Hi, I'm new and would like advice
- Thread starter rispa
- Start date
rispa
Member
Okay, so I have some more questions: Should I replace the shrimp with anything? Also should I buy something to enrich the mysis that I'm feeding everyone? When I cool the tank down should I do it a few degrees at a time and over what period of time? And I'll probably be posting a couple more shortly.
rispa
Member
Based on my pictures do you guys think I've sexed the horses right? The guy I got them from said the one's with the big bellies are males, but they don't look like they have pouches. Perhaps they are just too young to have a noticeable pouch. Also do you think they are Kuda and weren't IDed incorrectly? I'm going to try to post more pics in a bit to help answer that question. I'm looking at some skimmers and whatnot on craigslist and would like some thoughts on the ads. I'm posting links below. Also is there any good site for what equipment is good with seahorses and what's not?
Power head and a pump
Skimmer Pump
Skimmer
Skimmer
Canister Filter
Ehiem Filter
Please forgive me for posting some that might not be appropriate for my tank size, but my thoughts are that I may need a larger one if I am able to get that 45 gallon tank.
Power head and a pump
Skimmer Pump
Skimmer
Skimmer
Canister Filter
Ehiem Filter
Please forgive me for posting some that might not be appropriate for my tank size, but my thoughts are that I may need a larger one if I am able to get that 45 gallon tank.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Rispa, I'm running out the door so I'll read through your posts tonight after dinner (Cracker Barrell - Who Hoo, big spender!!
) but just so you know if you're interested - I have an Emperor 400 filter that would do well for a 35 to 45 gallon tank that I can give you for the cost of shipping. Just let me know.
Oh, and watch the size of your pumps...that Koralia you have listed in the first thread would plaster a seahorse to the far wall!
Look for a Koralia nano if you're doing the small tank, or a Koralia-1 for a tank 35 to 45 gallons. Just something to put current along the sand bed, really.
Oh, and watch the size of your pumps...that Koralia you have listed in the first thread would plaster a seahorse to the far wall!
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Going from top to bottom of the links you posted:
THe first link has that Koralia that's too powerful, then some food that I'm sure you weren't looking at, and then a maxi-jet 400. The maxi-jet isn't a bad powerhead, but you would need to do some foam around the intake because the horses tend to get trapped against those powerheads easier than with Koralia 'heads.
The second link is to a big ol' Mag 18 return pump. Don't worry about it - you don't need that.
The third link is for a protein skimmer I've never heard of before, so I can't speak much to its usefulness. I noticed however that it looks like an limewood-driven airstone style protein skimmer. If you can, pass on the airstone style skimmers. They don't "chop" the bubbles fine enough to get a really good skim. I used one by Oceanics for a while and.......meh. Also you'll notice the price isn't really a great deal.
The 4th link is for a seaclone skimmer. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. You can do some reaserch on line (and even on these boards) for people who have seaclone skimmers. Of all the things you're going to put in your tank though, the skimmer and the chiller are the things you shouldn't skimp on now.
OK, the last two links are for a fluval canister and a classic eheim canister. I'll tell you flat out that I don't have ANY experience with canister filters - I have used HOB (Hang On Back) style filters such as the Emperor 400 and the Marineland 280 that you have, and I currently use overflow style sump and refugium filtration for my tanks. The TOM Aquatics Rapids filter I have on my seahorse tank now is the closest I've ever come to a canister filter; it's sort of a hybrid filter that has canister and trickle filter qualities together. I don't think you REALLY need this size filter, but I highly recommend you do some research on this before you make your decision. And I'll remind you - I'll be glad to give you my Emperor 400 if you'll cover shipping.
THe first link has that Koralia that's too powerful, then some food that I'm sure you weren't looking at, and then a maxi-jet 400. The maxi-jet isn't a bad powerhead, but you would need to do some foam around the intake because the horses tend to get trapped against those powerheads easier than with Koralia 'heads.
The second link is to a big ol' Mag 18 return pump. Don't worry about it - you don't need that.
The third link is for a protein skimmer I've never heard of before, so I can't speak much to its usefulness. I noticed however that it looks like an limewood-driven airstone style protein skimmer. If you can, pass on the airstone style skimmers. They don't "chop" the bubbles fine enough to get a really good skim. I used one by Oceanics for a while and.......meh. Also you'll notice the price isn't really a great deal.
The 4th link is for a seaclone skimmer. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. You can do some reaserch on line (and even on these boards) for people who have seaclone skimmers. Of all the things you're going to put in your tank though, the skimmer and the chiller are the things you shouldn't skimp on now.
OK, the last two links are for a fluval canister and a classic eheim canister. I'll tell you flat out that I don't have ANY experience with canister filters - I have used HOB (Hang On Back) style filters such as the Emperor 400 and the Marineland 280 that you have, and I currently use overflow style sump and refugium filtration for my tanks. The TOM Aquatics Rapids filter I have on my seahorse tank now is the closest I've ever come to a canister filter; it's sort of a hybrid filter that has canister and trickle filter qualities together. I don't think you REALLY need this size filter, but I highly recommend you do some research on this before you make your decision. And I'll remind you - I'll be glad to give you my Emperor 400 if you'll cover shipping.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Now to your horses: First, there's no real need to enrich your mysis on a regular basis. Frozen mysis is a very nutritious food, and you're lucky they're eating it so readily since they lived on frozen brine for so long. If you want, you can soak your mysis in a product called selcon vitamins once in a while to give them an added boost....good stuff.
If you're cooling the tank off actively (as in, you have the ice probe we talked about) then you should set the filter the ice probe is mounted in on a low setting so it cools the tank slowly. If you're cooling the tank passively by just having the heater off, then the tank will gradually drop on its own, so you don't have to go slower than that (my opinion only, your mileage may vary).
Finally I think we need to see some better pictures before we can accurately tell what species they are. Sometimes it's very hard to tell, especially at a young age. As for sexing the horses, here's the best pic I could find on the web that should make it clear:
If you're cooling the tank off actively (as in, you have the ice probe we talked about) then you should set the filter the ice probe is mounted in on a low setting so it cools the tank slowly. If you're cooling the tank passively by just having the heater off, then the tank will gradually drop on its own, so you don't have to go slower than that (my opinion only, your mileage may vary).
Finally I think we need to see some better pictures before we can accurately tell what species they are. Sometimes it's very hard to tell, especially at a young age. As for sexing the horses, here's the best pic I could find on the web that should make it clear:
rispa
Member
MY SISTER'S CAMERA HAS AN AQUARIUM SETTING
well I'm happy and have taken a ridiculous number of photos, so I'll need a few minutes to sort them out, but I'll be posting the ones that came out well in a second. I'm going to try to get a few more once everyone comes out to eat as well. By the way is there a place to just post pictures you really like?
rispa
Member
Minor photobucket issues, but meanwhile I never got an answer on the shrimp. According to the compatible tank mate guide some shrimp do well with seahorses and I know they are good for the tank, so should I look into getting one of those shrimp instead? Also the shrimp molted last night. Should I leave the molt in there for something to eat or take it out?
rispa
Member
Okay after a lot of slow loading and non uploading I'm going to just link to my album. I'm going to try to add the pictures that didn't upload as well. One that I'm about to add is of the starfish if you'd like to try to gander a guess on him. The rest are seahorses. Hopefully I'm not to late to get an answer tonight lol.
Edit: I give up on photobucket for now. It's going to slow and still giving me an error on just a few pictures. I'll try again tomorrow and I'll also try to upload the rest then. For now good night.
Edit: I give up on photobucket for now. It's going to slow and still giving me an error on just a few pictures. I'll try again tomorrow and I'll also try to upload the rest then. For now good night.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
I think photbucket is just going slow in general. It keeps telling me that there's a problem loading the page, even when I try to access my own photobucket. Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will be cleared up tomorrow.
You don't NEED a shrimp in the tank....and in fact seahorses have a habit of eating smaller shrimp - it's a natural food for them. Heck, I feed my female 'horse young saltwater ghost shrimp once or twice a week. If you want to get a shrimp for asthetic purposes, I would go for a peppermint shrimp...they are known to eat aptasia anemones if they sprout up. Remember though...small shrimp will likely become food.
You don't NEED a shrimp in the tank....and in fact seahorses have a habit of eating smaller shrimp - it's a natural food for them. Heck, I feed my female 'horse young saltwater ghost shrimp once or twice a week. If you want to get a shrimp for asthetic purposes, I would go for a peppermint shrimp...they are known to eat aptasia anemones if they sprout up. Remember though...small shrimp will likely become food.
therevenger511
New Member
DUMP THE TANK, GET A LIFE
rispa
Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/3294687
I think photbucket is just going slow in general. It keeps telling me that there's a problem loading the page, even when I try to access my own photobucket. Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will be cleared up tomorrow.
You don't NEED a shrimp in the tank....and in fact seahorses have a habit of eating smaller shrimp - it's a natural food for them. Heck, I feed my female 'horse young saltwater ghost shrimp once or twice a week. If you want to get a shrimp for asthetic purposes, I would go for a peppermint shrimp...they are known to eat aptasia anemones if they sprout up. Remember though...small shrimp will likely become food.
Okay, I might consider getting a peppermint shrimp at a later time. I talked to my LFS and they will do a trade, although I don't know if it'll be equal value. Hopefully tomorrow I'll finally get to go buy what I need. The one female still isn't eating much and at least two of the seahorses are always by the filter, eating off the filter. I'll show pics of their silliness tomorrow. Do you think I can use this to my advantage and try a trough? Or should I try some other type of food for her specifically? She is eating a little, but she's really just picking at it and she looks pretty thin to me, so I'm getting a little more woried.
http:///forum/post/3294687
I think photbucket is just going slow in general. It keeps telling me that there's a problem loading the page, even when I try to access my own photobucket. Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will be cleared up tomorrow.
You don't NEED a shrimp in the tank....and in fact seahorses have a habit of eating smaller shrimp - it's a natural food for them. Heck, I feed my female 'horse young saltwater ghost shrimp once or twice a week. If you want to get a shrimp for asthetic purposes, I would go for a peppermint shrimp...they are known to eat aptasia anemones if they sprout up. Remember though...small shrimp will likely become food.
Okay, I might consider getting a peppermint shrimp at a later time. I talked to my LFS and they will do a trade, although I don't know if it'll be equal value. Hopefully tomorrow I'll finally get to go buy what I need. The one female still isn't eating much and at least two of the seahorses are always by the filter, eating off the filter. I'll show pics of their silliness tomorrow. Do you think I can use this to my advantage and try a trough? Or should I try some other type of food for her specifically? She is eating a little, but she's really just picking at it and she looks pretty thin to me, so I'm getting a little more woried.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
I think you have it set to private: it's password protected.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the addiction. At the present time besides the two tanks I have running, you can find in my garage:
1 45 g tank
1 12 g tank
1 10 g tank
1 5.5 g tank
1 5 g tank
1 2.5 g tank, and finally...
1 1g tank.
.....I think that's all I have. And I know plenty of people who have it worse.
The 45g was a side-of-the-road find (you just can't pass those up!!), the 12g was a QT tank I recently broke down because I'm not getting new animals, the 10g was a possible sump purchased for the 45g, the 5.5 was running as a nano that I broke down and moved inhabitants to other tanks, the 5g was a "just because it's cheap" purchase, the 2.5 was a copepod breeder, and the 1g gets used as a coral dip tank from time to time.
Oh yeah I suppose you could count the 29g tank that acts as my sump/fuge for my 110 setup. I don't think that counts, tho.
1 45 g tank
1 12 g tank
1 10 g tank
1 5.5 g tank
1 5 g tank
1 2.5 g tank, and finally...
1 1g tank.
.....I think that's all I have. And I know plenty of people who have it worse.
The 45g was a side-of-the-road find (you just can't pass those up!!), the 12g was a QT tank I recently broke down because I'm not getting new animals, the 10g was a possible sump purchased for the 45g, the 5.5 was running as a nano that I broke down and moved inhabitants to other tanks, the 5g was a "just because it's cheap" purchase, the 2.5 was a copepod breeder, and the 1g gets used as a coral dip tank from time to time.
Oh yeah I suppose you could count the 29g tank that acts as my sump/fuge for my 110 setup. I don't think that counts, tho.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Just FYI, your photobucket is still password protected. Bummer...