Finally getting dwarf seahorses :-D

dingus890

dingus890

Member
Hello Everyone! Haven't been on the board in awile.Wow it looks different..lol
After 2 years of saltwater experience, I am FINALLY commiting to getting dwarf seahorses. I have talked myself out of getting them for years..lol It's funny after you get some experience hatching live BBS and enriching them everyday and doing small water changes 4 or more times a week doesn't sound that hard..lol

I bought a Marineland Eclipse 5 gallon Hex tank. I may have to do some mods to the filter. It has a bio-wheel :/ I like this tank as it isn't to skinny and tall. But has some good width to it for surface exchange. I plan on getting 4 ponies for now. All females. May add males later on when I am ready for babies.
I'm so excited!
I am planning on getting Cb from a site T gave me awile ago.
Should get the tank next week. No LR. Got some dry CaribSea Sea Flor white sand and will buy some hitches. How will I cycle without LR or live sand? I don't want to introduce any hydroids off the bat :/ I have heard people add commercial live sand like Bio active.
I will keep everyone posted on the progress.
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Awesome! You will love them!
You could go ahead and get the males, too! Dwarf babies can be raised with the parents and eat the same thing! So, no worries!
As for cycling, just throw in a grocery store shrimp! The bacteria will come!!
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
Thanks :-D I got into saltwater aquariums because of dwarf seahorses. Been researching and reading about them for 2 years..haha I can't wait to actually have real ones.

Will it cycle with nothing live in the tank at all though? I always cycle with shrimp but haven't with a completly sterile tank.
As for getting males, I was affraid they may overun the tank..lol
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
They do multiply well! Do you have a local reef club? You could sell some......or get another tank......and another tank........and another tank!
he,he!
Yes, it will cycle, just will take a little bit longer.
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
^hehe I already have a 55 gallon reef, 25 puffer tank and a 10 gallon goby tank. I think this is the last tank..lol That what they all say right..lol
I may be able to sell them to my LFS which sells dwarfs once in awile. It's an aquaculter facility also. She has 2 Seahorse display tanks.
I'm looking at hitches to buy for the ponies
..lol I'm exited and will keep everyone posted on the build as it happens.
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Originally Posted by dingus890
http:///forum/post/3256236
^hehe I already have a 55 gallon reef, 25 puffer tank and a 10 gallon goby tank. I think this is the last tank..lol That what they all say right..lol
Lol.......I was gonna stop at 5, but am about to start on tank 6. So, now I am thinking, I don't like the # 6, so.....7..hmmm..that's a good #!

I think I need help! Hi, I'm Amy and I'm a reefaholic!
 
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smartorl

Guest
Dead gorgonians make great hitches and allow you to see the ponies well. I used to keep gorgonians and corky fingers in my tank, they ate up alot of the excess brine. Especially with the little ones, in order to keep them fed you have to have a certain saturation of brine and it can easily tank your tank and the gorgs will help with that.
Small frequent water changes are important, several of us found that larger water changes seemed to shock them a bit, by changing a little, you didn't alter the water quality too quickly and they seemed to thrive better. I would change out a small amount every other day when I had new fry and increased feedings. If all goes well, you will be overrun quickly. They breed very easily. My original 10 turned into hundreds.
How are you doing your brine breeding station? I just checked and it appears to be gone but Bronco had a great set up that many people duplicated and had great success. The brine rearing and enriching is waaaaaayyyy more work that the ponies. I have some good sources for encapulated eggs, some brands just don't have the same hatch rate and why work and have less to show for it?
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
Thanks for the reply. I just use the simple 2 upside down soda bottles and air pump for hatching. Found a "source" of decapulated eggs that have a 99% hatch rate from a CB seahorse breeder in FL.Haven't started yet but will make sure my hatching is down and on schedule before I get the dwarfs. About water changes, yes i agree with you 100%. Like with my larger tanks I do a 10% change every week. I am planning on a small water change every 2 to 3 days. But that may change when I actually have the dwarfs as i monitor the actual water quality. I was looking in to getting a gorgonian to help with excess brine. Plus I think they are awesome and have always wanted one.
I have also been looking into a auto top up system for the horse tank. I may try making my own with sensors or just buy a commercial kit. I have a 10 gallon and I have to top up manually every 2 days or so. So I am expecting with a 5 gallon it will be everyday or many times a day to top off. Also I have a question about temp. for the dwarfs. I have heard many times 74 is the best temp. for them? Is this correct?
Anyone have an auto top up system that worked well for them?
Anyone have any pictures of their dwarf set-ups? I would love to see them for inspiration :-D
 
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smartorl

Guest
Living here in FL and actually getting to go out with the collector once (totally cool) on the grass beds, I noticed the water was almost warm where we were most likely to find the ponies. So I kept my tank a little warmer, although others thought it wasn't the best idea. I kept the tanks in my sunroom and allowed the tank to heat and cool as it would with sunlight. At the cooler temperatures, they seemed to breed less (birth control). I kept heaters on the tanks that didn't allow them to drop below 74 though. At times, in the deep summer they would be up around 78, I think the key was that my temps raised and lowered very gradually.
Putting your brine hatchery somewhere warm, I had mine set up on top of a light fixture on a larger tank, sped up the hatch. This came in handy if you get a bad batch or something goes wrong ( dog drinks it).
The gorgs are awesome. I had easy access to purple fans and the dwarfs were easy to see when hitched to them. I came to really like the corky fingers as well, they really seemed to help stabilize the water quality although they weren't good hitches.
You will be so amazed when your first babies are born. It is the most amazing thing in the world watching them hitch and pretty quickly start snicking bbs.
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
That's so cool! I grew up in Florida. That must have been amazing going out to collect dwarf seahorses! Moved away a few years ago. Got into saltwater after I moved away(probably cause I was so homesick..lol)
Do you still have your dwarfs? Any pictures of your tank? Would love to see it
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
Bought some plastic hitches tonight for the future dwarf seahorses
Still researching an auto top off system...
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
I was reading on another nano tank board and saw a post about dwarf seahorses. This line cracked me up...ready for it "One of my dwarf seahorses got stuck on some live rock and drowned...it happens I guess :( " And they were serious.
I started laughing at that post.

I can't wait to get my babies!!..lol
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
*UPDATE* I got the 5 gallon hex tank yesterday. Got everything set-up and cycling. Added my dry sand and plastic hitches.
I found a tuturial online on how to make a battery powered auto- top off system. I built it and it works awesome! Only cost me about 10 bucks to make.
Here are some pictures:
New Marineland Eclipse 5 gallon hex kit:

Adding the rinsed sand:

DIY Auto top off system floater

Tank setup and saltwater mixing(Cloudy)


And I thought this was a cool pic of my 55 gallon reef with actinics(after adding a few cups of new rinsed carbsea sand) It's all cleared up now.
 
dingus890

dingus890

Member
Thanks I do too. The bulb that came with the kit is awful IMO. Very yellow looking. So I am going to change that to a 50/50 bulb.
Has anyone ever got their dwarfs to eat frozen cyclops or frozen copepods? I keep hearing online that BBS will not sustain dwarfs for long as they are not as nutritionally sustaining for them. And copepods are better but way harder to culture. I am starting to worry..haha
 
newbiekid

newbiekid

New Member
I just got the exact same tank and it looks exactly the same right now just wondering how long does it have to cycle?
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Cycling times really depend on a lot of factors. Small tanks should cycle longer, IMO, because of the small volume of water and small area for bacterial growth. The more stable the tank before you add your critters, the safer you'll be.
In the end, you should rely on your test kits. Wait for your ammonia and nitrite to read 0, then watch your nitrate to see what it's going to do. In large tanks with lots of live rock, it's not unusual for the nitrate to drop low during a cycle. I don't think that's quite the case with small tanks.....I've only ever relied on Water changes to deal with nitrates in small tanks personally.
 
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