redlobstor
New member
That's a very nice looking tank Michael. Looks like Mangrove root on the right side is it real or fake? Looks real but it's so massive.
Jason
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That's a very nice looking tank Michael. Looks like Mangrove root on the right side is it real or fake? Looks real but it's so massive.
Thanks again for the info vlangel.I don't know if disease resistant is the right word, but they are hardier in an aquarium enviroment than wild caught. Captive bred are trained to eat frozen mysis and almost never revert to eating only live. Wild caught often will revert or may never even try frozen mysis. Captive bred have not been exposed to many of the parasites and other diseases that wild caught seahorses have. Wild caught ponies should go through a quarantine protocol of worming and other anti parasitic medications and many of them do not survive that.
However, even captive bred seahorses when mixed with other captive bred seahorses from a different seahorse farm can get sick. They don't always have the same immunity to the same diseases. Doing bigger than even the usual big water changes can help offset the risk of mixing CB ponies from differing sources.
The 2 best seahorse farms are Seahorse Source in FL and Ocean Rider in Hawaii. I am very fond of Seahorse Source because they offer such good customer service and they are more reasonably priced. I bought my 1st pair of ponies from OR and all the rest from SS. My original female Eve is in with the pair of SS seahorses and they are doing well in spite of me mixing sources.Thanks again for the info vlangel.
I tried to go captive-bred whenever I can. You just confirmed what I've already read before about captive-bred seahorses being hard here and the plus side is that there already trained to eat mysis.
Interesting about mixing ponies from different sources never really thought about that before. What source would you recommend?
Thanks Jason
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I almost forgot, I witnessed spawning this morning! Not long after my main light came on, the female sailfin blenny approached the big male, Leroy, in his barnacle shell...
Then suddenly a quick truce is declared for a quicky"¦
Thank you for this. I only live a couple hours from Fort Pierce. That is where seahorse source is located so I can save on shipping costs by going down there and picking it up and hopefully save the horses from the rigors of shipping as I seen how shipping companies handle packages even ones marked live fish.The 2 best seahorse farms are Seahorse Source in FL and Ocean Rider in Hawaii. I am very fond of Seahorse Source because they offer such good customer service and they are more reasonably priced. I bought my 1st pair of ponies from OR and all the rest from SS. My original female Eve is in with the pair of SS seahorses and they are doing well in spite of me mixing sources.
Thanks Jason! The tank isn't back to it full glory yet, but I'm on track. I'm especially encouraged by the shoal grass' recent growth spurt. Looking back only two weeks ago, you can see a big difference. Now it just needs to grow taller. I do hope to have manatee grass again soon as I expect some to be available in the near future. I think these two narrow-bladed grasses look beautiful together. Can't wait!
Yeah, that's a fake root I sculpted to hide a powerhead, in keeping with my no-visible-plumbing-in-the-tank rule. I did a build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2393807
I did a build thread on my fake wall too. There are lots of walls better than mine, but mine is unique because of the gramma caves built in. I seriously doubt I'd have been able to keep a seven fish harem without it. Grammas orient themselves to vertical walls and my fake wall is just the ticket! Here's that thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2403722
I also wanted to point out a couple of sea horse/pipefish alternatives: Shrimp fish - they have them at live aquaria. These fish orient themselves vertically to blend in with seagrasses. They are insanely cool and I want them badly but they aren't caribbean. Yellowface pike blenny is a great alternative to pipefish, but with much bigger mouths. I had two that died in QT, thanks to fish sitter deal falling through when I was out of town. I may try to get some more of these. KP sells them.
I have literally pulled out hundreds of sea hares! And there are more.
I'm still having a bit of a diatom problem. Late in the day, it builds up on the blades and starts pearling like The single molly eats a lot of it but she can't quite keep up, by herself!