dwarf seahorses and sponge filters

[bluekoi]

Hello all,
I've managed to fall in love with these charming little creatures, and have gotten myself a small herd of about 14 little guys and gals.
(I did read up on them on FusedJaw and on Seahorse.org before I waded in.)
I do have a couple of questions that I need some guidance on...

One would be the maintenance of the sponge filter....
I have very little experience with these things.
When I started the tank up, I added a small amount of (I can't spell this) nitrifying bacteria to the sponge to get it started. I was concerned that if I attempted to put the sponge in one of our other tanks to collect bacteria, I may inadvertently bring in something that may harm them, as they are so delicate.
So....
How often should I be rinsing/cleaning the sponge filter? And how?
Please don't panic, I constantly vacuum the bottom of the tank (only a small splattering of sand on the bottom, mostly bare). It's almost like a mini-water change daily. So far, the tank has been (knock wood) fairly stable with this daily maintenance.

Next question - what do the baby dwarves eat? I read that they eat baby brine just like their parents. I have seen a few little ones in tank, but I have not seen any that made it very long.
Is the baby brine too big for them to eat? Should I be feeding rotifers for the babies? Will dwarves eat roties if I put them in the tank?
Or perhaps was I not feeding enough?
I feed at least twice a day. More on the weekends when I'm off from work.
I read that it should appear as though the brine are "snowing" in the tank. I try to make sure it looks like a baby brine snowglobe when I feed.
Luckily I have a great LFS (shout out to Seascape in St. Louis) who has a great live food bar and keeps me well stocked in baby brine.

The fish store has their brine set up so that there is freshly hatched every day of the week, and I'm in buying brine practically every other day (seriously, I think I've single-handedly quadrupled their baby brine demand since getting these little guys...). If I buy extra, I put it a small, aerated tank with phyto. Is it possible that baby brine from the phyto tank grows too big for the baby seahorses?

I think we may have at least one expectant father in the tank again.
What else can I do to help the babies grow?
Advice is greatly appreciated!
thanx so much!

 

[ThRoewer]

Familiarize yourself with culturing Tigger pods (Tigriopus californicus). It's a better food than brine shrimp with the added benefit that they actually can multiply inside your tank as well (though likely not fast enough to feed 14 sea horses).
Of further benefit are their small nauplius stages and that they, besides algae, also eat detritus and bacteria. For them it would be beneficial to keep a higher layer of coarse coral gravel to live and multiply in.

At the same time I would set up some external cultures for more volume feeding.

 

[vlangel]

You may find it more economical to culture your own baby brine shrimp. It is not difficult if you use decapsulated cysts and it's not that expensive to set up either. It's always nice to be able to fall back on the lfs if you have a poor hatch though.
I wonder if you added a probiotic, (Sanolife mic-F) to your dwarf tank if the babies would fare better? Probiotics help out compete nasty bacterias. You can order Sanolife mic-F from Seahorse Source.

 

[mavl666]

I have had these guys and tiger pods are to big for them to eat, at least the ones I had. I cultured my own brine shrimp and the babies did much better. As for the sponge rinse once a week with water you took from the tank otherwise you will kill the good bacteria. good luck and they are fun.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Better than tigger pods are Tisbe pods, they're more tropical, and I think are smaller than Tigger pods. There was an article in FAMA/AFI about keeping them, and the author kept them with nerite snails, whose veligers made good food.

Also, I remember reading reports on fused jaw about tigger pods clawing out of baby syngnathids after ingestion sooo...yeah.

 

[bluekoi]

Our LFS cultures their own pods. I'll have to find out what strain they are....

 

[tjdouglas]

Better than tigger pods are Tisbe pods, they're more tropical, and I think are smaller than Tigger pods. There was an article in FAMA/AFI about keeping them, and the author kept them with nerite snails, whose veligers made good food.

Also, I remember reading reports on fused jaw about tigger pods clawing out of baby syngnathids after ingestion sooo...yeah.

Tigger pods clawing their way out of baby syngnathids after ingestion....yikes!!!!:eek1: