I brought my seahorses home yesterday and put them in their temporary little 5 gal. Eclipse hex. They are tiny and I thought it would do until I could figure out what I wanted to provide for a larger home.
The tank was cycled and all params were good perfect.
I put them in w/2 feather dusters, a few pcs. of live rock, a nice chunk of pod filled chaeto, 4 tiny blue legs, a big turbo snail and several smaller turbos and astreas. I fed them and they ate immediately. I thought, Cool! Both feather dusters opened and when I went to bed last night everything looked good.
When my husband woke me up this morning he told me the tank looked a little cloudy. I thought this odd but figured the big snail might have stirred up the sand a little. When I got out to the kitchen I knew immediately something was wrong. The feather dusters didn't look quite right and the big turbo was on his side with his foot exposed and curled up. I reached in to right him and one of the feather dusters retracted but the other didn't. It was dead and falling apart.
Fortunately, I had some fresh salt RO water and we did a 40% water change right away. I went to take the charcoal filter out and OMG!!! the filter wasn't running! I don't know what time it died but the only circulation was a little mini-jet and it wasn't really breaking the surface of the water. I pulled it off and aimed the powerhead across the top of the water. After the WC both horses perked up some and ate though they were still lethargic. We did another 10% and headed for Church.
After we got back I rushed out to PetsMart and bought a HOT power filter, some Purigen, and a breeder box and rushed home. I tested the ammonia and it was 1.0 even after those water changes. I pulled every living thing out, put them in the breeder box in my established 12 gal. and started putting together a new tank.
I had been running a 10 gal. with lr and live sand for several weeks letting it cycle in preparation for a 30 gal. we're starting in a week or 2. I took that sand, a few pcs. of lr, and some of the water, added fresh (salted) RO water, threw on the power filter loaded with Purigan and charcoal and am letting it clear up. I should be able to put the horses in there by later this evening.
On the up side - they seem to be enjoying their little vacation home. They've really perked up, as has the remaining feather duster. Even the big turbo is now clinging onto the shell of one of the smaller snails so there may be hope for him. It's a shame I can't leave them in there. I don't have any stinging corals but I do have a big, bad pistol shrimp so it's not possible.
I spent the afternoon praying, cussing, sweating, cussing...you get the picture. I am going to place a call to MarineLand tomorrow - not real happy with this product. One of the big problems is you can't get to the motor so when it goes, it goes.
Well, with any luck I won't lose anything else and I have a better (though still temporary) home for my horsies.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Laurie
The tank was cycled and all params were good perfect.
I put them in w/2 feather dusters, a few pcs. of live rock, a nice chunk of pod filled chaeto, 4 tiny blue legs, a big turbo snail and several smaller turbos and astreas. I fed them and they ate immediately. I thought, Cool! Both feather dusters opened and when I went to bed last night everything looked good.
When my husband woke me up this morning he told me the tank looked a little cloudy. I thought this odd but figured the big snail might have stirred up the sand a little. When I got out to the kitchen I knew immediately something was wrong. The feather dusters didn't look quite right and the big turbo was on his side with his foot exposed and curled up. I reached in to right him and one of the feather dusters retracted but the other didn't. It was dead and falling apart.
Fortunately, I had some fresh salt RO water and we did a 40% water change right away. I went to take the charcoal filter out and OMG!!! the filter wasn't running! I don't know what time it died but the only circulation was a little mini-jet and it wasn't really breaking the surface of the water. I pulled it off and aimed the powerhead across the top of the water. After the WC both horses perked up some and ate though they were still lethargic. We did another 10% and headed for Church.
After we got back I rushed out to PetsMart and bought a HOT power filter, some Purigen, and a breeder box and rushed home. I tested the ammonia and it was 1.0 even after those water changes. I pulled every living thing out, put them in the breeder box in my established 12 gal. and started putting together a new tank.
I had been running a 10 gal. with lr and live sand for several weeks letting it cycle in preparation for a 30 gal. we're starting in a week or 2. I took that sand, a few pcs. of lr, and some of the water, added fresh (salted) RO water, threw on the power filter loaded with Purigan and charcoal and am letting it clear up. I should be able to put the horses in there by later this evening.
On the up side - they seem to be enjoying their little vacation home. They've really perked up, as has the remaining feather duster. Even the big turbo is now clinging onto the shell of one of the smaller snails so there may be hope for him. It's a shame I can't leave them in there. I don't have any stinging corals but I do have a big, bad pistol shrimp so it's not possible.
I spent the afternoon praying, cussing, sweating, cussing...you get the picture. I am going to place a call to MarineLand tomorrow - not real happy with this product. One of the big problems is you can't get to the motor so when it goes, it goes.
Well, with any luck I won't lose anything else and I have a better (though still temporary) home for my horsies.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Laurie
Sorry to hear it. Lots of stuff can go wrong with these little guys.
