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Unread 04/30/2018, 11:24 AM   #9
kizanne
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: North Florida
Posts: 646
Here's a picture of it zoomed in from the cave.



Zoomed out.


I stole this idea from Paul B (of reef central) There are many threads that talk about this feeder here's one. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...php?p=25309373 Sorry I couldn't find the original quickly.

Basic idea is hatch brine put them in a container with a fine mesh net and they will be wiggling toward the light (the mesh area) some will make it out but as they sit there trying to get out the mandarin will swim up and suck it up, pick at it like a copepod.

I made mine a little more user friendly. The top there is the top of a squat mason jar that my hubby dremeled/routed out some of the plastic so that I can use it with the mesh net. (just screw on the lid). he left enough plastic (on the right) so that I can have a plastic tube that comes up out of the tank (in the back) so that I can fill it without taking it out of the tank. I put in fresh brine 2x daily (3 on weekends). THen I take it out and clean it replace the panty hose footy when it starts to look nasty about once every 2 weeks.

I decapsulate the brine and I'm already hatching for my seahorses so no big deal. The footies are 3 pair for $1 at Dollar tree so $1 per 12 weeks. I have a small funnel at the top. So I strain the brine and then use a small amount of tank water to wash the brine out of the strainer into a cup. Then I trickle pour the brine into the funnel and follow up with a small amount of water so the brine is in the cup. If you don't trickle you trap air and end up with an air bubble under your mesh. Just use a turkey baster to suck the air out of the mesh by putting it on top of the air pocket. What's really nice is my pipes love to catch the brine that escape (these the mandarin won't go after she wants them down on the mesh. That way not a lot of waste. I loaned one to my LFS and have even seen a giant bangaii chasing the escaped baby brine so your whole tank will love it. My gorgorians also seem to enjoy.

I buy the white so it matches the feeder. If I wanted or was worried about the looks. I could encrust the glass with epoxy and rock and I could remove the tube and put a rock over the hole but I"m not worried about aestetic. I do have it in the back of an open cave so it doesn't stand out when looking at the tank.

I hatch my brine in green/brown water but brine isn't as nutritious as pods so I still throw pods and amphipods in the tank for nutrition and fun as well. But the brine keeps weight on my stubborn mandarin. She is one that has held out the longest on no prepared foods. At one time I thought she was eating prepared and I was short on brine for my seahorse babies so I skipped the feeder for 2 days and she was back to skeletal. With the brine it takes a while for her to put on weight. I've got her back to normal/slim and I'm waiting til she gets normal/fat before trying once again to wean her to prepared foods. I know she like fresh seahorse eggs but I can't seem to get her to eat frozen eggs.


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Successfully bred: Banggai, Lined Seahorse, Saltwater Mollies, from egg dwarf cuttlefish, peppermint shrimp, Opae Shrimp.
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Current Tank Info: 120 gallon seahorse/flame angel/sharknose/pipefish tank. 30 gallon grow out, misc. other tanks

Last edited by kizanne; 04/30/2018 at 12:42 PM.
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