the tank. I have concluded I don't have enough air circulation in my stand b/c I don't have any fans. So when the doors are closed the temperature rises tremendously. It was almost 88 again last night when I got home. I guess I'll have to find a window AC unit somewhere.

pncstod
06/12/2003, 08:48 PM
Minh, go to Walmart, the A/C's are cheap there. Get an oversized one though. We got a 10,000 btu one for the small room the tank is in and it does the job well. A 5000 btu was too small and had to return it to walmart. Try fans in the canopy and a clip on fan on the sump too. Evaporation is your best friend without a chiller:D

KAS
06/13/2003, 03:54 PM
I would suggest you also post your dilemma in the Boston Reefers forum. I know there are folks in there that have successfully bred and raised Bangai's and Clown fish. There are also folks that keep seahorses.

HTH,
Karen

minh_han
06/14/2003, 12:33 AM
WEll, if anyone runs across a cheap hex or tall tank, drop me a line. I think a 37G tall rectangular tank would be really cool too. It cuts down on all the angles that might distort viewing. I know I'm probably not ready to keep anything more than my 125G right now, but I might as well start looking around for equipment and get it in stages.

pncstod
06/14/2003, 08:43 AM
I have a three foot 38 gallon tank that i might be selling. Its an all glass tank, stand and top with light. Light is old but does work. Its a nice tank thats in good shape.

ladymagicka
06/14/2003, 09:42 AM
At the Living Reef in Westport, they have one tank all Sea Horses, they were beautiful... i felt bad for them though, I think i have it so embedded in my mind that they just don't do well in captivity, i've always liked them too. But it may be worth a trip for you to see

DEEC77
06/18/2003, 12:59 PM
I just started my seahorse tank. So far so good. They really aren't too bad if you go with cative bred. There are 2 good forums you should try seahorse.org and syngnathid.org. I found alot of interesting info on both those sites GOOD LUCK!! They are sweet!

~=DEE=~