starting over

[valgae]

this is so awesome! so excited to have a seahorse fourm. well i had a seahorse tank for about three weeks. now its just a tank. had 3 female h. erectus 24g pod lr/gorg/caulpera/ the works. my horses were good for about three weeks. and then poof.

they went down so fast. im not really a newbie i have a 55 that ive had for 2 years w/ sps. im thinking that it was water quality. i did regular changes but i guess what im asking is for those of you who are experienced help me set my tank up better. i would like to try again. any suggestions?

 

[darthtang aw]

How long was the tank set up before the horses were added, what kind of clean up crew was it, water temp, how often fed, what fed? and supplements used? How much live rock....basically give me as much info as possible.

 

[valgae]

24g @ 22lbs of lr fed @3times day w/ feeding dish w/ mysis. the crew was one large mex turbo,also quite a few stromatella @20 hermits(scarlets/blue)which kept disappearing. i really think it was the horses. catalina goby, caulpera, 2" sand bed. for filtration 2 canister filters. the pod has the 2 compartments in the back. i did a little mod on the tank and cut a hole on the back wall for one of my filters. i hooked up the outflow w plastic tubing and mde them double as ph but not really ph cuz they didnt have too much out put. u know what i mean and some cheato in the back. no sump/fuge.3 yellow gorgs, shrooms, yumas, rics, some zoos. i think thats about it.

 

[darthtang aw]

How long was the tank up before you added the horses.....

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Darthtang AW
How long was the tank up before you added the horses.....
?

I'm interested in this too.
Lisa...

 

[valgae]

a good 7 months i kind of took my time putting it together. seeded the sand bed from my 55 switched a few rocks from each tank also. for pod pop.

 

[rykna]

Where did you get your horses, and did you ask to see them be fed before you purchased them?

 

[monalisa]

Did all 3 horses perish at the same time? If so, was there anything added to the tank previous to that? Anything taken out previous to that? Did you notice any symptoms or signs that something was not right?
That's all I can think of right now.
Lisa...

 

[valgae]

yes i had them feed them when i purchased them. they were all healthy not thin at all. ill try to post some pics of them when i got them. the first passed about 4 days later he was doing a twitchy little tick thing almost as if he was having a spasm. the next was about 2wks later. then the last the next week. after the first died the other two did lighten in color they werent black any more kinda more grey w/ almost white bellies and necks.

 

[darthtang aw]

did you quarantine them?

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by VALgae
yes i had them feed them when i purchased them. they were all healthy not thin at all. ill try to post some pics of them when i got them. the first passed about 4 days later he was doing a twitchy little tick thing almost as if he was having a spasm. the next was about 2wks later. then the last the next week. after the first died the other two did lighten in color they werent black any more kinda more grey w/ almost white bellies and necks.
This sounds exactly like what happened to my horses

 

[valgae]

MAN WORK SUX! k i know its been a while but im back. i think i figured it out. i was reading the new issue of aquarium mag. and was reading the article on horses. i had my horses trained on a feeding dish. i would leave some mysis in the dish before wk. some would be left when i got home. to the point- the mysis becomes bacteria laden- horses eat it and get sick! even if its only there a few hours. if you do it enough they get sick. NOT GOOD. sounds good to me.

but hey three of my peppermint shrimp are preggers. so maybe well try to throw one in the 24 and make some $?

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by VALgae
a good 7 months i kind of took my time putting it together. seeded the sand bed from my 55 switched a few rocks from each tank also. for pod pop.
I would be afraid that adding 3 fish to a 24 gallon that had only been cycled for 4 or 5 months may have sent the tank into another mini cycle.
Seahorses are good at producing bio-load by their waste and their required feeding needs...