Dawn's seahorse garden!

[Michael Hoaster]

Well done, ya jet-setter!

[vlangel]

Lately for me 'no news is good news' but unfortunately I have some 'news' to report. I woke up this morning to a noise in the 56 gallon macro tank. After investigating I determined that it was coming from the Ice Cap 3k gyre. One side did not seem to be operating correctly. So I took it apart to clean it and it appears that a rubber gasket/bushing has torn. At least I am hoping that that is the problem. I will order the part and see if that fixes things. In the mean time I added (2) rio pumps 200 gph each. They don't even come close to moving the water like the gyre but along with the AquaClear 50 it will do for now.

[Michael Hoaster]

Well bummer. These things happen. Sounds like you've got it worked out, Dawn. I hope so!

[Chasmodes]

Yeah, that's a bummer. Hopefully, you'll be able to fix it without any issues. Was the parte expensive?

[vlangel]

It is $30 for the whole side unit or $8 for just the bushings. I have not ordered it yet as I am torn about which I should order. I am limping along with (2) 200 gph Rio powerheads. I will let everyone know when I resolve the problem.

[vlangel]

Here is a link to instagram to see a pic I took of the ponies this morning. In 4 days Eve who is in the foreground will be with me for 5 years!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B29TtyBl...on_share_sheet

[Michael Hoaster]

Those ponies look fat and happy! Congratulations on 5 years! Unbelievable! Huge milestone. Chapeau!

What are your top five reasons for success with them?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Those ponies look fat and happy! Congratulations on 5 years! Unbelievable! Huge milestone. Chapeau!

What are your top five reasons for success with them?

Thanks Michael. Yes, they are doing very well and I feel good about having Eve for 5 years. I believe she was close to a year old when I got her so she is definitely an aged pony at this point.

1. I think having the ponies in a rather spar system that is easily cleaned of detritus and excess food is key. The area that pic entailed was probably about 5-6 gallons but they are in a 30 gallon tank. Most of it is very empty with only water. I only have enough macros and rock so they have enough hitches to be happy. Its not all that aesthetically pleasing to me but its a trade off to have healthy ponies.

2. Having their tank set up so water changes are very easy is an important component.

3. Having very high flow (22Xs turnover) in the tank that helps keep stuff in suspension so it can be filtered out.

4. Having an oversized skimmer helps a great deal. The skimmer I use is rated for a system of 180 and the seahorse tank and sump combined are 50 gallons.

5. Finally keeping the water temperature under 75°F.

Basically 4 out of 5 of these points are for pathogenic bacterial control. I am finding seahorses to be amazingly sturdy EXCEPT their vulnerability to bad bacteria. What they eat, the way they eat, how much they eat and the way they process their food all encourage the growth of pathogenic bacteria so special steps must be taken to keep it in check.

The only point that is not so much for bacterial control but still deals with water quality is a skimmer. An oversized skimmer is not an absolute but it really helps with DOC (dissolved organic compounds) which if they get too high can cause an imbalance in the seahorse's internal function. Water changes can deal with it too but a skimmer is very effective and easy.

[Michael Hoaster]

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time and sharing! You've laid it out nicely. Great post!

That sounds like challenging conditions to maintain. Super clean! Very impressive.

[Chasmodes]

Yes, very impressive! Congrats on the 5 years!!!!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time and sharing! You've laid it out nicely. Great post!

That sounds like challenging conditions to maintain. Super clean! Very impressive.

Thanks Michael. Its really not as challenging as long as you are willing to do the water changes. The high flow, cool temperature and skimmer does the rest.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Yes, very impressive! Congrats on the 5 years!!!!

Thanks Kevin. She is a grand ol' gal.

[vlangel]

I woke up to the unsettling smell of fishiness in the livingroom! The tanks were still dark but I could see that both seahorses, fish and coral looked pretty normal in both tanks. As I was consternating about what could be the source of the less than pleasant aroma I suddenly remembered that I took down the 5 gallon feeder shrimp tank yesterday. I had moved the remaining shrimp and macros into the basement sump. Then I emptied all the water but I did leave the small amount of sand in the tank and put the tank under the basement sump. Who would think that such a small amount of wet sand in such a small tank could create so much smell? Still it was a relief to find that nothing serious was wrong.

[Chasmodes]

Whew! That's good that nothing serious happened. My guess is that it smelled a lot like my truck does after I go on a wade fishing trip in the river and leave my socks in the back!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Whew! That's good that nothing serious happened. My guess is that it smelled a lot like my truck does after I go on a wade fishing trip in the river and leave my socks in the back!

Ha ha, yes it probably did smell like that. LOL

[Chasmodes]

It's funny, last night, my daughter complained that the bathroom smelled like me after a fishing trip! She's 27 y.o. now. Not my truck, me!!! I'm like, really???? Nothing like letting the truth hang out there... I guess that's a hint to shower sooner after fishing trips, LOL.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

It's funny, last night, my daughter complained that the bathroom smelled like me after a fishing trip! She's 27 y.o. now. Not my truck, me!!! I'm like, really???? Nothing like letting the truth hang out there... I guess that's a hint to shower sooner after fishing trips, LOL.

Ha ha, you are too funny Kevin. Anyway I am sure that it is not that bad!

Once I removed the little 5 gallon tank out of the house things smell much better here. I let a good hard rain fill it up pary way then dumped water, sand and all. I thought about saving the sand but it was not much and sand is cheap.

Today I ordered the gyre parts. Since I was paying shipping and it was a better deal to order a combo package of parts rather than just the necessary one part; especially since I was not sure what necessary one part I needed. It turns out that it was under $70 with shipping so not awful. Hopefully this fixes it. My coral miss the flow.

[vlangel]

Yesterday I did a bigger than usual WC in the 56g macro tank and did a more thorough cleaning along with pruning some of the macros. Mostly it was the red titan that needed the most serious pruning but I also removed some red grape. I try to eradicate almost all the feather caulerpa just so it never goes crazy and overruns everything. There is a small amount of grape caulerpa that is growing which I am encouraging. I guess I was over enthusiastic when I removed it the last time and it is slow to return. I removed some bubble algae but it is much less as a nuisance since so many of the more desirable macros are flourishing.

In general the tank looks pretty good even with the flow being seriously underpowered without the gyre. The corals have very good color and most are opening nicely. They are not growing fast but they do seem to be growing. The fish all look wonderful as do the shrimp, crabs and other invert life. Hopefully when I get the gyre parts and get it going again the tank will even improve more.

[Michael Hoaster]

I miss seeing your tank. How about a long overdue pic? It almost seems like taking pics is the last step of cleaning for me. Once I get it looking good, I've got to show it off!

I hope your gyre pump repair works out.

[vlangel]

Ok Michael, when the lights come on I will take some pics or do a video. The tank looks good but not drastucally changed since the coral are growing slowly. Also I hate seeing the cord from the rio pump down in the tank. It is such an unnatural distraction but a necessary evil at the moment.

[Michael Hoaster]

Ooooh yeah! I get it.

I don't like to post pics when something isn't 'just so' either. Could you pull the pump out, snap a pic, then put it back? Or not. Up to you obviously. I just haven't seen it in a while.

[vlangel]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3nWWEUF..._web_copy_link
This took me a few days because I was having trouble navigating instagram. Flickr no longer will host new pics for me so instagram is the only free way I know to to do it...except I don't quite know how to do it on instagram! Uhhg, why does technology keep changing? We older folks don't like learning new stuff.

[vlangel]

This evening I changed out the right side of my gyre (the parts arrived the day before) and it was so powerful (even at only 50%) that water was boiling way above the surface. I had to move the gyre into a vertical position along the side of the tank instead of horizonal position in the center of the back wall. I do not like the looks of the change as well but the gyre does seem to work well in the new position. I will give it a day or so and see how the coral react to the change.

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pic!

I agree on tech changing. It's hard to keep up. The photo hosting right here on RC works fine for me.

Hope your new setup works great!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Great pic!

I agree on tech changing. It's hard to keep up. The photo hosting right here on RC works fine for me.

Hope your new setup works great!

I did not know that RC would host our pics. How does that work? I would rather do that and have the photos embedded rather than a link.