NEW dwarf pony tank!!!

[alexmir]

Well i can hardly wait to get this tank completely set up. I have the tank, a 5.5 gal, a 25 watt stealth heater, sponge filter as seen in picture, i have no idea how it works, but i have it. I have 2x13 watt lights, brine eggs, 2 air pumps. i have the water in a bucket ready to go in the new tank, its got fresh mixed RO water, and water from my reef tank to avoid a cycle. Im going to get the substrate soon, and am going to idg threw a pile of dead rock at the LFS to find some to my liking. I have lots of plastic plants for hitches.
I hatched some brine shrimp today just to make sure i figured it out before the ponies got her, it went good! i was amazed by all the little things swimming around.
Let me know if any of you see something i need.

 

[alexmir]

for all of you concerned parents, this is not where the tank is going! any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[bronco300]

very smart to prehatch just to make sure you can do it and correctly...might do it a couple times just to make sure.
looks like you have some good things....there is not real need for that second light if you don't want it.
keep us updated, looks like you have a good start...i assume you have enrichments, etc?

 

[larrynews]

post pic when its running good luck

 

[alexmir]

enrichments for the baby brine shrimp, or for the water? What enrichments would i need to get?
I will definitely post pics when its set up, i have to get the sand in it before i can add the water.

 

[bronco300]

sorry, enrichments for the bbs...they will need it because the bbs by themselves are about worthless after the first couple hours of hatching...so you'll need to enrich them before feeding for 24hrs...which will have to be after 24hrs hatch time as they dont have a mouth right away......look at enrichments like vita-chem, naturose, etc....there is selco but its a fattier enrichment so you dont want to soak them in it for more than a few hours since its so fatty....there are other types like those but i'm not exactly sure of the names right now.

 

[alexmir]

Ill make sure i get some. So the hatch time is around 24 hrs, then soak them in vitamins for 24 hrs also?
I cant wait to get this tank setup!!!

 

[zeke92]

you can also put a drop of phytoplankton if you have some, it won't make the brine shrimp too much healthier but it will kinda bulk up the BBS i THINK because brine shrimp eat phytoplankton and stuff for food naturally.

 

[bronco300]

i'm having trouble remembering how i did it, but hatch time was 24hrs, the you have to wait another 24hrs for them to grow mouths, then enrich then for the next 12-24hrs...well here, this was my schedule:

 

[alexmir]

THANK YOU so much for the example! is really going to help alot. Couldnt i hatch more at first and use the left over shrimp for the later feeding rather than hatching 2 seperate batches a day?

 

[bronco300]

you could but your life rate on it will go down...when i went for the weekend or so i would hatch alot and put it in the fridge for the person feeding...but i think it'll be better for you to do two...but thats my opinion.

 

[bronco300]

also doing two gives you a back up....what happens when you have your one hatchery fail? a air line comes out somehow and nothing hatches, or something falls over and the eggs go everywhere...you have nothing then for 24hrs...leaving them hungry for 48hrs once you get them food, IF you can feed within that few hours of being nutritional...otherwise you'll have to wait to enrich and thats another 36-48hrs....so having two you have one fail, but you know in 12hrs you still have food for them, and you can handle missing that one single one and get back on schedule in 12hrs.

 

[alexmir]

Ill try both methods and see which works for me. Thanks so much for posting those diagrams. How much will the brine shrimp grow in that 3 day period? and how long does the air pump have to be on? ive read to turn it off about 18 hours when the shrimp start hatching.... Is this correct?

 

[zeke92]

The Archive thread, on page 3 of the seahorse forums i think, has some hatchery info that rykna and others have posted aswell.

 

[bronco300]

i've never heard of turning the air pumps off, mine ran 24/7 for them....its important to keep the eggs suspended and not sit or they won't have a good hatch rate...in a 3day period i dont think you'll see a ton of growth.