ID, if you please? :D
- Thread starter kanicky
- Start date
kanicky
Member
I'd be delighted to get some more to you!
Thanks for the ID. It's hard for me to differentiate sometimes.
I'm going to have to take a better look at their tummies when I get home this evening, as I think one of them has an anal fin, which would make it a female...
I've had them for almost a month. I named them Trident and Atlantis for now, and will probably stick with those names either way as I love them
They're still fairly small, and I do realize that they will have to eventually go in a bigger tank once they grow a little more, but they were actually a surprise birthday gift, so I'm making due with what I have until we move into our next house.
They eat PE Mysis and Enriched Brine (as an occasional treat!) like champs and are very alert and active. The one that's "on top" in the pic (Trident) is constantly hitching onto Atlantis and the two of them hitch their tails together so sweetly, it's like they're holding hands! I am definitely "in love."
Their only tankmate is a Highfin Banded Goby who is, of course, peaceful. I was thinking about getting a few Sexy Shrimp but wasn't sure if the 'horses would take a nip at them...
Anyway, I love that we finally have a Seahorse/Pipefish forum on SWF and I'm glad that we have some educated people on this board!
Thanks for the ID, Rykna!
Thanks for the ID. It's hard for me to differentiate sometimes.
I'm going to have to take a better look at their tummies when I get home this evening, as I think one of them has an anal fin, which would make it a female...
I've had them for almost a month. I named them Trident and Atlantis for now, and will probably stick with those names either way as I love them
They're still fairly small, and I do realize that they will have to eventually go in a bigger tank once they grow a little more, but they were actually a surprise birthday gift, so I'm making due with what I have until we move into our next house.
They eat PE Mysis and Enriched Brine (as an occasional treat!) like champs and are very alert and active. The one that's "on top" in the pic (Trident) is constantly hitching onto Atlantis and the two of them hitch their tails together so sweetly, it's like they're holding hands! I am definitely "in love."
Their only tankmate is a Highfin Banded Goby who is, of course, peaceful. I was thinking about getting a few Sexy Shrimp but wasn't sure if the 'horses would take a nip at them...
Anyway, I love that we finally have a Seahorse/Pipefish forum on SWF and I'm glad that we have some educated people on this board!
Thanks for the ID, Rykna!
kanicky
Member
Thank you very much! I am enamoured with them, for sure
Trident has fattened up in the past few weeks, as he's the most aggressive eater, but it looks like I'm going to have to pay special attention to Atlantis, as she's skinnier than him. I have yet to set up an actual feeding station (I've been feeding them with a baster,) but I'd like to do that this weekend, provided my attention isn't needed in a million other areas!
I do have a question on normal behavior: is it normal for seahorses to "play" in the flow? I am serious about Trident seeming to love the flow in the tank. He likes to get right in front of it sometimes and swim against the current. He's a strong little 'horse! I've tapered the flow down a bit so that it's a more suitable enviroment, but either way, he seems to love it.
Thanks again for the lovely comments on my babies!
Trident has fattened up in the past few weeks, as he's the most aggressive eater, but it looks like I'm going to have to pay special attention to Atlantis, as she's skinnier than him. I have yet to set up an actual feeding station (I've been feeding them with a baster,) but I'd like to do that this weekend, provided my attention isn't needed in a million other areas!
I do have a question on normal behavior: is it normal for seahorses to "play" in the flow? I am serious about Trident seeming to love the flow in the tank. He likes to get right in front of it sometimes and swim against the current. He's a strong little 'horse! I've tapered the flow down a bit so that it's a more suitable enviroment, but either way, he seems to love it.
Thanks again for the lovely comments on my babies!
monalisa
Active Member
Originally Posted by Kanicky
Thank you very much! I am enamoured with them, for sure
Trident has fattened up in the past few weeks, as he's the most aggressive eater, but it looks like I'm going to have to pay special attention to Atlantis, as she's skinnier than him. I have yet to set up an actual feeding station (I've been feeding them with a baster,) but I'd like to do that this weekend, provided my attention isn't needed in a million other areas!
I do have a question on normal behavior: is it normal for seahorses to "play" in the flow? I am serious about Trident seeming to love the flow in the tank. He likes to get right in front of it sometimes and swim against the current. He's a strong little 'horse! I've tapered the flow down a bit so that it's a more suitable enviroment, but either way, he seems to love it.
Thanks again for the lovely comments on my babies!
I have some advice for you that I wished I'd taken right from the start with my horses. Start training your little duo to eat from a plastic dish. Weight it down with some smooth rock or marbles.
Oh how I WISH I'd done this right from the start...it just makes feeding and clean up incredibly more doable!!! And, in my tank, whenever I take the feeding dish out to clean it, I'm almost always guaranteed to dispose of a few bristle worms (got that population boom from feeding the tank).
If you need help with getting this started, please let me know...it's DEFINITELY worth the little bit of training your horses will need!!!
Below is a picture of my little family eating from their dish...ummm, I should add that since this picture was taken, I've upgraded their dish
Lisa
Thank you very much! I am enamoured with them, for sure
Trident has fattened up in the past few weeks, as he's the most aggressive eater, but it looks like I'm going to have to pay special attention to Atlantis, as she's skinnier than him. I have yet to set up an actual feeding station (I've been feeding them with a baster,) but I'd like to do that this weekend, provided my attention isn't needed in a million other areas!
I do have a question on normal behavior: is it normal for seahorses to "play" in the flow? I am serious about Trident seeming to love the flow in the tank. He likes to get right in front of it sometimes and swim against the current. He's a strong little 'horse! I've tapered the flow down a bit so that it's a more suitable enviroment, but either way, he seems to love it.
Thanks again for the lovely comments on my babies!
I have some advice for you that I wished I'd taken right from the start with my horses. Start training your little duo to eat from a plastic dish. Weight it down with some smooth rock or marbles.
Oh how I WISH I'd done this right from the start...it just makes feeding and clean up incredibly more doable!!! And, in my tank, whenever I take the feeding dish out to clean it, I'm almost always guaranteed to dispose of a few bristle worms (got that population boom from feeding the tank).
If you need help with getting this started, please let me know...it's DEFINITELY worth the little bit of training your horses will need!!!
Below is a picture of my little family eating from their dish...ummm, I should add that since this picture was taken, I've upgraded their dish
Lisa
kanicky
Member
Thanks for the advice, MonaLisa! I'd love some suggestions on how to set up a feeding station and how to train them to come to it.
I am a little confused as to how you keep the mysis from just floating right out of the little bowl, but I guess they don't since everyone else seems to do the feeding station
Oh, and I have a question about something I read on another board: Someone mentioned putting chaeto in the tank and squirting the mysis into that, and then the 'horses can just pick off of that, just as if they were feeding in the wild. Is this also something I should do?
Thank you!
I am a little confused as to how you keep the mysis from just floating right out of the little bowl, but I guess they don't since everyone else seems to do the feeding station
Oh, and I have a question about something I read on another board: Someone mentioned putting chaeto in the tank and squirting the mysis into that, and then the 'horses can just pick off of that, just as if they were feeding in the wild. Is this also something I should do?
Thank you!
monalisa
Active Member
Originally Posted by Kanicky
Thanks for the advice, MonaLisa! I'd love some suggestions on how to set up a feeding station and how to train them to come to it.
I am a little confused as to how you keep the mysis from just floating right out of the little bowl, but I guess they don't since everyone else seems to do the feeding station
Oh, and I have a question about something I read on another board: Someone mentioned putting chaeto in the tank and squirting the mysis into that, and then the 'horses can just pick off of that, just as if they were feeding in the wild. Is this also something I should do?
Thank you!
Kanicky, I just posted this in my thread:
First, I have the dish weighted down with SMOOTH rock so that there are no hiding spots in the rock for @#%@#@ bristle worms (marbles would also work nicely for this). Before feeding, I turn off the equipment, powerheads and filters. I always have their food made up and ready to go in a little dish that I keep in the refrigerator. I serve them up via a small baster. I simply suck up the amount of mysis into the baster that I want to feed, lower the baster to the bowl in the tank, and SLOWLY squirt the mysis into the dish. The mysis pretty much just falls into the dish. I leave the equipment off for about 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on who's coming and going. By the time 20 minutes is done, everyone is at, or has been, to the dish eating. I also check to see how much food is left in the bowl before turning the equipment back on, if there's too much yet, I will leave it off for another few minutes...that generally doesn't happen though...my horses LOVE their mysis
Just about every evening after they've had supper, I carefully (VERY carefully) take the dish out and dispose of any food that hasn't been eaten (ha-ha, not very likely there's any left) and I clean the dish and dispose of any @#@%Q$# bristle worms that might be in there.
My horses have gotten so used to having that baster come and go that they actually have started to take mysis directly from the baster...very cute.
Now, on to getting them to hitch to my fingers
Kanicky...To train your horses to the dish, all I did was carefully and gently coaxed my little ones there with a clear plastic spoon...kinda pushing them in the direction of the dish, if not directly into the dish
. I only had to do that one time (but I had bigger horses showing the way). You may need to do this a couple of times, since your little ones are alone, but you'll be surprised how quickly they take to the dish idea.
Good luck, let me know how it goes!!
Lisa
Thanks for the advice, MonaLisa! I'd love some suggestions on how to set up a feeding station and how to train them to come to it.
I am a little confused as to how you keep the mysis from just floating right out of the little bowl, but I guess they don't since everyone else seems to do the feeding station
Oh, and I have a question about something I read on another board: Someone mentioned putting chaeto in the tank and squirting the mysis into that, and then the 'horses can just pick off of that, just as if they were feeding in the wild. Is this also something I should do?
Thank you!
Kanicky, I just posted this in my thread:
First, I have the dish weighted down with SMOOTH rock so that there are no hiding spots in the rock for @#%@#@ bristle worms (marbles would also work nicely for this). Before feeding, I turn off the equipment, powerheads and filters. I always have their food made up and ready to go in a little dish that I keep in the refrigerator. I serve them up via a small baster. I simply suck up the amount of mysis into the baster that I want to feed, lower the baster to the bowl in the tank, and SLOWLY squirt the mysis into the dish. The mysis pretty much just falls into the dish. I leave the equipment off for about 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on who's coming and going. By the time 20 minutes is done, everyone is at, or has been, to the dish eating. I also check to see how much food is left in the bowl before turning the equipment back on, if there's too much yet, I will leave it off for another few minutes...that generally doesn't happen though...my horses LOVE their mysis
Just about every evening after they've had supper, I carefully (VERY carefully) take the dish out and dispose of any food that hasn't been eaten (ha-ha, not very likely there's any left) and I clean the dish and dispose of any @#@%Q$# bristle worms that might be in there.
My horses have gotten so used to having that baster come and go that they actually have started to take mysis directly from the baster...very cute.
Now, on to getting them to hitch to my fingers
Kanicky...To train your horses to the dish, all I did was carefully and gently coaxed my little ones there with a clear plastic spoon...kinda pushing them in the direction of the dish, if not directly into the dish
Good luck, let me know how it goes!!
Lisa
kanicky
Member
Awesome, thanks MonaLisa! I'm gonna go find a suitable "feeding station" for Trident and Atlantis this evening and give it a try at their feeding tonight.
I'll definitely let you know how it goes, and I'll try to get some pictures in, too!
(I'd love to have them hitch to my finger, too
)
I'll definitely let you know how it goes, and I'll try to get some pictures in, too!
(I'd love to have them hitch to my finger, too
monalisa
Active Member
Originally Posted by Kanicky
Awesome, thanks MonaLisa! I'm gonna go find a suitable "feeding station" for Trident and Atlantis this evening and give it a try at their feeding tonight.
I'll definitely let you know how it goes, and I'll try to get some pictures in, too!
(I'd love to have them hitch to my finger, too
)
Waiting for pictures...hmmmm ***twiddling thumbs*** hmmm
Lisa
Awesome, thanks MonaLisa! I'm gonna go find a suitable "feeding station" for Trident and Atlantis this evening and give it a try at their feeding tonight.
I'll definitely let you know how it goes, and I'll try to get some pictures in, too!
(I'd love to have them hitch to my finger, too
Waiting for pictures...hmmmm ***twiddling thumbs*** hmmm
Lisa