New Seahorses

[Peka]

For now, the seahorses are eating, the OSFF is eating, and the Mandarins are spawning.

That's good to hear...

 

[romanr]

Do you have a FTS? Beautiful pics. It sounds like you take good care of your tank.

 

[barbianj]

Thanks, but, no, I don't have a FTS. I'll have to try to figure out how to get one without glare. I can only get good pictures in that room from right up against the glass, or from in the tank. That tank is in my fish room, I have another 125 in my living room and a 180 in the front room.

I did take some new pictures. The first one is from in the tank eating brine. I usually feed them Mysis every day, though. The OSFF started with Cyclops. Her belly gets pretty full when she eats. The wrasse was fed NLS pellets before the others were fed. The wrasse was not trained or encouraged to eat from the feeding tube, so she hides in the rocks while the others feed toward (not at) the surface. She cleans up what the others miss.

This picture was taken at 800 ISO because the blue lights were on. The OSFF has taken a liking to my acan frags. Oh, well.

Last night, after they were fed, they did a little dancing and head nodding as soon as the powerheads were turned on. I didn't get any pictures until they were in the rocks. The male is looking fuller, the female has a little way to go.

 

[Elysia]

Like any other segment of this hobby, there is conflicting information. I see people posting incorrect information in this forum about gas bubble disease. Temperature is a big one. ORA states that their seahorse are raised at 75-85 degrees. Mine were kept at 82 in the LFS. My reef is 78. To top it off, ORA doesn't even raise their own seahorses.

My first intention was to set up a separate tank for them, and I will if I need to. I know there is a threat with some of the corals. I could see it being a big problem in a bio cube. Honestly, I don't think they are that stupid. They just don't go by them.

IMO, there should be no conflicting information about temperature. The truth of the matter is, known individuals looked at pathogens known to infect seahorses in the hobby, and those pathogens were more virolent at temps above 74 then below 74. If you are trying to keep your seahorses healthy, then it seems to me sensible that you would do what you could to keep pathogens in check. The "best practices" of an aquacultural facility (which has completely different equipment and resources than a home hobbyist) and a retail fish store (which isn't in business to house a fish long term) are as irrelevant as natural ocean tempertures when it comes to what is best for a seahorse in a completely artifical environment.

Again, in my opinion, relating the seahorses intelligence to the likelihood of them being stung by an aggressive coral is akin to calling snails that have not evolved the ability to right themselves stupid for dying when they fall on their backs. It has nothing to do with intelligence. Seahorses, at least the majority of species that are available in the hobby, are not reef animals. They certainly did not evolve to live in small glass boxes with completely alien fish species (which may be pushy) and most do not co-habitate with piscivore corals. You say that you have a mixed reef -- softies, SPS, and LPS. What kind of sweepers do your corals have? What if a horse gets stung even unintentionally? They do not have scales to protect them.

I'm glad you removed your blenny. It would be great if you removed any aggressive/stinging corals: elegances, torches, frogspawns, and Trachs. I'm not trying to be critical (which isn't always the case...), but wanted to point out some things that perhaps you hadn't thought about. Its great about your mandarins and to see the photo of your seahorses pair bonding.

 

[barbianj]

I'm sorry if I said I had a mixed reef. I have no SPS. I also don't have any corals with sweeper tentacles. None of the Euphyllia display sweepers, either.

Let me clarify a little on the conflicting information. I do trust the knowledge and information of the people in this forum. However, going out into the interweb to search for information, apparently, is useless. How do I, seahorse noob, know who "trusted individuals" are? Ora and Seahorsedotcom list temperatures to 77 and 78 degrees. The tankmate compatability guide that I was pointed to is, IMO, like telling someone to go Google. Lots of nice pictures, but not much information other than a number. I look at the Blennies and wonder why some are rated differently than others. Click on the picture, and get another picture. Nice, but I need to know WHY.

How about a Google of caring for seahorses? http://www.essortment.com/all/seahorse_rnfs.htm
Being the noob that I am, a lot of this information looks to be plain wrong. It's repeated on other sites.

Has anyone skimmed through the FAQ's here recently?

There was a recent thread where someone found out that he had the wrong sized tank cycling waiting for his seahorses. Well, the information on that site should be updated. It's wrong. Time for a new tank. I need to get rid of my Euphyllia, or my seahorses. Honestly, I haven't decided yet. I can always set up yet another tank.

To the regulars here, the best way to keep seahorses must be common knowledge, but I tell you, there is more overall conflicting information in this segment of the hobby than any other that I have entered. Just giving an outsiders perspective.

But hey, I did find an OSFF eating frozen food at an lfs. How lucky is THAT? I'm giving up my acans for that fish. Well, at least I'm learning a lot here. :beer:

 

[TamiW]

That essortment article you mention has nothing to do with actually keeping seahorses. Its meant to attract search engines and drive traffic to its sponsors and help other pages on essortment and other paid sites have a higher page rank. It was probably "written" by someone overseas who doesn't know a thing about seahorses but grabbed several other articles and made an amalgam of bad information and they don't care because its purpose has nothing to do with the subject matter.

Just thought I'd let you know that you're assumptions are right, that article is wrong. (and why).

 

[barbianj]

That essortment article you mention has nothing to do with actually keeping seahorses. Its meant to attract search engines and drive traffic to its sponsors and help other pages on essortment and other paid sites have a higher page rank. It was probably "written" by someone overseas who doesn't know a thing about seahorses but grabbed several other articles and made an amalgam of bad information and they don't care because its purpose has nothing to do with the subject matter.

Just thought I'd let you know that you're assumptions are right, that article is wrong. (and why).

Thanks. I see you're not far from me. I work in Menomoner Falls. I've noticed a number of other people from the northern Illinois area also. I purchased the seahorses from Sho Tank.

 

[timinnl]

I just read that essortment article. ***! Scary info they have on there. Yes I now see your P.O.V. Where to get good info if that is something you ran across.

Tim

 

[C.Ton9187]

Thanks. I see you're not far from me. I work in Menomoner Falls. I've noticed a number of other people from the northern Illinois area also. I purchased the seahorses from Sho Tank.

great people and great store. Good luck with the horses!

 

[barbianj]

So far the seahorses are doing great, as well as the OSFF. They get fed twice a day, and come to the center of the tank when the powerheads go off. I did remove the Melanurus Wrasse. Not because there were any issues, but I had found a very small Leopard Wrasse. I had been looking for one for a while, and only want one wrasse in the tank, so the Melanurus was sold. Some of the pictures are a little too blue because I forgot to turn the blue LED's off, and I didn't feel like doing any editing.

And I do have to give up my acans, the OSFF loves to pick at them. Time for another tank.

 

[barbianj]

Since I started feeding the PE type mysis on 9/16, the female seahorse has changed to a lighter yellow color from black and gray. Current tankmates are updated in the sig.

 

[NyReefNoob]

very nice, i wont go into the does and don't ect. the one thing i will comment on though is you have a decent amount of fish that are hunters, sh's manderins and the wrasse, even though you have a 125g tank this fish can and will almost completely clean out your pods in that tank, even if they are eating frozen foods, they will still hunt all day for pods and such. and congrats on the manderins spawning love to see a video of that

 

[barbianj]

very nice, i wont go into the does and don't ect. the one thing i will comment on though is you have a decent amount of fish that are hunters, sh's manderins and the wrasse, even though you have a 125g tank this fish can and will almost completely clean out your pods in that tank, even if they are eating frozen foods, they will still hunt all day for pods and such. and congrats on the manderins spawning love to see a video of that

I appreciate and understand the concern, but they are all doing fine.

I had a video of the Mandarins somewhere, but I couldn't find it. I just bought a new laptop, it may be on my old one. If I can't find it there, I'll make a new one when I get a chance.

As far as the Mandarins go, they have really taken to the Nutramar Ova in a big way, especially the female. They are not shy about mating, either. :love2:Sometimes they are going at it while the seahorses are being fed at night. Since they have equated the feeding tube with food, it doesn't bother them at all seeing it in the water.

 

[barbianj]

New pictures.

 

[barbianj]

More pictures and two videos.

 

[Peka]

Aww..... seahorse love....

Someone needs to get a fry tank ready.... you have two weeks ......