dwarf seahorses in my 14 gal. biocube.

lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
first off i would like to say im new to this forum & after weeks of research & reading this has yet been the best place i've found for info and help.!!
i had a few questions on setting up properly for my future dwarfs. i have a 14 gal. biocube. i do have live rock and lots of macroalgae, agronite sand, a little clean up crew and a nice copepod explosion. also as of now this is how its set up~
chamber 1 has biocube protien skimmer (i had to take out filter cartrige so not using one as of now), chamber 2 has bioballs and heater and in chamber 3 i have made no changes. i would like the best options for my set up so any suggestions and advice is greatly appriciated. :)
my first question is what is the best way to modify the filter and what should or shouldnt i do. i would like to put chaeto (if that the right one) in the 2nd chamber with a subersible led light to add oxygen. please correct me if iam wrong on any of this or if there is a better way to do it. also i need to cover the slats on the intakes so the ponies wont get sucked in, but not sure what the best way to go about that is or what to use. also does the output need adjusting?
my second question is i believe i have crawling hydroids. they are tiny starfish looking creatures on my glass and i need them to go bye bye asap. i am aware of the dangers with them and dwarfs... but how? i would like to avaid chemicals since i do have a clean up crew and dont want to hurt them.
thanks for any help you can give!
 
zeke92

zeke92

Active Member
yeah sounds like hydroids..they can kill a dwarf by stinging, since dwarves are so small. there is a few ways to get rid of them, i will look at my book in a bit but busy atm.
i would put some macro in the main part of the tank too, some dwarves love it to hitch on.
14 is a bit large imo but you could do it. you would need quite a few horses to start off with and LOTS of brine shrimp.
it's late here and i can't really type or think straight this late so i'm sure another person can bug in here and help
 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
oh if you could tell me how to get rid of the hydroids (w/out chemicals) i will do a midight dance LOL.
as for macro i got a different types in the tank for them.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
The only way I know is panacur.
Thats why most dwarf environments are started sterile. dry sand, dry rock. I have heard some macros will withstand the panacure treatment, but not sure about snails. maybe rynka knows.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Welcome aboard lulabulla!!!
If I knew a better way to void our pony tanks of evil hydroids, I'd be singing "Hallelujah" on the highest mountain top in the world, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to accompany!!!!
Found this online:
Originally Posted by World of Seahorses
Hydroids come in a few varieties:
~tiny jellyfish looking ones
~cob web looking ones
~pink fuzzy stuff
Fenbendazole (Panacur) kills hydroids. What I did was set up the tank and cycled it, added everything I wanted in it then dosed the 3 days with the last day being the day I added the dwarfs. You can treat with the dwarves in the tank too. Panacur will not harm the biofilter, fish, macros, pods, or shrimp. Panacur will kill some types of snails (particularly astrea), fans, worms of any kind, most if not all soft corals, gorgonians, all stars, etc. The effect on these creatures can last over a year.
I lost all but 5 of my ponies due to Aiptasia. After the invasion I took every thing apart.I boiled and bleached all my LR, LS , all equipment and set up the dwarf tank completely sterile. I now use only LS and LR that I have boiled and reseeded with cultured pods.
Currently I am waiting for my 55 sump tank to cycle. When the sump is ready I'm going to setup the DT, and add the ponies. I'm trying to wait until thanksgiving for the pod population to grow. All I have in the sump is 2 domino damsels.I only use medication like panacur in my quaritine tank.
 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
arrrgggg... i am 4 weeks into cycling and it would suck to have to start from scratch. i was trying to think of a way i could use something sticky to get them off the glass so they wouldnt spred if they dropped some cells. im assuming and i may be wrong but if i just squished them or sucked them up will they spred even more? i have only read once out of all the things i have read that they eat the copepods that are hanging on the glass too to servive. is that true? just asking since everything else says they will die off with no food????? its hard to get good info on these little suckers since they are not to big of a deal for other tanks. just a death sentence for the dwarfs.
as for steralizing things im new to saltwater and wasnt sure what will hurt something and what is ok to do as far as fresh water dips to plants, etc. and using bleach... when i asked the lfs they just said oh just put it in its fine. so my bad.
i really appriciate the help so if there is anyting i can do other than start all over i will do the chicken dance :)
have you had a hydroid problen before? i had one apitasia and nuked that thing right off the bat! im sorry to hear aobut your ponies.
again thanks and if i invent the cure for the crawling hydroids (on the glass) i will shout it to the world!!!!!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member

Originally Posted by lulabulla
http:///forum/post/2743534
arrrgggg... i am 4 weeks into cycling and it would suck to have to start from scratch. I was trying to think of a way i could use something sticky to get them off the glass so they wouldn't spread if they dropped some cells. I'm assuming and I may be wrong but if i just squished them or sucked them up will they spread even more? i have only read once out of all the things i have read that they eat the copepods that are hanging on the glass too to survive. is that true? just asking since everything else says they will die off with no food????? its hard to get good info on these little suckers since they are not to big of a deal for other tanks. just a death sentence for the dwarfs.As for sterilizing things i'm new to saltwater and wasnt sure what will hurt something and what is ok to do as far as fresh water dips to plants, etc. and using bleach... when i asked the lfs they just said oh just put it in its fine. so my bad.
Not at all! I'm not sure what depth of info you LFS gave you, but; Fresh water dipping and bleaching is a way to get rid of most unwanted hitch hikers,how ever, a fresh water dip, or a dip in bleach, used by itself is not going to guarantee complete irradication(in my experience) of these evil hydroids. These simple little critters are built to survive. That is why I boiled, bleached, and rinsed with tap water every last piece of LR and LS. I didn't want to leave any possibility of reinfestation. The most crucial thing to remember that by following these 3 steps you have created a absolutely sterile tank. Water changes and daily level checks is mandatory. By adding cultured pods you will achieve live sand again, your water levels will level out, but LR will take a much longer time, and the rock will never return to it's original state.

Originally Posted by lulabulla
http:///forum/post/2743534
i really appriciate the help so if there is anyting i can do other than start all over i will do the chicken dance :)
If I was in your position. I'd empty the tank, wash the tank with bleach and rinse thoroughly. I would lightly rinse the LS and set up the tank again. Then I would treat the tank for 3 days with panacur like Teresa advised. Then I would continue with the cycling. I would also buy cultured pods to help the cycling.

Originally Posted by lulabulla
http:///forum/post/2743534
have you had a hydroid problem before? i had one aiptasia and nuked that thing right off the bat! im sorry to hear about your ponies. Again thanks and if i invent the cure for the crawling hydroids (on the glass) i will shout it to the world!!!!!

I haven't had problems with hydroids, just aiptasia. And thankyou, I miss the little ponies too.
I'll be happy to help you with any questions.
Rykna
 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
ok here is one of my many questions i'll have.

as for starting over, im concerned about what is already in my tank.
my little clean up crew, i have seen 2 micro brittle stars, copepods, a small feather duster as well as one on the LR, feather macro algea, 2 soft coral, caulerpa, halimeda, chaetomorpha, cured live rock, agronite sand (i think thats what it is & it was dry so i believe its not live.?) yesterday i discovered 2 tiny ghost looking creatures on my glass as well (no ID yet) i have a pic. if anyone is interested on IDing it :) and a few other critters that are crusing around.
so here is my question if i were to start all over and steralize everything, how do i go about saving my good inverts? and as for the plants can they be steralized too with out being killed? in my lr one of the brittle stars has made home. i dont want to hurt any of the good things ~so how do i go about restarting?
ok i lied i had more than 1 question & i have a dozen more but i thought i'd start with the basics.
thanks for all the help!!!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member

Originally Posted by lulabulla
http:///forum/post/2743534
ok here is one of my many questions i'll have.

So here is my question: if i were to start all over and sterilize everything, how do i go about saving my good inverts? and as for the plants can they be sterilized too with out being killed? in my lr one of the brittle stars has made home. i don't want to hurt any of the good things ~so how do i go about restarting?
my little clean up crew
~2 micro brittle stars
~copepods
~2 small feather dusters
~feather macro algea,
~2 soft coral, caulerpa, halimeda, chaetomorpha,
~cured live rock,
~agronite sand (i think thats what it is & it was dry so i believe its not live.?)
~2 tiny ghost looking creatures on my glass as well (no ID yet) i have a pic. if anyone is interested on IDing it :) and a few other critters that are crusing around.
To save your critters this is what I suggest:
Set up a small 5-10 gallon quarentine tank(QT) with RO water.
*Use a turkey baster to suck up the micro brittle stars.
*give the mini stars a fresh water dip(I can guide you through that if you need) place the mini stars into the QT, use a small strainer like a tea strainer to transfer critters.
* continue this cleaning process with the
~copepods : use a very fine strainer like cheese cloth to filter
out as many of the pods as you can. Give the pods a FWD by pouring several cups of water over them. Add them to the QT.
~2 small feather dusters : I would not put these into the pony tank. The dusters would find the ponies a tasty snack.
~feather macro algae: I would not put this into the pony tank. I have not yet tried to boil, bleach, or FWD any type of plants. Any plants that I use in my pony tanks comes with the ponies I order.
~2 soft coral, caulerpa, halimeda, chaetomorpha, I would not put these in the pony tank with out further research.
~cured live rock Boil it, bleach it, and rinse thoroughly with tap water
~agronite sand :Since it has been in contact with the LR, it also needs Boiling, bleaching, and rinsing.
However, having lost almost all my ponies to these nasty hitch hikers I would recommend starting over with a sterile tank. Transport your critters to another tank. You can set the new tank up and add the ponies as soon as they arrive. I found that sterile or not, my 15g tank needed a water change every 6-7 days.
This is one of the many reasons I appreciate my pony tanks. Unlike their larger cousins,(from my experience) they do not need a 6 month cycled tank with a pod population that could eat New York. Larger tanks (75g +) for seahorses(IMHO) can also give the illusion of stability. With the smaller tank you know the exact levels because you mix and add the same thing at least once a week. You also have 100% control of the quality and nutrition of the food you feed, since you hatch and enrich the baby brine daily.
What ever you choose, I/We will be here to help!!! I'd love to see pics of your set up!!And all your little critters
 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
i have seen this picture before to compare and i would say yes and no. here is a picture i took of mine. they almost look like new born brittle stars and after a few days they seem to be getting more tenticles, either that or they are just getting a bit bigger. they havent seem to grow any since they have the more visible tenticles... so here it is.... (the first pics is one i found that looks identical to mine and the 2nd pics is one i took)

 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member

Originally Posted by Rykna
http:///forum/post/2745660
To save your critters this is what I suggest:
Set up a small 5-10 gallon quarentine tank(QT) with RO water.
does this tank need to be cycled?
*Use a turkey baster to suck up the micro brittle stars.
*give the mini stars a fresh water dip(I can guide you through that if you need) place the mini stars into the QT, use a small strainer like a tea strainer to transfer critters.
* continue this cleaning process with the
~copepods : use a very fine strainer like cheese cloth to filter
out as many of the pods as you can. Give the pods a FWD by pouring several cups of water over them. Add them to the QT.
~2 small feather dusters : I would not put these into the pony tank. The dusters would find the ponies a tasty snack.
the one i got is a dwarf feather duster and i have read that they would be ok to keep with them since they are filter feeders.. in yoru opinion is it still a no-no?
~feather macro algae: I would not put this into the pony tank. I have not yet tried to boil, bleach, or FWD any type of plants. Any plants that I use in my pony tanks comes with the ponies I order.
the book i have read i dont know if im allowed to say the name & if so i will share LOL.. said that caulerpa is a good macroalgae, it helps absorb nitrates & good hitch for them. as for the other macro etc. i only read good things about them. there were 2 i have read aobut to stay away from which are the grape caulerpa and the mermaids glass one.
~2 soft coral, caulerpa, halimeda, chaetomorpha, I would not put these in the pony tank with out further research.
~cured live rock Boil it, bleach it, and rinse thoroughly with tap water
how will this effect the rock? will it basically turn it into a dead rock that over time comes back to life with new growth on it? and one of the freather dusters is on it that came as a hitch hiker.
~agronite sand :Since it has been in contact with the LR, it also needs Boiling, bleaching, and rinsing.
will it have any difference in this type of sand after the process?
However, having lost almost all my ponies to these nasty hitch hikers I would recommend starting over with a sterile tank. Transport your critters to another tank. You can set the new tank up and add the ponies as soon as they arrive. I found that sterile or not, my 15g tank needed a water change every 6-7 days.
will the new tank need to go through the whole cycle again? im sure it does but i'd rather ask and know than not ask and wonder :)
This is one of the many reasons I appreciate my pony tanks. Unlike their larger cousins,(from my experience) they do not need a 6 month cycled tank with a pod population that could eat New York. Larger tanks (75g +) for seahorses(IMHO) can also give the illusion of stability. With the smaller tank you know the exact levels because you mix and add the same thing at least once a week. You also have 100% control of the quality and nutrition of the food you feed, since you hatch and enrich the baby brine daily.
What ever you choose, I/We will be here to help!!! I'd love to see pics of your set up!!And all your little critters

thank you so much for taking the time to help me~ you are awsome. im so sorry if i ask some retarded questions but i feel if i can get an answer from someone experienced wheather you know or not is the best advice someone can get. danke, mahalo, thank you!!! i will post some of my pics for you as soon as i resize them
 
lulabulla

lulabulla

Member
so kiddos are in bed and i had a min. to get these cropped. i hope they come out ok. oh and the diatom bloom is finally going away. arg and to think i need to restart.. whop whop whop..

thanks for the support!



 
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