
djsurfs
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Ohhhh, Sorry you lost your horse Glad to hear the other 2 are OK Yes, it is a hectic time of year... you must be a glutton for punishment :lol: renovating as well!
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Hey Jewelz, did you get it replaced by your local shop, or did you have to contact AquaOne , the manufacturer, or the NZ distributor directly? Just curious... Am planning to contact Somebody, besides my insurance, because it just doesn't seem right! I am highly suspicious of manufacturing fault; especially with Barrie's glazier knowledge & input. Plus, I know a gal who has had 2 of these break in Exactly the same place(same side and all!) in the same manner. We are planning a joint effort... So if anyone else has had the same, perhaps we should all band together?! Yikes! How many more of these "water bombs" are there silently ticking away?! Thank You so much for your kind offer smidey! Good news; turns out my filter is OK! I tried it one more time from a different outlet and it came to life. :oops: I must have popped a fuse or something . I reconfigured the spray-bar and transferred all out in the garage into one of those Big rubbermaid storage bins and got it going sweet, after a bit of fiddly work re-sealing the cannister and new connections... Hmmm. I am likeing the idea of a rubber tank more & more! LOL *paranoid*!
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Thanks to all for the input. hmmm... insurance I hadn't thought .... mite be worthwhile chasing it up. That stand is built much better than those MDF jobbies... Sorry, no time to post another pic just now, but that crack runs all the way up to the very top, ending exactly in the corner. Luckily, my chiller seems to have survived. Cannister filter gone south. I have double bubblers bubbling away. Should be OK, as I didn't have even that (get battery pumps!) during those days on end of no power with those Easter floods we had... I just have to decide whether to brave another tank or call it quits and find a home. But I have grown so attached to them in 3 years!! and one is a bit of a "special needs" case. He was born with a crooked snout and has one cloudy eye, so he looks forward to his twice daily hand- feedings in his own little cafe (lol, a 750ml bowl)....
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It was a Aquaone AR620T..... OhhhhhhhBugggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggabuggaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! Yep, sometime after midnight, I hear this Snap!Crack! Pshhhhh! Waterfall sound...... I go running downstairs, and in Any Other setting I would say the magnificent fan shaped cascade was beautiful! People pay money for water displays like that- reminds me of the outdoor waterpond shows in Vegas. LOL <-- NOT! A crack running nearly the full length of the corner of the tank was spewing water out into the middle of my lounge.... what a sight... The good things? 1. I was home when it happened. Imagine coming home to an empty tank and suffocating SH's, and a flooded house... 2. The lovely wool oriental carpet my mother gave me turns out to be an incredible sponge-- umm, is that good or bad?! we rolled it up and heaved it outside. hopefully I can hose out the salt and clean and dry it... 3. I happened to have 2 big plastic garbage bins, to catch the rest of the water and save live rock & horses in... 4. I did not electrocute myself The crack ran all the way to the bottom, so I had to remove all water and scooped up all the sand. It is in a bucket; Most was fairly clean, but amazing to find how putrid certain areas were underneath!! Hmm, I wonder if this is a good time to start over with a bare -bottomed tank? Mopped up all remaining water from the concrete (glad I never laid that plastic fake wood flooring!) Discombobulated spray-bar and intake, and yay! the hoses reach to my new tank (the rubbish bin) flick switch back on at wall, hear pump starting to re-prime, smell?SMoke! eek ! turn switch OFF!! I guess I was pretty punchy, and had actually forgotten to check INSIDE the cabinet DUH :roll: Actually there was only very little water underneath/ inside the cabinet. Just enough to wet the powerbar where ALL apparatus were plugged into. So, I am trying to bolster myself to go back down there and HOPING *fingers crossed* (dangitshard titypewwhtcrostedfingerss!!] :lol: HOPING I have not fried my lovely new chiller or the cannister filter... at least airpumps are relatively cheap.... Ughhh I was just so happy how this tank has come along after 2 years.... It is one of those jobbies with the curved front corners... Has anyone else had a break like that? Hubby refuses to believe it is due to imbalanced pressure from a dodgy/unlevel/warped stand. But I don't know- what else could cause this? Is there a weakness associated with those curved corners? It has been on a seemingly solid, thick oak stand which was braced underneath/beefed up by a professional cabinetmaker, ever since i brought it home & set it up. Oh yeah, the horses should be OK... and I did get to evict a coupla HUge bristleworms whilst scooping the sand out... Ughhhhh, I guess I should stop procrastinating, get down there and finish dealing with it all, relocating new tank (the plastic rubbish bin) to the garage for now...
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Hi, Looks like you have already received quite a bit of good advice, but I thought I just quickly pop in and say Hi and add my 2 cents, FWIW Skimmers, DI, reactors, etc.etc. all great if you have the $ and space and are into plumbing and gadgets. But it can all be a bit daunting and I notice you have quite a small tank, so I know from personal experience, it is difficult to even find gear for that size. Don't worry, I started out exactly the same with a aquaone AR38 (32 litres, if my memory is correct) Algae problems are quite common with new tanks, even with experienced folk. The cyano won't hurt your SH. It can even grow on them, and will start to peel off, freaking you out because you will think their skin is peeling! It is OK.... BUT you do want to get your water quality under control. Have you been testing your water? It would pay to have a kit, and learn about it. You do not want your SH constantly subjected to spikes of ammonia an nitrITES. And You also don't want the NitrATES to build up too much, which is why we do regular maintenance water changes. Believe it or not, you don't even need sand; you can go bare-bottomed. ( excellent for observing how much gunk is laying around, including leftover food, and yes observing how much poos your SH is making, LOL!)But since you already have sand, I would leave it as is for now. You don't want to disturb it and create another ammonia spike/ cycle. But either way, you should add a nice size piece ( all least 3 fists) of very porous rock so that the good bacteria can colonize in all the nooks and cranny's. In addition, see if you can get a bit of macro. It doesn't have to be huge, it will suck up excess nitrates and grow! Get a little stainless tea strainer and thaw, rinse and drain your food. I do a combo of mysis and brine shrimp. try target feeding your horse, and train it to eat out of a dish. I use a little glass dish from a tea-lite, and squirt the food in there with a baster. In the little tank I had to turn off the filter for feeding time because the flow was too strong and blasted the food out of the dish. In their bigger home I have found a quiet spot in their favourite hitch that their dish retains most of the food.... After SH has finished eating, you can suck up any leftovers; later you will learn exactly how much you need to feed and there won't be much leftovers to deal with. I highly recommend checking out www.syngnathid.org for Seahorse specific information! They are based in Australia, but have worldwide members. Also, try www.seahorse.org , which has a wealth of info and helpful folk. Sorry, I'd add more but currently am having a drama as my big tank cracked full length last night!! and was just popping in.... Good luck!!
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Thanks!!
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Hey Bubba Gump, How's da shrimpin biz going??? How are your SH's? I'd try those spots aforementioned... but just my 2cents, it doesn't need to be a big river, any little tidal creek/estuary leading out to the sea is worth a try. I like to find a nice bend with some slow water; it seems the juveniles collect there en masse.. skim with a small net, just ankle to knee deep, right along the sand or gravel bottom. Ya might not see em until you've scooped em up and put some specs on! I don't feed live anymore because they were getting too spoiled & that is ALL my SH's wanted to eat!! I still do flash freeze them and add them to the storebought, as a treat, which really seems to trigger their appetite and they will fight over the choice wild ones (SH candy!! ) , but also suck up a lot of the 'not as nice, store bought' in the process. I think they like the "sparkle".... Here is a link that shows the net size I like to use--> http://www.syngnathid.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=wc&Number=51055&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
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Thanks yes, I already have clove oil. Easily found at health shops. It does the job, but I was hoping to find something even better alternative as I think it causes a bit of stress... Have you ever tested it on yourself? LOL I did! it kinda burns like chilis, before the numbing effect takes on! OK, my lips were maybe already a little chapped/sunburnt, but holy *%$! it burned! I have no desire to catch fish, but will have to research the 'QUINALDINE'... Cheers!
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Has anyone seen Finquel (MS-222) in NZ? Or know of a good equivalent? http://www.argent-labs.com/argentwebsite/ms-222.htm "FINQUEL FINQUEL is intended for the temporary immobilization of fish, amphibians, and other aquatic, cold-blooded animals. It has long been recognized as a valuable tool for the proper handling of these animals during manual spawning (fish stripping), weighing, measuring, marking, surgical operations, transport, photography, and research."
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Thought this might be of interest to some of you fellow SH fans... http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=256154 http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/ ... 60969.html
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Sorry, No... LOL I googled up that same pic, and found a lot of other amazing different colours! Do let us know if you locate/obtain any different specimens!
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LA: ahsoo... just curious, as I have heard pro's & con's of releasing captive into the wild. It would be neat to know the actual survival rate. I've seen little tags on SH's somewhere... Cool pic! CarZ: baster --> Payless Plastics (after searching 6 other shops >o< )
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LA, thanks! all good info... but sorry, more Q's! At what age, and why do you release them? do you tag & track their survival rate at all? LOL, I had an accidental bycatch 1/2 that size and it got et That hog of a SH used to stalk shrimp nearly it's own size! Your 4cm flounda should be safe enough
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LA, thanks! all good info... but sorry, more Q's! At what age, and why do you release them? do you tag & track their survival rate at all? LOL, I had an accidental bycatch 1/2 that size and it got et That hog of a SH used to stalk shrimp nearly it's own size! Your 4cm flounda should be safe enough
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Yes, I started using the little dishes not too long ago. It was quite easy; well for 2 of my SH's, anyway; the 3rd still does not eat out of it but that is another whole very long story... Prior to the dish, I have been feeding them with a turkey baster, squirting out little puffs of food, which they liked chasing (sort of mimicking the movement of live) They see me with the baster and come zooming over and will hitch to the tube and snick attack it. So they are very familiar with it which made it a natural progression just to squirt the food into the dishes., where they now eat. I would take LA's advice and start with whatever they were raised on and familiar with, and later mix a bit of the new food if you want to switch them over. Right now, you just want to get them settled in to their new home and make sure they are eating. With frozen food you can play/make it move with a baster, to encourage the wee girl who only wants to hunt live food. You could hold out 3 days, but if she has not eaten in that time, you should really make sure she eats so you probably do want to have some live food on hand. My SH's started on brine as that's what they were raised on, being was smaller, softer, and their soft shape waves in current to mimic life. BS is not their natural food though, so they do have to be trained to recognise different foods. At one point one of my SH got spoiled with eating live food and it took a lot of tricks to re-train him to frozen. involving snap freezing live, and feeding them (they have more "sparkle") and slowly mixing with the even deader petshop mysis. Sorry for all the rambling... that's just me hope you can sift out what's useful!
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Ahh, thank you! I will steer clear of the Micrantha then. (dang I love that colour!) I had it confused and thought the green was the easier diaphana... I have seen a black that almost has a dark cherry red tinge to it. Is that the Diaphana, or yet another variety?
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thanks! isn't that how this thread started? BTW I'm on the lookout for an emerald green tubeastrea, if anyone has one and can spare a polyp or 2! ( i think the black might be too difficult for me) Hey Markoshark, what were you trying to feed your sunny with? It's so worth another try if ya can get a little frag... rural, about midway between Whangarei and BOI...
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Hehorse has got his darkish tail wrapped around the white plastic hitch and I think you are seeing another part of the hitch in the background... The 2 SH's in the pic are in full flirt mode, his pouch is all puffed out filled with water showing off to her and they both have their heads tucked, about ready for "takeoff" where they stretch their heads out and then rocket to the top of the tank and dance with eachother....
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Wow! "Daddy" has some great cirri Livingart,what size are your SH tanks? height? what do you feed? I'm asking cuz 3 years, and never a successful egg transfer Not that I really want the challenge of fry-raising!... How big is that flounder?! My little hog would probably try hunting it down! Carz, what are you feeding? I feed mainly frozen mysis. I used to give live wild mysids, but found they got spoiled & picky and went off their frozen, so weaned them off it. I am also trying to mix a little brineshrimp occasionally into the diet, because my female is looking Obese! and I don't want her to go the way of my other female; I know they can get really plump and gravid with eggs, but I had a gorgeous huge female that died last year... slight chance she was eggbound, but after more reading, think she could have had fatty liver disease.
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LOL, no wonder I can't get seahorses off my mind! Thanks Carz Cheers David
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:bounce: Awe..... sweet! thanks for re-posting I can't quite tell from the pic.. is the 1st one a female or are they all males?
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I would not go as far as saying my tank is cyano-free, but I think what you are seeing is the copious red coralline algae that is growing on everything that branchy hitch used to be yellow... I have had this sun coral quite a while, grown & multiplied from pathetic tiny starved polyps. like I said not a great pic... and yes, that is one of my Seahorses, with cyano
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Hi lf, sorry I don't frequent this site much and didn't see your earlier post when your horse was sick!... I am not far from Whangarei, rural... I don't have any SH's to sell at the mo but we may be able to help eachother out sometimes? SH sitting, advice, ideas etc. I'll PM you my # if you want... Good luck with the search! I read the wildlife park in Tauranga had some ponies recently... BTW, what size tank do you have?
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Teehee! Seahorses Must be extra special ! What other fish share a name with a part of the human brain?! (yah, OK, I AM biased, lol) ... and I have no idea Why that part of the brain got named hippocampus... hmmm
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Oh wow folks, those are beatiful corals and excellent pics! Here is my pathetic contribution :oops: ... I need to work on photog skills! My little tubeastrea, lovingly nurtured from a few teensy polyps to a fat 2-3 dozen now.