And God said "Let there be Life"

rykna

rykna

Active Member

Genesis 1:20 ~
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems.
Life is a circle...and with death comes life...
Last night I was up past midnight cleaning tanks, mixing salt water, and most important cleaning the pony tank.
Zeus, the mother was gone and the little white one was hanging on by a thread. Titan, the father is the only one who seems to have fight left in him. Titan has weathered this whole terrible incident much better than any of the others. My new avatar is a picture of Titan.
First thing I did this morning was check the pony tank. The little white one was dead.
After removing her I checked on Titan. He was hitched to a bone coral, straight and tall. Titan is a quiet little fellow, he prefers to stay put watching the activities of the tank. I was thankful that he was looking healthy. His pouch was still protruding, I hoped that meant babies were on the way.
I scanned the tank for anything that looked like a aiptasia.
there was one on the sponge...but closer inspection found it was dead, and I dug the little pest out of the sponge. As I did I noticed another tiny aiptasia clinging to the sponge...it wasn't a aiptasia...it was a baby seahorse!!! I felt horrible, it must have been stuck on there when I disassembled the tank

...then it moved
It's gaze was focused on a tasty BBS. Then another one swam by!!! I started scanning the tank...2..3..4,5...6-7...8!!!!!!!

Life is a miracle! These new little ponies reminded me that every day is brand new!
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member

Originally Posted by Rykna
Genesis 1:20 ~
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems.
Life is a circle...and with death comes life...
Last night I was up past midnight cleaning tanks, mixing salt water, and most important cleaning the pony tank.
Zeus, the mother was gone and the little white one was hanging on by a thread. Titan, the father is the only one who seems to have fight left in him. Titan has weathered this whole terrible incident much better than any of the others. My new avatar is a picture of Titan.
First thing I did this morning was check the pony tank. The little white one was dead.
After removing her I checked on Titan. He was hitched to a bone coral, straight and tall. Titan is a quiet little fellow, he prefers to stay put watching the activities of the tank. I was thankful that he was looking healthy. His pouch was still protruding, I hoped that meant babies were on the way.
I scanned the tank for anything that looked like a aiptasia.
there was one on the sponge...but closer inspection found it was dead, and I dug the little pest out of the sponge. As I did I noticed another tiny aiptasia clinging to the sponge...it wasn't a aiptasia...it was a baby seahorse!!! I felt horrible, it must have been stuck on there when I disassembled the tank

...then it moved
It's gaze was focused on a tasty BBS. Then another one swam by!!! I started scanning the tank...2..3..4,5...6-7...8!!!!!!!

Life is a miracle! These new little ponies reminded me that every day is brand new!
OMG!! That just gives me goose bumps!! Yay!!! Congratulations Ryk...I couldn't be happier for you!!
Lisa
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by MonaLisa
OMG!! That just gives me goose bumps!! Yay!!! Congratulations Ryk...I couldn't be happier for you!!
Lisa
Thanks Lisa, I'm still pinching myself too. The new borns are so tiny!!! And you'll LOVE this!!!! You know that cleaver idea you had~ the algae holder you have in your tank? Well, last night I put one in the pony tank and stuffed it full of
Chaetomorpha Algae - Spaghetti Algae. The babies LOVE it!!!!!! Most of them are nestled in the curls of the algae. The other cool thing about the cup holder for the babies is that is blocks most of the water flow so they can swim about with ease!!!! If I were you I'd start stocking your nursery tank with at least a dozen of those algae holders
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Dreamer44
AWSOME!!
thats just awsome!
Lori
Thanks! I can't wait to get them settled in the DT.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
That was an awsome story. I felt so bad for you while reading it until I saw the amazing ending of the tail. I am glad that the babies are doing well! I know that you will take great care of them. Just to compensate for my own ignorance, when it comes to sea horses, do they die after giving birth? I have never had them, I am curious. I know the father keeps them in the pouch right? Doesn't the male give birth? Please educate me on this! I feel it is better to know what you may not need than to need what you may not know
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
That was an awsome story. I felt so bad for you while reading it until I saw the amazing ending of the tail. I am glad that the babies are doing well! I know that you will take great care of them. Just to compensate for my own ignorance, when it comes to sea horses, do they die after giving birth? I have never had them, I am curious. I know the father keeps them in the pouch right? Doesn't the male give birth? Please educate me on this! I feel it is better to know what you may not need than to need what you may not know

Thanks! Life is the hardest book to write, I'm glad God has that taken care of

As for seahorses, the male doesn't die after giving birth. This info is from a online source.
There are few things more graceful and intriguing to watch than the courtship dance of seahorses.
Dancing
It is usually the male who initiates the dancing. He ‘pumps up’ his belly, sometimes to enormous proportions, and parades before the female to entice her into dancing. If she is sufficiently wooed, she will join him in the dance where they will swim in tandem, sometimes linking tails. The female will curl her tail in a tight curl, and to exchange eggs they both suddenly stretch their necks up, and begin to swim toward the surface. The male will open his pouch and the female will deposit her eggs inside.
Gestation
The male immediately works to settle the eggs and will soon fertilise them.
Gestation period is dependent on temperature. At 18°C, gestation is 30 days. If the temperature is higher, then the gestation period will be shorter, and vice versa.
During gestation, the male will become more and more unsociable, and his pouch will grow fuller and darker.
Birth
When the time is right, (often at the onset of dawn), the male will begin what appear to be contractions. First, a couple of babies appear, and then clouds of babies just burst from his pouch and immediately swim away. The number of babies depends on the size of the male, and how successful the egg-transfer was during mating. The average number of offspring for a full-grown seahorse is 250, though could be as many as 1000. Smaller breeders usually have between 10-40 babies per birth.
Seahorses are the most unique fish i have ever seen.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
That is awsome!!! I have seen them at the distributor and thought of dedicating a tank to them but never did. At the distributors they just seemed very boring, most of the time staying in one place. That is at the distributrs though, they were probably stressed from the move. Do they do that all of the time or do they move around?
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
That is awsome!!! I have seen them at the distributor and thought of dedicating a tank to them but never did. At the distributors they just seemed very boring, most of the time staying in one place. That is at the distributors though, they were probably stressed from the move. Do they do that all of the time or do they move around?
No it's the stress unfortunately. Most LFS do not keep seahorses in proper habitats and do not feed them properly. After the short 10 mths of experience I've had with them i am definately mail ordering them from now on.
Just like us, fish come with their own personalities. I have a fire goby named Flash, they are know "carpet surfers". Not Flash, most laid back fish I've ever had.
The male pony I have, Titan, has a very quiet nature to him~he prefers to sit and observe. Other horses, Like my previous Kuda~ Valiant, are constantly in motion. Valiant loved to play in the return flow, and was a ham for the camera, and would make quite the fuss if his dinner wasn't on time.
The neatest thing, I think, about seahorses is their bonds with each other. They prefer to be in each others company, the new babies that were born last night have been constantly playing in the return flow 2 or 3 at a time, just like a bunch of kids. And they are the quickest fish to recognize you. And not like other fish, most fish will come and beg when any one walks by, but not a seahorse. Only when I come by the tank do they make a fuss. For other people, seahorses show curiousity about the new comer, but they definately can tell the difference.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
LOL My hawk is that way. I walk by the tank and he is up and begging, he just recently started liking my son, who is 12, because I let him feed my hawk now. He comes when I say his name! The most awsome fish I have ever had!!!! The horses sound pretty cool! I hope the babies do well for you! So, you don't know why the adults died?
 
nybutterfly03

nybutterfly03

Member
OMG!!! YAY!!! That is awesome!! Theses are your dwarves right??
U keep the babies right in the same tank? How do u keep them from getting stuck near ur filter. That was alwatys my problem with my babies
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by NyButterfly03
OMG!!! YAY!!! That is awesome!! Theses are your dwarves right??
U keep the babies right in the same tank? How do u keep them from getting stuck near ur filter. That was alwatys my problem with my babies
Very low flow and big sponge filters to cover the intake flow and lots of little hitching posts.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Thanks
We women are suckers for tiny cute little animals. Speaking of which, how is your little guy doing? Sleeping more?
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by NyButterfly03
HA-HA he is cutting his first tooth....what is sleep??? All he wants is me any other time he is mad as heck
I can understand that, cutting teeth has got to drive one mad. I have often wondered what it is like snicking your food up and not having to chew.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by NyButterfly03
Ahhh the sweet life of a pony huh?? lol
They have trained us well!
Poor lil man is napping for the first time since 6am

Oooooooooooh yeah
Sweet dreams little prince! I could use a nap too!!
 
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