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#1
04/24/2004, 01:29 AM
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Just setup my wife's seahorse tank.
3 hours old! Hopefully we can add a $100 pair of horses tomorrow. 18 gallon tall.
 Kidding!!! We're going to wait at least 2 - 3 months before adding any livestock. We got a killer piece of live rock! The big one is one piece. The filter and powerhead is temporary. Probably going to run a Rena Filstar XP2.   
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#2
04/24/2004, 05:55 AM
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great tank!
You can put some fake or dead corals, horses love to wrip their tails on them. Some macro algeas would be good too.
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Selim Özadar Names of some Mediterranean fish;Chromis chromis, Conger conger, Anthias anthias, Phycis phycis, Hippocampus hippocampus, Boops boops, Dentex dentex, Pagrus pagrus, Sphyraena sphyraena |
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#5
04/26/2004, 03:29 AM
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Thanks!
We haven't decided on WC or CB as of yet, still need to do more research. I was thinking about a fake coral to put in there for them to hitch onto, but a macro sounds like a good idea. She won't need a fuge then... ?  I ordered a 28watt 50/50 lamp. I hope that is enough as I want to order a few different color coralline scrapings from this place: http://www.thesea.org/catalog/index....80cb8a826867a1 |
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#6
04/26/2004, 01:04 PM
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Hi mattjk,
Your tank looks great. I love that piece of LR. The coralline at thesea.org looks awesome. Are you planning on getting some of it soon. I was also thinking about getting some and would love to hear about how you like it. I just wanted to put in a plug for CB over WC seahorses if you are open to that..... The CBs will be a much heftier investment to begin with. Enough so that many folks decide against them. I can tell you from my own personal experience as well as reading and answering others posts for several years on the various lists and websites as well as PMs, they will cost you much more in the in the long run. CBs are healthier, heartier, they are trained to eat frozen foods prior to leaving the aquaculture farms, know nothing but tank life so adapt very well, for the most part depending on the species social IME. My original CB seahorses were 4 years old when I lost them to a tank crash and prior to that seemed to have plenty more life left in them. They were my first marine fish and survived many of my mistakes. There are many species to choose from with erectus or whitei probably being 2 of the tougher species. WC seahorses are much less forgiving and require much more in terms of cost down the line. There are only a few species that are commonly seen for sale. One of the most frequently seen, beautiful and tempting are the reidi and they also happen to be one of the more difficult species in terms of training to frozen foods. WC seahorses arrive at the retailers usually having survived a long journey from capture to the retailers tank. They carry pathogenic organisms and are usually not properly nourished, which leads to a compromised immune system. They more often than not have poor freeing responses and succumb to the pathogens they carry requiring treatment. Identifying seahorse diseases, choosing the appropriate medication and treating seahorses is difficult at best and I would have to say that many respond initially but eventually succumb to disease. This is time consuming, expensive and more than that heartbreaking. Some can be trained to accept frozen foods. It is usually a long time consuming training period and frequently unrewarding as many will never learn to accept dead food items. You are then committed to obtaining nutritious live foods which is quite costly. 2 seahorses could easily cost over 100 bucks a month to feed. There are some folks who have great success with the WCs, they are few and far between. I never have had any long term success with WC seahorses. The CBs all in all do much better and have a much better survival record. A few tips if you decide on the CBs from my own as well as experiences of many other hobbyists..... -Do NOT mix WCs with CBs in the same system -Choose one of the breeders and stick with their horses. The horses seem to do better when kept in breeder specific tanks. -Find a supplier that does not mix CB with WCs in the same system. HTH, Leslie |
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#7
05/01/2004, 08:33 PM
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WOW! Thank you for the excellent post!
Sounds like CB it is. Can you recommend a good breeder in the OC area? I'm probably going to order the corallines in about a month. I want the tank to fully cycle and get past it's first Diatom bloom, but so far no aglae at all. I also got the light in, it looks great. Matt |
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#9
06/10/2004, 10:39 PM
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hey mattjk
Tank looks great. Still waiting for my pair of erectus to come from OR. Just wondering what kind of lights do you have? I need to but lights for my 35 gal hex. |
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#10
06/11/2004, 05:04 AM
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great tank! pipes are cooler than horses IMO but it would be better to wait some more months before the pipe and add a pod kit, otherwise it might eat all of them in a short period of time and starve to death
__________________
Selim Özadar Names of some Mediterranean fish;Chromis chromis, Conger conger, Anthias anthias, Phycis phycis, Hippocampus hippocampus, Boops boops, Dentex dentex, Pagrus pagrus, Sphyraena sphyraena |
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#13
06/19/2004, 02:34 AM
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Thanks! Is it OK to have two males, or should I return one for a female? The LFS was so dark, I really couldn't tell until I brought them home.
They are eating live ghost shrimp. They have eaten 6 each since earlier today. |
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#14
06/19/2004, 10:09 AM
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I hate dark lfs!
Sure it's fine to have 2 males.....One of the most facinatiing and enjoyable parts of keeping seahorses for me is the courtship ritual. Although males will display and engage in courtship activities life is much more interesting, balanced and natural when these creatures are kept in pairs. I just looked back and noticed this is a 18T which probably has an actual water volume of 15g. I know you are probably pretty excited about your new seahorses but in the best interest of you and your new fish I need to share that tank is much to small for a pair of WC reidi. This is is a large active species that appreciate much more space. Wild caughts seahorses also require more space to thrive in captivity long term. Gut loading those ghost shrimp for maximum nurtition is highly recommended. If it were me and my tank. I would return both horses and look into a medium sized CB species, of which there are several available...... There are barbouri and whitei both available from Marine Depot Live. Whitei are a sub tropical species and would need to be kept at about 72 to 74 degrees. ORA kuda and procerus are also medium sized tropical species available through any lfs with an ORA account or from Premium Aquatics. You could keep 2 pair of any of these species nicely in that sized tank. I have always found these creatures do best when kept in groups of 3 or more. |
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#15
06/19/2004, 11:56 AM
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Thank you for your reply.
We were just talking about selling this tank and getting a larger one. We are also in the process of exchanging one of the males, for a female. I hope this won't be a shock to the seahorses. Also, we are a bit confused on the feeding. I've read 1 - 2 times a day for adult horses, but what quantity? 1 or 2 shrimp every feeding? |
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#16
06/19/2004, 04:43 PM
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That sounds like a good plan. The horses should be fine. I am sure the male will appreciate a female.
I would feed WCs 2 times a day. Once a day is fine for CBs eating mysis. I'm not sure about how many. I have never fed live ghoast shrimp. My gut feeling tells me more than 1 or 2. I would toss a few extra in there and let them hunt at their leisure. You might want to try some of the salt water shrimp that are similar to ghost shrimp as well as the red feeder shrimp available from Ecosaqua and OceanRider. Both can just be fed and left in the tank until consumed. As much variety as possible would be beneficial. |
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#22
06/21/2004, 02:41 PM
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Maybe if the horses are eating the shrimp really fastyou might want to give them som more. You could go to seahorse.org im sure htey would be glad to see your set up or answer any questions you might have. just a suggestion.
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#23
06/21/2004, 03:51 PM
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....I just constantly look my horses over.I lost a female that would always drag her tail.By the time I had noticed something was wrong,it was too late for her.I tried all that I could,within reason but nothing slowed it down.This is the sad part.The day she passed-on,she was down bottom in the front of the tank,just watching me,her mate was holding on to her when she took her final breath.I get choked up just thinking about it.I was going to take a pic but,this my sound ridiculous,I just couldn't do it.You know how the papers have the pic of the mothers and fathers grieving after they learn of their childrens death,I just have problems with that.I swear,they were looking at me and wanting me to do something,or at least that is the way I perceived it.
......I am slowly taking out the DSB in my horse tank.Don't get me wrong,I still believe in the DSB,but not with my horses ever again.I am makeing it in the sump now as a fuge.Thanks for taking the time to read this because it helps me get it out.This is the first time I told anyone about this,not even my family,because I know it was my fault for not being more educated about the care of these beutiful,intelligent creatures  ......Mickey
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Don't back anything into a corner that is meaner than you! |
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#24
07/03/2004, 09:48 PM
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Quote:
Sorry I missed your post. We are running a Coralife complete hood system. 28watts. I may upgrade to a 96 watt light but everything seems to be doing fine. |
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#25
07/03/2004, 09:49 PM
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Quote:
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Linear Mode
