91 ZERO

Oh really? Petone or Porirua? Will go in tomorrow and see if they have much left. Mrs keen on seeing and choosing some more coral. I have to say a marine tank is alot more satisfying than having a small race car as a hobby - and I don't really have to travel anywhere!

Oh right. Yeah it is the first time I have actually seen one up close, they are amazing.. and yeah you're right, a really nice deep blue. I'm taking the mrs to that one in Petone this weekend for her to have a look and maybe buy a couple more pieces of coral. That big marine set up there is coooool.

Cheers! The fire shrimp and starfish came from Wonderworld, and everything else (inc whole tank set up) I got from The Pet Centre in Porirua. Graham from there, and Craig from Pet Centre in Lower Hutt have been bloody awesome to deal with.

Tank now has; 2 x Pyjama Cardinals 4 x Turbo snails 1 x Blue Starfish 1 x Fire Shrimp 1 x Candy Cane Coral 1 x Yellow Sun Coral 1 x Small green brain(?) Coral 1 x Polyp Green Coral All seem to be happy! Gotta put some photos up. My now Wife loved it as a her wedding present! Still waiting on Seahorses to come in

Yeah staying away from Hermit Crabs. Ended up getting one of the Blue starfish. Seems happy enough. Just waiting on getting some Seahorses now!

Just a quick question, are the below species of Blue Starfish ok with Seahorses? Again, I have googled it and they appear to be ok, but there are some apparently that could be classed as "aggressive". Just want to get one Thought I better double check as only dumb question is the one not asked! Thanks!

and.. http://www.4wdparts.co.nz/

Well the tank has its first fish! We put a Pyjama Cardinal in on the weekend with first bit of coral. He seems happy enough so far, has found himself a nice little home amoungst the coral! This weekend may put in one more cardinal, a shrimp, and some more coral. Water readings all clear too Since it is a wedding gift for my partner, was hoping to have at least two Seahorses in there by Sunday the 18th (when we show it to her), but I don't think will be able to source any by then - well Wonderworld don't have an indication just yet on any ETA.

Shouldn't have said anything haha. Well I have been keeping a look out for suitable things to put in there, and even though I would rather not have artificial stuff in the tank, some of the more ideal things (as far as I can see) are things like the plastic chain that SeaDragon just mentioned, as well as an artifical mangrove I found on TM, which has heaps of branches they could hang on to. Just gotta geta bit creative as long as ya don't use anything toxic I guess!

That's in there for cycling purposes.. haven't started putting anything in there for Seahorses to hold onto yet. If I hear Seamchem Stability again on this topic.... :an!gry :sml1:

Not much of an update, went to buy some more coral sand but everywhere has sold out and waiting on more from supplier (we cleaned them out when we bought the tank). It still cycling and now building up bacteria quite quickly . Levels of ammonia sill non-existant however last couple days we started to get a reading. A few remnants of previous coral starting to grow on the rock to which is nice. But will put a bit of coral in next weekend and possibly a shrimp.

I might hit you up later down the track if thats ok? I have been disussing with my mate today and have both decided to just carry on with the "natural" cycling. As mentioned earlier, I would rather take my time and get it fully cycled naturtally accepting it takes a while than try and speed it up using products - even if they proven. Interesting, so if they have been fed on the frozen stuff since birth, you won't have a prob feeding them frozens, but if they have been fed live fish from the word go - they may be reluctant to change?

Wonderworld just emailed saying they cannot give even an indication on when they are likely to get some in. So will just have to keep hasseling them every couple weeks or so, and keep an eye out for any private breeders selling any

You can actually get "split" CV boots nowadays, which fold around the CV and have a puzzle piece edge that you force together to seal it (still use clamps as well though). Saves a lot of heartache/time/swearing!!

Hmm very true!! Well have emailed Wonderworld asking when they anticipate when they have more due in and what species, and will just go from there I guess! In the meantime will just keep cycling and perhaps just get a fire or cleaner shrimp and maybe a cardinal or similar in the meantime Cheers! Will post up more updates this weekend

I appreciate the help from everyone so far and I understand people have different experiences regarding what they found best to do. If it means taking a bit longer to cycle "the long way" - I will do that, it was just mentioned to me to try the water cycler additive as it apparently causes no harm. However I am in no hurry as I am wanting to do this once, and do it right with minimal or no horse loss (if at all possible). What species of captive breed Seahorses would be recommended for a newbie at this, if the four types I mentioned in my post above will not be suitable? Or will they actually be suitable?

That's interesting you found Melbourne Aquarium disappointing as I don't think I have heard a complimentary comment about it. I know my partner and I were disappointed with it too when we went there a year or so ago - or more "underwhelmed" might be a better word. The most interesting thing I saw was the ultra poisonous Arrow Frogs......

Blown headgaskets aren't too bad, not good - but there are a lot worse (and alot more expensive) things that can go wrong. Depending on the car, in many instances you can get away with simply having the headgasket replaced and the cylinder head skimmed to ensure it hasn't warped. Look under the oil cap and see if there is a milky or frothy substance on it.. that - along with overheating can sometimes indicate a blown headgasket. But any half decent mechanic can perform a couple simple tests which confirms if a headgasket is blown or not

We looked into this albeit a different brand and putting it in this weekend. Is it necessary to KEEP using it though? I am looking at either; Tiger Tail Longsnout Hedgehog or Whites Wonderworld gave me a list of species they have sold and after looking into each one decided on getting a pair of one of the above species. From the sounds of it, they don't order them in for you, they get whatever they can at the time in bulk :-? . Bit pricey too but too late to be worrying about that after the initial set up money we have put into it haha.

Oh yes, Pipe fish was mentioned to me as suitable. I was told to stay away from damsels and the like.. Ah... that would be the last thing I want. I guess I would get angry walking over prickles all day.

Really? I gather Anemones would be "dangerous" to Seahorses, or would Seahorses get caught up in them? I'm glad you pointed that out.. cheers! Kris

Cheers! Seems to be a nice little community in here!

A friend and I have just bought a brand new marine aquarium (a wedding gift for my fiance' as she loves seahorses). Anyway it is a 275L Aqua Reef Tank, with all the equip - skimmer / pump / heaters etc. Straight away we added 30kg of established live rock (which turned out to be the home to a few snails (that were in shells?!) and they seem happy enough haha, added the correct ratio of salt to water (well as close as we could get it!) and has been cycling for the last couple weeks. Salinity is sitting at approx 1.024 and temp at a steady 26deg. It is just starting to show a bit of bacteria which is good - ammonia and nitrites still sitting at 0. - hasn't started to vary yet. We are looking at putting in: - 1 or 2 Cardinals or Gobies - 1 or 2 Fire Shrimp - 1 Blue Starfish - 1 pair of Seahorses - Various soft coral and later on some amenemenenmoies (the only word I can't say :roll: ). Intend on putting in the Cardinal first, and if that is happy enough will then put in the Shrimp and Starfish, followed lastly by the Seahorses. A local fella down here in Welly has been providing a wealth of information which is nice. Am sticking with the selected fish as apparently they are slow feeders and won't pinch food from the Seahorses! We have done a ton of research but any tips or advise would be welcome Only have the one (cellphone) pic so far just after we finished filling it up and began the whole cycling process. Kris

Hi all! Long time browser, first time member. Always had a small fish tank with a couple goldfish, however myself (along with my good mate and his folks) have just bought a marine aquarium for my fiance' as a wedding present for our wedding next month. She has always loved Seahorses so that is our intention Anyway, I will post an ongoing blog of it, and no doubt will be asking lots of questions! Kris