call me exited, but...

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
haha, i'm not trying to come down at all lisa, its really is a good idea...just hope all areas are covered...when you go grocery shopping for a couple hours and he slips over somehow, those couple hours would be pretty devastating for a seahorse trapped by a filter intake...now if it goes above the water level at all times then that would take away that concern, i just know that it happened to ryk not long ago, but she was there to catch him right away...but just as long as it is above the water level i see no harm, unless the holes are too big for babies...then a fine sponge would be necessary
I'm really hoping that I will have the chance to take a look at and test out the shields before I get my livestock. I think that I have a pretty good handle on how the shields work and how they need to be situated (I hope). I'm pretty much shooting from the hip and learning and taking things in...

Ryk's shields just make sense and look to be something that I can do in my little tank without compromising a whole lot of room and upping the quality environment for my horses...we'll see.
Lisa :happyfish

 

[bronco300]

you bet lisa, i think you'll be fine, i just wondered about it, the main thing i like is the shields can look more attractive---i am using a big sponge over my seahorse tank...i dont really care but then again i dont look at the tank as much as i assume you will......is it going to be removable or are you sealing it in? some of my horses will at times hover around the sponge for pods, silly little guys!

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
you bet lisa, i think you'll be fine, i just wondered about it, the main thing i like is the shields can look more attractive---i am using a big sponge over my seahorse tank...i dont really care but then again i dont look at the tank as much as i assume you will......is it going to be removable or are you sealing it in? some of my horses will at times hover around the sponge for pods, silly little guys!

With your last question...IDK, that's something that I think I'll have to figure out once I see what the shields are like. I'm assuming that I won't seal them in...that just doesn't sound like someting that I could do in any SW situation...but again...we'll see. If they work, great...if not, back to the drawing board, I guess.
Are there problems that you are foreseeing with these sheilds, Luke? If so, please let me know...lay it on the line so to speak. I respect your seahorse expertise, and I'm certainly working towards the healthiest system for mine.
Lisa :happyfish

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by MonaLisa
Huh?? which fish are you talking about...my little buddy-fish? If so, I have to totally and heartfeltly agree. He's such a blessing!!
Lisa :happyfish
Yea...the cute little pink one with dimples, and a smile that knows a sucker when he see's one :happyfish

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
uhoh, are you falling prey to rykna's plans?!?!? RUN!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lol

:hilarious

......I could think of so many "starwars" lines to use here....but......oh what the hay....
yesssssss ......you have a sister...Obiwan was wise to hide her from me....if you can not be turned perhaps she can be persuaded.....

 

[bronco300]

haha, i dont see any problems besides if they are lower than your water level and your seahorse jumping the wall...and you not notice enough and there being no escape route....if using holes, that they will get clogged or covered with coralline..which youd want to take out and clean, which would be the same as the sponge, needing to clean it....and the only other thing i can think of is making sure you have enough flow and circulation

 

[bronco300]

Originally Posted by Rykna
:hilarious

......I could think of so many "starwars" lines to use here....but......oh what the hay....
yesssssss ......you have a sister...Obiwan was wise to hide her from me....if you can not be turned perhaps she can be persuaded.....

oh crazy ryk!

m
must save another from turning to the dark side

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
haha, i dont see any problems besides if they are lower than your water level and your seahorse jumping the wall...and you not notice enough and there being no escape route....if using holes, that they will get clogged or covered with coralline..which youd want to take out and clean, which would be the same as the sponge, needing to clean it....and the only other thing i can think of is making sure you have enough flow and circulation
That's true. So, if I am able to cover those things...intakes, heaters, etc with sponge covers, will that be adequate to make sure that my horses will be safe? This actually has been my plan from the beginning and I may just go with it. Still researching...
Lisa :happyfish

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
oh crazy ryk!

m
must save another from turning to the dark side

hmmmmm....
Lisa :happyfish

 

[bronco300]

either would suffice.....i have a big spong over my intake and works just fine, and mine are mini seahorses, which will have less power than the bigger guys...however it probably wont look as nice....it could be easier to clean the sheild over the sponge doesnt just pull out...however you couldnt use a razor ont he sheild if its acrylic....what heater are you using, glass, titanium, plastic? they do make shields specifically for heaters...not sure how nice they are....i havent covered my heater, its plastic, and never had a problem with them, i would if it was glass or titanium
but on the plus side to the sheild is if you did it across the complete back you could make a refuge out of it and add macroalgae which would help the pods and everything

 

[rykna]

Yes sponges do work, but IMHO I don' think they're much to look at.
I noticed your powerfilter. You could place several of those in the refugium part to have fun playing with flow....having the plexi wall the buffer the main blast you could use several to have some really good water movement.

 

[bronco300]

pumps behind the wall will only do so much for the main part though...you can only push so hard through the open slots/holes in the sheild

 

[rykna]

True.... :thinking:

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
just out of curiosity lisa and ryk, why shield over sponge around intake?
Well, I've never liked the look or function of sponges. The one time I did use them....lost a fish cause it got stuck to the sponge. So mostly bad experience for me I guess.
I did designed this unit for a specific problem in my tank....but if I had a tank identical to yours Lisa, I'd put a shield unit in it to prevent the accident that happened with Valiant.
The big thing I like about the shield is the addition of the refugium. After rereading the posts I wonder if it would create too much of a "dead" water area in smaller tanks because larger tanks have a bigger population of "clean up crew" bugs to compensate for any dead water areas and also have more water flow options. I haven't even seen the final product in action in my own tank.
The unit is very easy to install at any time of tank development, and I'll be very happy to make a shield unit for your tank now or later.

 

[rykna]

Got some more input from Bronco, he thought that the shield would actually work better for smaller tanks....his biggest concern was the cleaning issue....sponges are much easier to remove.

 

[bronco300]

Originally Posted by Rykna
Got some more input from Bronco, he thought that the shield would actually work better for smaller tanks....his biggest concern was the cleaning issue....sponges are much easier to remove.

not just cleaning, just problems like mentioned above

 

[monalisa]

Sorry, I've been AWOL for a while...
Ryk, I would love to give your shields a go in my sh tank, but I really want to try them out before I add my livestock if that's possible. I really think that it's important to monitor the environment before they go in rather than after to make sure that things are the way I want them to be. If that means putting off purchasing my ponies, that's fine, but ponies will not be going into my tank until I feel comfortable that they're going into the best possible system that I can provide. Thanks a lot Ryk...again...
In the meantime, I'm also doing some research on feeding stations, and I'm open to ideas on what to use for that. I have a few ideas, but I would love to see what peeps are using successfully at this time.
Lisa :happyfish

 

[monalisa]

Where's my happyfish icon???
Lisa...

 

[bronco300]

uhoh, lisa lost without her fish signature!

i use my tank as the feeding station since my food is live

i know alot of people like shells(like clam shells)

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
uhoh, lisa lost without her fish signature!

i use my tank as the feeding station since my food is live

i know alot of people like shells(like clam shells)

LOL...I've been signing my name here like that for so long that it's habit...dang!!
Yeah, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet for feeding. I may just need to decide that after I have my horses and just get into a routine with them...we'll see. My tank is coming along. More and more pods every day. But...on the glass and some of the rocks is a very thin green film. I've tried to use the magna float to scrape some off the glass, but it's pretty tough stuff.

Could that be the first stage of coraline? Hmmm...
Lisa...(without her happyfish)