Would this BiUbe tank be adequate for dwarfs?

Please disregard this thread, I failed to read that it's ideal for tropical or coldwater fish until I just reread it.
 
Umm...what does it matter if it's ideal for tropical or coldwater fish? My dwarfs are kept at room temperature, so the temp would be fine, and they are fish...
 
Brock, I took that description to mean it has undergravel filtration...I was hoping for a all-in-one 3 stage type filtration such as in nanos.

What type of setup do you have for yours? They are pretty intimidating as far as care, but read it's pretty much like raising fry.

Can you tell me a little about yours?
 
Just because it says for tropical and coldwater fish doesn't mean UG filters.

I have 6 dwarfs in a 5.5 gallon tank, along with 13 fry in a >1 gallon tank.

Every day I get up at 9:30AM and feed out the bbs from the night before. Immediately after, I add more bbs eggs to the hatchery, and add remaining bbs from last night to an enrichment hatchery. After 12 hours in enrichment, I feed those one out. Then I repeat the next day. It seems though that we are realizing that dwarfs are just scraping by the brine shrimp. We are now looking into copepods, tigger pods, etc. After a while on bbs, they stop breeding.

Brock

BTW, your tanks list is very impressive! They sound like awesome setups. I'm biased to seahorses, so the 130 gallon sounds suweet!
 
From the description and pic it does appear to use undergravel filtration, which makes sense for an orb style aquarium. Actually though, if you don't mind doing a twice a year (or so) tear-down of the aquarium to clean the UG filter, I think a UG would be a good idea. There has been talk of them lately in DSH threads b/c they wouldn't suck in dwarf fry or copepods and brine the way mechanical filters can.
 
Thanks very much for the advise and compliments Brock!

I looked around some more and narrowed it down to these two:

9 gallon Finnex:

http://www.oceanreeflections.com/headings.aspx?prodcat=Aquariums&heading=Finnex&page=1

3 gallon CPR pico:

http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1426

I'm afraid the 9 gal. may be too large? Would it help if I added a lot of decoration?

I just wanted something that is clean, sleek, and enclosed with all in one filtration. Seems difficult when you get smaller than 10 gallons.

The CPR seems to be more ideal, but could be too skinny?

How long have you had your dwarfs? I read they only live a year or so, is this true?

Ann83- I don't mind tearing down such a small tank. But I thought UG filtration was not desirable because it traps the bbs in the sand?


Also, I LOVE my 130 gallon seahorse tank but what a pain to reach in there. It's 30 inches tall and each time I need to get in there I have to climb a ladder.

Actually, I have much more than my list describes. I just wanted to be succinct. (Add on:: got an itty bitty mantis tank, another 130 reef, (3) 50 gallon tubs, a nano zoanthid/clam only tank)

And now considering a small dwarf tank.....
 
Wow.

Very impressive.

I like them both! I think the CPR looks best, but I wouldn't use the light shown. Might produce too much heat. And you can't have corals with dwarfs anyway, so the lighting that high is pretty pointless.

Yes, the 9 gallon may be a bit too big. How many dwarfs are you planning on getting?

I've only had mine for about 3 weeks. Yes, they ususally live for around 1 year or so, but they are so prolific that it's worth it.
 
I was only planning on getting a couple pair....since that's what I saw was avail. at my local LFS.

I'm torn between the two because I do like the look of the 9 gallon (enclosed/finished) and the price is not that much more for a bit more space. However, like you mentioned Brock, the pico is better for the dwarfs. (minus the lights)

Where did you get yours from Brock? What color are they? The ones I saw look like mini white Erectus and are adorable.

Also, do you worry about not being able to enrich the brine that are not eaten and stay in the tank? Do you add phyto or rotifers to the tank for the brine so that if they are eaten would have some value to them?

Another question: Have you used the Algamac product for enrichment? I just started but really am unsure if I'm doing it correctly. Is there some way (besides crashing the bbs culture) to know if you are enriching properly?


Edit:: Does anyone use Vibrance or Vibrance II for enrichment? It's hard to get into solution.....
 
I would get more. If they are at an lfs, it's likely that they are young erectus or reidi or some other big seahorse.

I got mine from www.ccritters.com.

They're all white, except for a few who are brown, red, and yellow.

use AlgaMac 3050, and it is difficult. I just eye the amount. Add a pinch or two. Any uneaten bbs are sucked up by the filter.
 
Thanks for the link Brock! Definitely a site I will browse.

Have you ever ordered sea grass, manatee or turtle grass online?

If so, do you or would you treat it with anything before putting it in with the dwarfs? I would love to keep the plastic type deco to a minimum if I could.
 
Panacur, but seagrasses require very high light, sone most require a sand bed of at least 6". They also like flow that is considered too much for dwarfs.
 
Thanks again Brock. I think I must have had beginner's luck. I've kept manatee grass w/T5 lighting and 2 inch sandbed. Perhaps it was because it was a mature tank and dirty water? (heavy feeding)

If I stick with macro, will I have to treat with Panacur as well or can I do a freshwater dip perhaps?
 
Panacur. FW dip won't kill hydroids. Panacur kills the hydroids that are living on the macros. Hydroids are like small anemones that go through phases. They have a free swimming jellyfish form.
 
brock shoal and manatee grass do well with about 2 inch substrate.. and remember you were the one who helped come up with the plan for larger seahorse tanks at the org.

CCall, Brock and the others have been surmising that a larger tank, maybe even the 20 gallon finnex with fewer dwarves would do great if it were seeded with tigger pods and allowed to grow a large colony of them... but really you would be setting this up for a couple of months before you bought your horses.

brock can tell you the details. His contributions to the idea have been really interesting.
 
Thanks for all the great info. I'm very interested in hearing more. It sounds like there have been some nice advancements in the environment and long term care and I would love to hear it.

I haven't purchased any dwarfs yet, I would rather have the proper setup before doing so.....seeding the tank w/copepods and (rotifers too?) makes sense and I would love to plant some manatee or shoal (whichever I can get my hands on) to put in there as well.

If there was a way to get that 9 gallon Finnex and keep 3-4 pair without incident, I would love it.

I look forward to hearing what Brock or CCall has to post....
 
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