Parraman's Seahorse Tank

[Parraman]

I am new to the forum and was told that this is the forum for ponies

So i have made the jump with the pony tank about 2 months ago.

The size is about 57x57x 65(h) so the water volume is just over 200L

This is just after i added 14kg of agronite (suger size) to the tank.



Used abit of filter floss and in 2 days time...


Pic during the day after i added the macro




I have a octo 160 skimmer connected with a dsb.
Lights at the moment is 2 aquaray 1000 units... Abit of a overkillbut they are intended for my other tank.


On month later and allready pruning


Now for my babies...




Would love if you guys can confirm the id for me?

[btreyes]

Your tank looks really good and the seahorses are going to like it a lot. Maybe though add something more vertical for the seahorses to explore and hold on to. What do you need an id on? The macroalgaes?

[mtc1966]

Overkill is a good thing on seahorse tanks. messy eaters. maybe build up the rock column in the center with dead sps pieces glued to then for hitching post. i would mortar the rocks together.
should be a sweet tank for seahorses . keep us posted.

[Parraman]

I need a id on the ponies.
I am 90% sure of the species but would like to hear from you guys.

I do have some old sps collonies but was scared it might cut them? Old Acropora millipora collonies.

Would love some other macro algae but its so hard to find any in south africa. Easy to find caulerpa and it was just as difficult to get captive bred seahorses.

[Parraman]

I allso lost all that bubble caulerpa. Pruned it like crazy and it still went sexual so im still looking again for bubble.

[timinnl]

Where are the pictures of the seahorses?

[Parraman]

Can you see any of the pics?

[mtc1966]

3 tank shots no horses

[Parraman]

The tank before i added the ponies

[Parraman]

I hope the pictures show this time

[btreyes]

that's hippocampus comes, the tiger tail seahorse.

[mtc1966]

nice pics . i would like some info on your feeding station .

[Parraman]

It was just a quick fix.
Im gona change it this weekend.

It was just a old pvc pipe that i had that i superclued to a lab petri dish and a small pvc pipe under the petri dish to keep the food away from the snails. It worked at the beginning...
It allso has a few holes for water sirculation.
I have about 3 huge tube worms that I planted around the feeding station for them to grab a hold on

It is quit difficult to get a hold of ponies in South Africa so i jumped when i saw them.

[Braxibear]

Those seahorses look awesome! Glad you got the chance to get them.

[Parraman]

I am having trouble feeding the ponies. (They aren't starving and they do eat)
I want to condition them for breeding but they only eat the frozen mysis from the feeding station when they are realy hungry. They do hang around the feeding station alot.

Must i try feeding them with say a turkey baster and turn the pumps off cause they do like the moving frozen myses more.
They depleted my copepod population so turning my sump into a copepod heaven this weekend. Was thinking of just alot of cheato?

Can i breed the copepods in a seperate tank outside the house with cheato and will cheato survive in this weather without a heater?
Was thinking of doing the water changes for this tank with the water i throw away from my weekly waterchanges from my display tank.

Any ideas or comments please.

[btreyes]

One thing that I do is turn on a pump while the seahorses feed and that will excite them a lot when some of the pieces go flying. Just try to clean up the pieces that they don't eat. You could also try soaking their food in garlic with a product like this: http://www.petland.com/fish/health-c...ncer-85oz.html

You could try keeping the pods outside, you would just have to keep them in some kind of container that wouldn't crack from the cold exposure (maybe some type of really strong plastic). I would also try getting some South African copepods or gammarids as they might be able to overwinter better. If you can, you might want to have a sump underneath the tank to hold the copepods to avoid the whole heating problem.

Good luck!

[charleneatkins]

I made the mistake of buying a tigertail. It WAS beautiful. She seemed to eat frozen foods and live brine the first day. Socialized with the other ponies. I have 4 other ponies, ranging in ages of 4 years to 7 months and species. I did not feel I was getting over my heard.Starting with the second week, she started to be more recluse and would not eat. I believe she only wanted fresh, live foods and a mate of her species.
I may try again but not until I have learned more and will need a bigger tank.

Seeing yours reminds how beautiful they are. GOOD LUCK. Charlene

[rayjay]

Originally Posted by charleneatkins

I made the mistake of buying a tigertail. It WAS beautiful. She seemed to eat frozen foods and live brine the first day. Socialized with the other ponies. I have 4 other ponies, ranging in ages of 4 years to 7 months and species. I did not feel I was getting over my heard.Starting with the second week, she started to be more recluse and would not eat. I believe she only wanted fresh, live foods and a mate of her species.
I may try again but not until I have learned more and will need a bigger tank.
Seeing yours reminds how beautiful they are. GOOD LUCK. Charlene

The majority of people who mix species or who keep even the same species from different breeding sources find that problems ensue.
Seahorses appear to be extremely susceptible to pathogens they haven't grown up with so when something from another breeding source that has different pathogens, one and sometimes both species can be affected negatively.
Do you know if the H. comes was true captive bred or just tank raised?
What size tank do you have?

[charleneatkins]

Originally Posted by rayjay

The majority of people who mix species or who keep even the same species from different breeding sources find that problems ensue.
Seahorses appear to be extremely susceptible to pathogens they haven't grown up with so when something from another breeding source that has different pathogens, one and sometimes both species can be affected negatively.
Do you know if the H. comes was true captive bred or just tank raised?
What size tank do you have?

Dear Rayjay,
I would NOT advised anyone to do what I do. I do not want the guilt that would be associated with the decision for someone else.

I have 4 success stories and was confident with the vendor.
It is hard to tell origins of horses with the change of terminology at customs offices.
The only true origin is from direct contact with the vendors
Tank size is in my signature line.

Have a good day, Charlene

[rayjay]

Hello Charlene,
At least you and others in the US are able to be sure of getting true captive bred when you buy from places like seahorsesource.com and seahorsecorral.com. Here in Canada we have no commercial breeding of seahorses and all have to be imported.
Most of what is imported to the US and Canada is tank raised which for me means raised in large tanks like the Asian round cement tanks, using ocean water not properly treated and filtered for pathogens. As such, I treat them with the deworming process which takes 9 weeks using 3 different drugs.
True captive bred I consider to be those bred and raised in captivity but using either commercial salts to make water or using ocean water that has been properly treated and filtered to remove pathogens.
Unfortunately most LFS's claim their tank raised to be true captive bred either because they just don't know or because the lie to get more sales from those that prefer to only buy true captive bred.
Sorry I didn't see the signature about the tank size.
Yes, I can see you have pushed the limits quite a bit. I applaud you for your success so far as it takes good husbandry to load a seahorse tank like that and be successful.

[charleneatkins]

I do not want to hijack your thread.

It is with diligence, maintenance, research and worry that I incorporate with my tank.

It is extremely hard to get a LFS to tell where the horse comes from because I do not think they know the difference of terminology or maybe do not really care. To them is just inventory

For me the key is keeping a diary of the tank. Watch the inhabitants for habits.
Most important READ everything. It does not matter how long you have horses, there is always something to relate too.

Best of luck, Charlene

[Parraman]

Yea my lfs didnt even know the difference between a male and female. He basicly knew nothing about them.

[mtc1966]

Originally Posted by Parraman

Yea my lfs didnt even know the difference between a male and female. He basicly knew nothing about them.

now thats bad

[Parraman]

For the guys that breed comes. What temp is the optimal for breeding comes?

[timinnl]

Most likely you have tank raised H.comes and you might want to consider deworming them? Look on Tami's site for more info. Also look for Dan's feed with & with out Beta-glucan, it is really great to contioned the adults with and it is great for the frys. You use the product to enrich or to gutload live food with. It is available in SA. If you are having problems finding it, PM me.

Kind Regards,

Tim