starting a seahorse tank?
- Thread starter fishymann
- Start date
ann83
New member
Fishymann, have you read all the threads about mixing species of syngnathid? I personally don't think it is worth the risk. Different species of syngnathid carry different strains of bacteria like vibrio, and though one species is asymptomatic, it can cause symptoms in another species when mixed together. So, mixing species of seahorses, or mixing seahorses with pipefish, is something to be thoroughly researched and prepared for before you attempt it. Seeing as how you are trying to do things on a budget, you might not want to buy the extra equipment and medicines that you would likely need to try to make it successful. So, in short, read about it first.
pledosophy
Active member
I wouldn't do water changes unless ammonia gets over 1. ppm Other then that wait for nitrite to drop completely. I also keep feeding the tank so the bacteia has ample food to eat.
Depending on the source of your ammonia you might need to do a rather large WC of 90% if your using the chemical form or your pH will suffer for some time IME.
Depending on the source of your ammonia you might need to do a rather large WC of 90% if your using the chemical form or your pH will suffer for some time IME.
ann83
New member
The ammonia you have right now is probably a combination of die-off and the breaking down of the algae wafer, unless you have something in there that is actually eating algae wafers??? You may as well feed your tank a large frozen shrimp from the grocery store. Just drop it in and leave it. Really, you aren't "feeding" anything but bacteria, and the bacteria just need ammonia to convert. So, you could even feed your tank pure ammonia if you could get your hands on it.
nope nothing in there that eats. Im noticing though that it just sort of sits there on the bottom thats the one reason i havent put in a shrimp yet since it doesn't seem to really decay. No pure ammonia on hand or else i probably would go and use that. Should i wait till the tank has cylced till i put in more macros
uh oh ! i really hope this is good algae or else i have a feeling this is a bad start, ontop of the gold\brown algae on my large piece of rock is stringy stuff im assuming its hair algae, i'll get pictures later but what should i do? Should i shut the lights off for a few days please help.
Nope. This is quite normal. What you are witnessing is succession biology in action. As your tank continues to cycle, a number of different algaes will appear and dissapear as the tank matures.
Single celled algae (like cyanobacteria) and hair algae are early colonizers and usually appear early in a tank cycle. They show up first at the part because they are very fast growers. As more organisms appear that compete with or eat them, they will gradually dissapear.
Now would be a good time to add a few snails.
Note: turning off the lights will do nothing but interupt the cycling of your tank. Both the algae and the nutrients they use will still be in the tank, and when you turn on the lights again, they will re-appear.
Fred
So IMO here would be the ultimate clean up crew for your tank
5 or 6 Mexican Turbo snails
10 Astrea Turbo snails
5-10 scarlet reef hermits
and 15-20 nassarius snails.
Between the hermits and the mex. Turbos you would never have to wory about hair algae again, and the astrea turbos will take care of the cynobacteria on the glass, while the nassarius snails will stir up the sand so that it wont grown there. The nass. snails IMO are essential for seahorse tanks because they will eat any uneaten mysis.
5 or 6 Mexican Turbo snails
10 Astrea Turbo snails
5-10 scarlet reef hermits
and 15-20 nassarius snails.
Between the hermits and the mex. Turbos you would never have to wory about hair algae again, and the astrea turbos will take care of the cynobacteria on the glass, while the nassarius snails will stir up the sand so that it wont grown there. The nass. snails IMO are essential for seahorse tanks because they will eat any uneaten mysis.
