Newbie to Reef Central

[zoster.keeper]

Hi everyone. I came across this website so I decided to drop in and say hello. I have 4 years of FW experience and now I am going into SW. I have a 10g tank that is now cycling and is dedicated to dwarf seahorses. If you have any questions or anything please feel free to respond. :rollface:

 

[whatnot45]

Have you had any experince w/ saltwater before now? Because I would NOT recommend dwarfs as a starter fish.... They are very hard to feed, and I would hate to see someone like you get discouraged from keeping these critters because they do not have any expirience with SW.

My recomendation 4 u unless you have really done your reasearch and think you are up to the challenge, would be to get a couple of nice fish for your ten gallon tank EG damels or jaw fish... and a few corals. Make a nice nano reef. Then if after say 6 months, you feel you have lots of experience, go ahaed get a 5 or 6 gallon tank at most, and try some dwarfs.

 

[zoster.keeper]

Trust me when I say that I have a been doing a tonnn of research and I know the requirements for them. Thanks for being concerned but I am up to the challenge and ready for it.

What kind of fish do you have?

 

[puffer21]

[welcome]

 

[ReefNutPA]

Welcome to the world of dwarf seahorses

Tom

 

[zoster.keeper]

Tom, since you have dwarf seahorses, are there any tips on technics or anything that you could give me? I already know a lot about them in general but any little things that you think may be helpful?

Also, where if your dwarf seahorses are captive bred, where did you get them?

 

[whatnot45]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7910524#post7910524 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoster.keeper
Trust me when I say that I have a been doing a tonnn of research and I know the requirements for them. Thanks for being concerned but I am up to the challenge and ready for it.

What kind of fish do you have?

I have 0 fish now... they all died when the power went out for 2days. I tried to get a battery operated air pump, but all 4 of my LFS's were sold out.

I am starting again though. I keep Dwarfs in my little 5 gallon hex, and I keep erectus in my 29 gallon.

 

[whatnot45]

Tips 4 u: i know u asked tom, but ill help 2

Get at least 2 brine shrimp hatching trays rom brine shrimp direct. Make hatching BBS super easy.

Treat your tank with panacur or some other form of fenbendazol before getting your dwarfs. This will keep it hydroid free, however it will kill a lot of inverts that you may want to keep. Shrimp and a few speciese of snails will be fine though.

Clean up crew suggestions- You are very limmited with dwarfs, but i would recomend volcano shrimp from Ocean Rider. They are not effected by fenbendazol, and will eat diatoms, and the horses will eat the baby ones as a treat. Nassarius snails are good too. They are one of the only snails not effected by fenbendazol.

I would highly recomend the pixie specail from seahorse.com (oceanrider) for a first time dwarf owner. I got it and it has really helped. Other than that, i would get them from seahorsesourse.com I got mine from oceanrider, but i over paid.

 

[zoster.keeper]

Thanks for your help whatnot, I am getting nassarius vibex snails. Your info on places to get them has been very helpful.

Thats sad that your fish died in the power outage.

 

[ReefNutPA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7913141#post7913141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoster.keeper
Tom, since you have dwarf seahorses, are there any tips on technics or anything that you could give me?
Also, where if your dwarf seahorses are captive bred, where did you get them?

Well.... since you asked I'll tell you how my tank is setup. However, it differs quite a bit from the 'standard' setup and many will not agree with my technique. So if I get bashed one bit I'm gonna go sulk in a corner

Firstly, all my dwarfs are WC. I purchased some from Florida Collector and some from Aqualand. Upon arrival each group were given a 5 min freshwater dip - but no other treatments with meds.

My initial shipment I received in early 2005, another shipment in September 2005 and a shipment in March 2006. Currently I have 3 from the initial 2005 shipment...which are starting to show their age I've had them about 1 1/2 years now and while they are the biggest in the tank they are getting a bit thin and aren't quite as active as they once were. Totally I have about 20-24 adults and around a dozen or so of their young of varying ages. My avatar shows a group shot of a couple of the adults.

No offense whatnot...but I strongly dislike those hatching trays. But I won't debate that issue at all. I use both 2 litre soda bottles and hatching cones I purchased from seahorsesource.com. I try to feed twice a day...but at least once depending on my work schedule. Initially I used non-decapped bbs eggs but the last few months I've switched to using decapped eggs purchased from seahorsesource.com. (I've try decapping eggs myself....but it met with disaster. And I still have the bleach stain on my tablecloth to prove it!)

The tank is a 10 gal that is NOT divided. I just don't get the idea behind dividing it. My tank pic is in the gallery - I don't think the tank is crowded or ugly looking at all with one sponge-covered filter tube visible in the tank. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

The tank has about 1 1/2" of black CaribSea tahitian moon sand on the bottom and 10 lbs of live rock purchased from seawaterexpress.com (hydroid free rock!) There is also caulerpa in the tank I purchased from seawaterexpress (again, hydroid free!).

The filter is a small AquaClear. I have attached an IceProbe chiller on the AquaClear to ensure the temp stays at a constant 74F. I had severe problems (ie: deaths) when the temps got to 78F-80F. I have the filter set on 'low' flow and also have an open airline about 2" from the top of the tank on either side.

I'm probably fortunate that I have not experienced any health problems with these WC dwarfs. However, I've received three shipments at 3 different times of the year without medicating or without disease outbreaks, so I'm satisfied with my actions.

As far as cleanup crew - I only have a bunch of spaghetti worms that came in on the rock purchased from seawaterexpress. They have multiplied quite a bit and apparently are eating any bbs that die and settle on the bottom. I have no snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.

I have been very fortunate that I've never had a hydroid problem at all. Even when I used non-decapped bbs for over a year. Therefore, I won't comment on the use of panacur on a tank before getting dwarfs "just to be sure" it's hydroid free. I'm strongly against using any medicines for any reason unless it's a necessity. I'm not sure why, but it seems every new hobbyist that sets up a dwarf tank is having hydroid outbreaks...so it is definitely something you need to be aware of.

Again, whether I've been just lucky all this time or whether it's because of my husbandry practices.... all I can say is what I have set up works for me.

I know I gave general answers...so if there is anything specific you'd like more detail on, feel free to ask.

Tom

 

[zoster.keeper]

I am going try to decap the brine shrimp eggs myself, so hopefully everything will go okay. What exactly went wrong when you tried to decap them yourself? Most likely, I will not try the hatching tray.

Right now, I have fake plants and personally I think they're a little cheesy. If I get caulerpa, how many watts should the lighting be? How deep does the sand bed need to be? (I have black sand) Also, is caulerpa hard do keep? What do you use to trim it?

Sorry about all the Qs, any answers would be great!

 

[ReefNutPA]

I'm not sure what went wrong with my decapping experience. Maybe I'm just clumsy. I spilled the bleach, stank up the kitchen and my hands smelled like bleach. I decided it was just worth it to me to pay a few dollars to purchase already decapped eggs.

Suprisingly, the only lighting I have on the tank is the standard flourescent bulb that came with the tank. When I prune it, I just pinch it off with my fingers. Don't cut it with scissors as it's easier for the caulerpa to heal/seal itself if it's pinched off. The sandbed is only 1"-1 1/2" deep. Nothing like the 4-5" sandbeds in my reefs.

I still have one fake plant in the tank. The caulerpa has grown around the base and is pretty intertwined in the stems of the fake plant. I can't remove it without ripping out a large portion of caulerpa, so I just leave it. Doesn't look too bad and it's not that noticeable to me.

Tom