Christyef Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Hi all. I'm finally picking up my sea horses tomorrow. I can't get to the LFS until about 4 pm. The shop owner said the SH will arrive before noon. After talking w/ Dan and Ty on Saturday, I don't want the SH acclimated to shop system and then mine.... Here's my question: are the SH going to be fine in the bag that long? Shop owner said as long as it's not longer than 24 hrs, they'll be ok. Is this true? I'm skeptical, but want to ask ppl I trust. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Your eel will LOVE them! nom nom neigh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 Your eel will LOVE them! nom nom neigh! Haha. Esther is well behaved, BUT they have their own 35 gal tank set up in my bedroom. [emoji6]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 If it was a fish I would say fine but I know nothing of seahorses. Maybe KimP knows and can chime in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Just a heads up... I had sea horses at one point... They were all killed by hermit crabs. Make sure you don't have any in there! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Just a heads up... I had sea horses at one point... They were all killed by hermit crabs. Make sure you don't have any in there! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I have an emerald crab. Shld I find and remove him? I do have 2 in there. I'll get them out. Were the SH crazy difficult and delicate like I keep reading? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Just a heads up... I had sea horses at one point... They were all killed by hermit crabs. Make sure you don't have any in there! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I have an emerald crab. Shld I find and remove him?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Emerald I would think would be ok. Hermits are known to be opportunistic. And sea horses don't move fast.. So watch him. But it think you might be ok. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Those seahorses are beautiful! I miss having some. Looks like you got them all acclimated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 24, 2016 Author Share Posted June 24, 2016 Ponie update: being new to the experience w/ SH, all I can do is watch them, study them, and try to make them happy based on everything I've read or been told. First off, they don't eat frozen food. [emoji36]. I was pretty sure they would, being CB, but they don't. I did get some live brine yesterday and 2 of them eat those, but there's little nutritional value in those, I was told. One of them (in the pic, the one on the blue ring), doesn't eat much, if anything. She's been hanging onto that ring over 24 hrs. It was at the very top of the tank because it is a food ring, but I moved it with her on it down closer to the food bowl hoping she would eat something. But no luck yet. I do have them with other fish and am beginning to think that might be the problem. But according to seahorse.org, the fish I have them with are little to no risk. A couple of Cardinals and fire fish. But if they are not used to other fish, that may be what is keeping them from eating. They may be scared. Of course, catching those little buggers would be next to impossible. Probably freak the horses out more. I am very happy with them. And am enjoying them so far. Kim helped me out a lot Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully, with her help I will keep them happy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Those horses look awesome!!! I hope they start eating everything soon. If they are eating live brine it may be worth trying to feed them the vitamin enriched frozen brine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 Thank u! I've tried mixing my PE w/ brine, but they go for the live brine. I found a contraption on Amazon to hatch my own brine, but was told they hold little nutritional value. Then was told by another reefer that 4-6 brine a few times a day was enough. (Which is what they're eating) [emoji16]. Jst gonna keep trying until they're fat(ter). Lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 Also gonna grow my own copepods.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Hi, Christy. Your seahorses are lovely. I keep seahorses and it's all I do, and I'm always lurking in hopes of finding other seahorse keepers. I had a couple of thoughts. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks for ponies to settle into a new tank, and being slow to eat during the transition is normal. It's good that you're using live brine shrimp to keep them going. I would suggest gut loading the brine with a good quality food additive; they need to build up with some nutrition. I recommend holding off serving any frozen food for now. Wait two or three weeks, giving them a chance to make the connection that you are their feeder. Then in a few weeks start sneaking in 1, then later 2 pieces of defrosted mysis. Serving it now, before they are ready, is setting them up to consistently ignore it. But if you wait, and then later they accidentally try it, in their anticipation and enthusiasm during your feeding, they'll then see it as a treat and look for it. I would anticipate 6 to 8 weeks to fully wean them to frozen. Good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Hi, Christy. Your seahorses are lovely. I keep seahorses and it's all I do, and I'm always lurking in hopes of finding other seahorse keepers. I had a couple of thoughts. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks for ponies to settle into a new tank, and being slow to eat during the transition is normal. It's good that you're using live brine shrimp to keep them going. I would suggest gut loading the brine with a good quality food additive; they need to build up with some nutrition. I recommend holding off serving any frozen food for now. Wait two or three weeks, giving them a chance to make the connection that you are their feeder. Then in a few weeks start sneaking in 1, then later 2 pieces of defrosted mysis. Serving it now, before they are ready, is setting them up to consistently ignore it. But if you wait, and then later they accidentally try it, in their anticipation and enthusiasm during your feeding, they'll then see it as a treat and look for it. I would anticipate 6 to 8 weeks to fully wean them to frozen. Good luck with it! hello and YAY!!!! So glad you're there (here?[emoji6]). What size tanks do u have? How many seahorses? I went to aquateck yesterday to get more live brine and they were out! [emoji33]. The hatchery I bought won't be here until tomorrow, so I bought a bag of pods and dumped it in there! I sure hope that's enough to hold them over. I still feed the mysis to my other fish in the tank, so it will at least be in there. Thank u for ur advise and everything u said makes perfect sense. I'd love to see your tanks and hear all about ur success. Today is day 6 of them being here, and they're more comfortable. They're swimming and exploring more. So exciting to watch them and learn about themSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I have a 110g x-Tall with 4 Erectus and have had these guys for 1-1/2 yrs now. I've been searching for Ingens or Kudas, but they are hard to find as certified captive bred. Aquatek's live brine is usually delivered every Tuesday. I show up right before closing that day - packaging the Brine to sell is the very last task they do. If I walk in at 6p, they're not ready but by 6:45p, it's all good. And you may know this, but many years ago Bruce (Aquatek's owner) kept Kudas for a long time, and he's an awesome source of information. He can sound a little sour about the experience because back then live food was the only option, but he has since recovered and is really knowledgeable about them. I live close to Aquatek, so they're an extension of my home. I hope you and I run into each other sometime! We'll talk Ponies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 I woke up this am excited that I'd be able to get brine after work. [emoji19]. My Hatchery will be here tonight, but the shrimp won't hatch for a day or two. I'd love to talk w/ Bruce. I live in Pflugerville so Nikos is my second home, too. [emoji6]. I look forward to meeting w/ u too. Do u ever go to the ARC meetings? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 https://vimeo.com/172478124Going to try hatching my own brine shrimp right in the tank. Seems fairly simple and the product had decent reviews.... Ponie buffet! [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I would discourage you from using those. I have 2 I was using my quarantines. I had a fair amount of unhatched cysts and hatched shells enter the tank. While the unhatched cysts aren't great for animals they aren't really horrible. The hatched shells however can create impaction problems if eaten and create serious problems with some animals. I'm sure some of it had to do with a too fast air rate. I had problems getting the 2-3 bubbles a second due to the valves I was using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 I would discourage you from using those. I have 2 I was using my quarantines. I had a fair amount of unhatched cysts and hatched shells enter the tank. While the unhatched cysts aren't great for animals they aren't really horrible. The hatched shells however can create impaction problems if eaten and create serious problems with some animals. I'm sure some of it had to do with a too fast air rate. I had problems getting the 2-3 bubbles a second due to the valves I was using. Thank u, Reburn for sharing that. I've already had the thing fall off several times bc of the stupid suction cup not sticking. [emoji52] Lost all the eggs twice. The cup is sticking today so I watched a few YouTube videos and just mimicked their bubbles. Impossible to 1-2/ second. BUT.... The major thing I've noticed after reading the directions is the temp.... The brine eggs do better at 80° to 82°F. That's WAY too high for a SH tank. I went to aquateck today to get more live brine and the owner suggested getting live mysis. He said they'll breed in the tank and be much better nutritionally. I will probably just find a better way to feed the ponies and get my $20 back for the hatchery. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 [emoji22]. Lost the male SH today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 [emoji22]. Lost the male SH today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh no! I'm sorry that happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Bummer. Hate losing pets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 [emoji22]. Lost the male SH today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Christy: I'm so sorry to hear this too, and hope your other ones are doing okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 I thght they all were. They all actively eat every time I feed. They're still not eating frozen, but I make sure to feed them 3 times a day bc the brine have little nutritional value. There's no telling what was wrong w/ him... [emoji22] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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