Seahorses

[Paulie 069]

Arrrrgggghhhh.... came home to find one of my females died
Nitrates and Ammonia both 0
It could have been end of life since they don't live long. She was one of the big ones
Down to 5 and no babies yet... although one male looks a bit chubbier. He was hooking up with a female this morning.
Why oh why did I decide to do this?

Ok got meds for stumpy gonna have a little Oregano to calm nerves and go for it. Just nerves I’ll squish him with my gorilla hands

Omg I wanna cry for u. That’s just the worst thing to wake up to I feel so sad hearing that but at least u still have more to keep smile on your face. So sorry hear your situation

 

[Paulie 069]

Omg I wanna cry for u. That’s just the worst thing to wake up to I feel so sad hearing that but at least u still have more to keep smile on your face. So sorry hear your situation

Deetu that last post was for u but my fat fingers hit something else I

 

[Paulie 069]

Deetu that last post was for u but my fat fingers hit something else I

Also have lots progress and pics updates to post but wife says get gave out of phone and join family interest for a little while lol

 

[deetu]

Also have lots progress and pics updates to post but wife says get gave out of phone and join family interest for a little while lol

Thank you, that made me smile.
How is stumpy doing?

 

[Paulie 069]

Thank you, that made me smile.
How is stumpy doing?

Ok his spirit is better but tail looks same maybe a little bit worse but I’m expecting him to loose the piece of tail

 

[Paulie 069]

Okay, just reading this and needed to share.
A 20 gallon tank is not good for either regular seahorses or dwarf. Too small for the regulars and too big for the dwarfs.

Regular seahorses are very dirty and it is hard to keep a 20 gallon healthy for them. I had 2 erectus in 20 gallon with 10 gallon fuge. I was planning on getting 56 gallon with the 10 gallon fuge once moved but husband wasn't too keen on that.
Have 20 gallon nano FOWLR with macro.
I know there are horses off NJ but they will need chiller to stay healthy... that is why it is easier to get tropical and have heater.
Dwarf ponies

I got 8 dwarfs in October. They were wild caught. I wormed them and had them in 1 gallon cookie jar QT for a month.
I moved them to a 2.5 gallon cycled tank I added a Marina HOB breeder to keep rock in with sponge on the intake (took rock and sponge from 20 gallon). The Minon HOB is too strong for the 2.5 so will hold for 5 gallon upgrade.

I originally had sand in the bottom but from encouragement from a fb dwarf site (Dwarf Seahorses - Help & Advice) and also seeing while caring for them in the cookie jar, I removed it before moving them over. It is easier to clean bottom of poop, dead bbs and check for health. (Snow globe...just fed)

The hardest thing I've found so far for keeping ponies is hatching the bbs and making sure those stinking hydriods don't sneak in. I found that decapsulating the eggs does not kill hydroids, but freshwater rinses do. Even with me being extra careful, I got a different kind of hydroids that I misidentified as pineapple sponges (had them too). I tried to treat with Fenbendazole while ponies were in the tank but the boogers would not die so I moved the ponies back to QT and really nuked the rocks, washed the tank with freshwater.
I have 4 contaniners... one for hatching, one for holding and feeding, one for gut loading and one in fridge just in case something happens to the ones connected to the airlines. Yes, those are expensive glasses we got for our wedding that we never used until now lol

With only 6 ponies, a 10 gallon would be too big at moment to feed since they wait for food to come by them and do not actively hunt. I did say 6, not 8. I lost one when didn't see it when putting back cleaned sponge and another when did massive clean to get rid of red slime since not a lot of water movement in there and didn't realize had nitrate spike when had neighbor watch dog and fed ponies overnight. Would have caught if home since noticed the bbs dead on bottom.
As they breed, I will upgrade. I've had two males be pregnant but dropped their eggs before hatching them. Don't know why. By the way, they only live about 12-18 months so it is important to have them breed to keep them... or you will need to buy more.

Every morning I remove about a cup of water when sucking up the little poops and add new water when feed the bbs. This keeps the tank clean. I do this twice a day and will do partial water change if nitrates go up.
I was seriously thinking of selling the whole thing, especially after the hydroid outbreak but I'm getting the hang of easier way of doing things. They are really small and hide a lot (I keep magnify glass next to tank) but they really are cute.

Love ur ponies so awesome and you definitely do as much as possible to keep them going. Great post enjoyed reading it and really loved pics of ur horses

 

[deetu]

Love ur ponies so awesome and you definitely do as much as possible to keep them going. Great post enjoyed reading it and really loved pics of ur horses

I am going to do a water change, and remove some of the lava rock and replace with new from 20 gallon in case the rock absorbed too much panacur for the little tank. Apparently it continues to leach out of the rock so can't be put back to 20 gallon.
They had black poops but thought that was the stress of moving back to main tank.
What meds did you end up getting for Stumpy?

 

[Paulie 069]

I am going to do a water change, and remove some of the lava rock and replace with new from 20 gallon in case the rock absorbed too much panacur for the little tank. Apparently it continues to leach out of the rock so can't be put back to 20 gallon.
They had black poops but thought that was the stress of moving back to main tank.
What meds did you end up getting for Stumpy?

It was suggested by a seahorse guru to treat with Betadine leave on 60 seconds then rinse off well n return to tank. He seems little bit more like himself and color is getting lighter again. But tail looks same maybe even little bit worse I’m expecting him to lose that piece of tail. He’ll be even more stumpyer if that’s a word

 

[Paulie 069]

It was suggested by a seahorse guru to treat with Betadine leave on 60 seconds then rinse off well n return to tank. He seems little bit more like himself and color is getting lighter again. But tail looks same maybe even little bit worse I’m expecting him to lose that piece of tail. He’ll be even more stumpyer if that’s a word

Things r going great with my new tank setup all need is water which I’m doing tonight when I go offshore

 

[Paulie 069]

Things r going great with my new tank setup all need is water which I’m doing tonight when I go offshore

Ok got water so after today next pic will e up n running tank

 

[Paulie 069]

Ok got water so after today next pic will e up n running tank

So got some stuff inside tank today have lots more to do plus I’m sure I’ll change things around 100x before I’m happy with outcome , stupid OCD,, what u think so far. , and don’t pick on me about Fake coral center piece. I’m not ready for real stuff yet I don’t know enough

 

[MadReefer]

Coming along.
All those colors interested to see how they display.

 

[Paulie 069]

Coming along.
All those colors interested to see how they display.

Wanna do bright colors so I get colorful ponies I know it’s all fake stuff but I don’t know enough to do the real thing Plus it’s a seahorse condominium not a reef tank

 

[MadReefer]

Take pics so we can see how they look in their new condo.

 

[Paulie 069]

Take pics so we can see how they look in their new condo.

Little bit of delay on seahorse condo
Stumpy died today he was my favorite pony had him over year n half I’m just so hurt that I have no interest in build at moment

 

[MadReefer]

Sorry to hear.
Keep an eye on the others. Check your build for any sharp items or hitch hikers.

 

[deetu]

Little bit of delay on seahorse condo
Stumpy died today he was my favorite pony had him over year n half I’m just so hurt that I have no interest in build at moment

Awww man, soooo sorry. I know how you feel.

 

[Paulie 069]

Awww man, soooo sorry. I know how you feel.

Ok ready to go. Gonna do live rock and add water today will post pics of grand opening of Seahorse Condominium

 

[deetu]

So got some stuff inside tank today have lots more to do plus I’m sure I’ll change things around 100x before I’m happy with outcome , stupid OCD,, what u think so far. , and don’t pick on me about Fake coral center piece. I’m not ready for real stuff yet I don’t know enough

why did you decide to use aquarium gravel?

 

[deetu]

I HAVE BABIES!!!! Woke up to 5 little one but one didn't have full tail...he didn't make it.
They are sooooo tiny!