My beginnings

[jaodissa]

I found the cutest rimless 4.6 gallon fish tank at my LFS. It was a goldfish starter kit. Setting me back $46.99 but so worth it. After shown the black sand here I knew I had to have it also so for $7.99 I got myself a 10 pound bag of black sand. A LED 50/50 light fixture found adds the slightest bit of blue and cost $24.99. My HOB filter (aqua clear 30) and a bag of chemi-pure cost me $58.98. The live rock which was soaked in boiling water for 1 hour, frozen, and then later bleached dipped to ensure it was now base rock cost $10.00. The assortment of hitches have thus cost me $15.94, but I'm sure as time goes forward I will find and purchase other kinds that I like more. My brine shrimp hatchery and eggs cost me an estimated $49.95. I still need to find live mysis shrimp so I can attempt to breed them as a secondary source of food. I also need to purchase enrichment for the baby brine shrimp. My Iceprobe chiller cost 90.00 and is not here yet. The water has been sitting at a constant 72 degrees so I may not need to use it until summer time. Not including the few missing components and of course my dwarf sea horses I have so far spent 304.84 on my horse tank and am in love with it. Somehow I also managed to spend some extra money at the LFS and have no idea what I bought other than a new coral for my reef but ah well. So far everything is perfect. Let me know what you think!
Edit to add: I'm gonna add a background on this tank and I have more hitches to attach but they are in the mail.
(With kitchen lights on the blue is hardly noticeable)

(Without kitchen lights on the blue is very pretty)

 

[shrimpy brains]

Very nice tank! I especially like the height. Nice light and total look!

 

[dive girl]

Very nice!!! The dwarfs are really going to love it! I don't see where you have mentioned how you are cycling it? Are you adding a bit of ammonia to the water?
I really like the plant in there, your dwarfs will love it. If you look around you might be able to find a black sponge which will blend in with your sand.

 

[jaodissa]

I tossed a silverside in the tank. Its floating there on the left bottom side of the screen. My husband suggested a black sponge too so the next trip to the LFS I will look for one.
Should I be concerned with the amount of flow in the tank? The aqual clear 30 is rated at 150. If I put it on the low flow setting and have the sponge I assume it brings the gph down but is that enough? It's probably turning the water over 30 times per hour right now.

 

[dive girl]

In my tank I have areas of both high and low flow. I have some ponies that seem to love the high flow areas. It is rather startling at first to see the little guys thrown across the tank because of the flow but then funny to see them go back again and again. It's almost like they are getting on a roller coaster over and over. As long as there are some areas where it is sheltered from that flow, I would say you are all right.
I've seen seahorses in the ocean and I've seen them in both areas of high and low flow. I try my best to mimic that.
BTW, DanU on here sells mysid shrimp and captive raised dwarf seahorses (when you are ready).
Another thing that they seem to love is an open airline bubbling away, they play in that too.

 

[jaodissa]

Im sure Im going to purchase the ponies from DanU (well I guess as long as he has them) When I get closer to purchasing them I will call and see if they have any. Everyone says such great things about his ponies!
I've been reading some post by DanU about housing mysis shrimp with the dwarf ponies also. It doesn't look like it will work well in such a small space and I certainly wouldn't be able to house 250 mysis shrimp in my little tank so Im gonna have to think this through. I think What I might do is find somewhere I could buy 50 or so and add them to the tank and watch what happens. Heck 50 might be to much for my little 4 gallon tank lol. I also found a post from him on a mysis generator, but Im having some issues trying to figure it out. I have 4-6 weeks to learn as much as I can about feeding these guys properly though.
Thanks for the help and input everyone ! It's just a hurry up and wait game right now!

 

[jaodissa]

We have ammonia!!
1.0 as it stands now. It's only been 3.5 days but I couldn't help myself but check. I haven't bothered testing anything else yet though maybe in a week. Stand by for exciting updates to come of nitrites.

 

[jaodissa]

Day 8!
Ammonia .50 (this was at 2.0 2 days ago)
nitrite 5.0
I will test for nitrate in 7-8 days and see where we stand at that point!
I'm going to be ordering my pod culture next week. Im excited to see if I can actually do this or not lol.

 

[shrimpy brains]

I'm sure you will do well. Everything is looking good! Keep the updates coming!

 

[jaodissa]

Day 13
Ammonia 0
nitrite 1.0
nitrate 10
I have a question though. I purchased a couple fake plants and cut them up to mesh them together, (I liked the colors combined) Anyways one of the plants has metal running through it. I covered the area I cut with aquarium apoxy but I thought you weren't suppose to use anything with metal. Is that for inverts and live plants or could the metal hurt the DSH? Thanks for the help!
Ops another question. I dont know if anyone has seen the fake hitches offered on a certain bidding site, but i purchased one. It's just nylon rope though. Don't you think if it were to fray or anything the ponies might get tied up in it? I liked the idea of it but don't want to impose any danger.

 

[dive girl]

I've read that some people use nylon hitches in their fry tanks, so it should be ok with DSH. I've found that my DSH love to hitch on either the stems of macroalgae or a dried seafan that I have in the tank.
Sounds like you are getting there!!

IIRC, it is advised not to use anything with metal in your saltwater tank. I know that it will corrode, but it could give off something that could be harmful to the occupants.

 

[jaodissa]

Thanks for the reply! The red fake plant in the picture is the one with the metal. The leaves are all plastic and connect to a 3 inch metal rod covered in plastic. What I will do is pull the leaves off and attach them to something else so I can keep the nice red and green but not have the metal.
I decided to smash the rock I had in the tank up and set it up different. It was to wide taking up room needed for hitches. So I rearranged the rocks so they were a little thiner and rose taller. I will post pictures when the water isn't cloudy.

 

[jaodissa]

My husband is not very found of what he calls my drug lab but without further ado my feeding station. First three 2 liter bottles will be for brine shrimp hatching holding and then enriching. The last bottle is my test bottle for tisbe pods. I ordered 100-250 and am gonna experiment with them. I don't know if it is gonna be big enough or not though. I was thinking about having 3-4 of these little jars going so if one crashed I still had some, but I don't know if .5 gallons will be enough to house 1000 or so pods. Whats your thoughts?

 

[jaodissa]

Well after re doing some of my rock work it caused a bit of ammonia again. It went away extremely fast but has raised my nitrites higher. It seems it takes longer for nitrites to turn into nitrates?
Readings for Day 18
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 5.0
nitrate 10
I also like my rock a little more. It increased the hight just a tad bit but also reduced its length and width giving more hitch room instead of a rock being smack in the middle of the tank. I ordered a lot of feed items that will be here on Friday! And am also placing and order for Mydsis. Im really thrilled with the all the different feeding options people have shared. I can't wait to start. Anyways heres another picture of my tank

 

[shrimpy brains]

Looking good! The horses are going to love all those hitches.
I really like your hatchery set up, too. You got me thinking of changing the way mine is set up.
One moe recommendation for purchase when keeping dwarfs. A good magnifying glass.

It helps for playing "Where's Waldo" with those little guys, especially if you end up with babies!!

 

[jaodissa]

I was thinking last night I need to get a large magnifying glass the size of the tanks front. I don't know if one that large would work but it sounded like a good idea.
After my initial shock of how much money I have spent thus far weres off I will start to buy the pretty hatchiers from Dan. I think my husband would be more acceptable to them. He was teasing me that I was gonna have base police all over the house searching my fish lab for something a little fishier.
I still need to buy 3 more 2 gallon fish bowls (growing pods) and I need to set up a tank for Mysids that will be coming. What I really want is this tank to hurry up and cycle so I can have some ponies!!!

 

[teresaq]

looking good so far. What is your ammonia source for your cycle??
I hope you are getting captive bred dwarfs. I know you will be much happier with them. Do you have your enrichments and decapped brine?? Have you tried a trial run of hatching??
T

 

[shrimpy brains]

I know, it doesn't take long to spend alot of money on this "hobby". Do you have a local reef club? You can get alot of good deals by buying used from fellow reefers. Also, CL, auction sites and never overlook thrift stores. Lots of peeps are getting out of the hobby now due to economy.
I also understand about wanting the ponies now!!

I bought a 65g hex over a year ago for a seahorse tank and am finally getting my horses next week! Can't wait!!

 

[jaodissa]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3222250
looking good so far. What is your ammonia source for your cycle??
I hope you are getting captive bred dwarfs. I know you will be much happier with them. Do you have your enrichments and decapped brine?? Have you tried a trial run of hatching??
T
I put a dead fish in to cycle it. After I got 2.0 ppm ammonia I took it out though. I am purchasing CB from DanU. I Also purchased decapped brine, tisbe pods, and an assortment of different enrichments and algae. My order shipped out today and will be here on friday! I think his wife got me set up with everything I need! All I have to do is wait for this tank to cycle.
As for a reef club. We have something of one but Im not sure how active they are really. I guess one day I should get into contact with them. I've spent a lot but in the end it will all be worth it! Id guess my total so far is 825. Thats for the set up, dwarfs, dwarf food, and the foods homes. Cant forget shipping either! That has to be a good 100 dollars all by itself.
It is gonna be so great when they are finally here! I really hope I do this right! I would be so excited if these guys had babies! How neat would the whole experience be!

 

[teresaq]

Thats wonderful. Dan and Abby are great. you will have a tank full before long. How many are you starting out with. Hope you have an extra 10 gal laying around.

breed like rabbits.