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!
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!