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Michael:
65-gallon WC H.reidi tank |
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I’ve been keeping the same herd of wild-caught seahorses for over a year and a half, ever since I first saw a feisty young seahorse in my local fish store. I was just beginning my first saltwater aquarium, so the store owner agreed to hold onto that seahorse, a young wild-caught H. reidi male I named Dobby, until my tank was cycled. My tank cycled for 4 months, and I used Bio Spira bacteria to do so. Since that day, I’ve devoted myself to making the best, safest, healthiest home for my seahorses.
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Dobby lives in a 65-gallon tank with two female H. reidi, Notthekaren and Neptune, and a female H. comes, Seabiscuit. I keep their water as pristine as possible with two canister filters (a Cascade 700 and a Fluval 104), a CPR Bak-Pak protein skimmer, and not one, but TWO UV sterilizers (both Jebo units, one 9 watt and one 18 watt). UV bulbs are changed out every 6 months. I have a Hydor inline heater, to make sure the temperature stays a stable 73-75 degrees during the winter months, and during the summer months I have been lucky and have not experienced any extreme temperature spikes as my central heating and air conditioning unit keeps my house temperature quite stable. I check my water parameters daily and treat accordingly. |
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My protein skimmer and canister filters are cleaned every 3 weeks, and the filters are also repacked with Procarb carbon, Purigen by Seachem, as well as Aqua-Pure Polyfiber padding at that time. The tank decorations are cleaned every two weeks.
I think that the key to my success with wild-caught horses is keeping the water quality as close to perfect as I can. I begin with Oceanic salt, mixed to a specific gravity of 1.023. I perform a two-gallon water change every morning, and I turkey-baste the substrate (a mix of 35 pounds of Aragalive live sand and 35 pounds of crushed coral) every other week. Hitching posts and decorations are purely artificial, thus eliminating the chance of unwanted hitchhikers and pathogens coming in on live rock, corals, and macroalgae. In fact, I’ve never had a problem with algae in my tank at all. One reason is the lighting, a 50/50 power compact tank light, and also the fact that the UV sterilizers take care of any phytoplankton that might accidentally get by my scraper, filter, baster, and skimmer.. |
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http://michaelsseahorses.com/ (my website)
http://www.myphotowebsite.com/michael/album.php (photos and Video clips)
Featured Tank Discussion
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My horses enjoy a diet of live ghost shrimp, which I buy from my local fish stores and gut load with Omega 1 natural protein flakes. I feed my herd twice a day, at 5 AM and 5 PM, but
rumour has it that Dobby has learned to dial my cell phone for Mexican and Chinese food delivery between meals.
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