My Seahorse Cube And Babies

heath

heath

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Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
hey thanks, good to know..I have never heard of the mithrax crabs, where do you get them? I do have 3 snails in the tank that have been there for a long time , 3yrs.. I would be really pissed if something ate them, they have been through the good, the bad and the ugly..
are the zebra crabs good algae eaters ?
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
heath said:
hey thanks, good to know..I have never heard of the mithrax crabs, where do you get them? I do have 3 snails in the tank that have been there for a long time , 3yrs.. I would be really pissed if something ate them, they have been through the good, the bad and the ugly..
are the zebra crabs good algae eaters ?
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All hermits are pretty good algae eaters but they eat meaty foods as well and all will kill snails but i found the blue leg areone the worst.... pretty well any saltwater lfs will have mithrax crabs most big als do not sure about aquariums by design i havnt been there since boxing day but living aquariums almost always has them they are neat little guys and harmless
 
heath

heath

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Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
that is my next thing to get, how many would you put in a 125..or is it better to get a combination and what would you suggest. maybe I should start a new thread..
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
i try to add snails in bunches otherwise they will die of old age all around the same time..... the amount you need depends on alot of things if you have a low nuutrient system a couple dozen do well but if you feed heavily you could need 1snail per gallon i just add about 10 at a time till i feel they are maintaining my tanks needs if i notice growth i will add a fe more till they find a balance if you add too many at once they will eat all your algae then all starve.... my 90 gal right now has 2 blood shrimp 2 peppermint shrimp 12 nassarius snails 10 mexican turbo snails 15 ninja star snails 2 mini conch snails a bunch of stomatella snails and 5 mithrax crabs.

I will be adding another 5 mithrax and am waiting for anyone to get some cowrie snails in i want to add 15 but cant find any. Just start low and add a bunch every month or two till you notice they are keeping things tidy for you.
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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Cambridge, Ontario
@yveterinarian
is this the "i swallowed a marble" look you were talking about lol i think i might have babies coming he is twice the size as the other male in the pouch...
IMG_20150318_194324.jpg
 
yveterinarian

yveterinarian

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Jun 7, 2012
Location
Innerkip, Ontario
He might have some babies in there or he might be flexing his pouch. Either way you will know soon. Gestation for seahorses is around 2 weeks. If he is pregnant his pouch will keep getting bigger and bigger until he looks ready to pop. I have had some that I was convinced were pregnant one day just to find him deflated the next. They love to fool you sometimes. Usually pregnant males tend to hide and eat a little less as well so don't be surprised if he appears to eat less. First batches of babies are usually not very strong and are difficult to raise. If his pouch keeps getting bigger or stays big and he doesn't have babies after 2 - 2.5 weeks he may have air stuck in there. If that is the case let me know and I'll send you the instructions to release the air. Good luck. :) He looks terrific by the way.
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scubasteve

scubasteve

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Location
Cambridge, Ontario
yveterinarian said:
He might have some babies in there or he might be flexing his pouch. Either way you will know soon. Gestation for seahorses is around 2 weeks. If he is pregnant his pouch will keep getting bigger and bigger until he looks ready to pop. I have had some that I was convinced were pregnant one day just to find him deflated the next. They love to fool you sometimes. Usually pregnant males tend to hide and eat a little less as well so don't be surprised if he appears to eat less. First batches of babies are usually not very strong and are difficult to raise. If his pouch keeps getting bigger or stays big and he doesn't have babies after 2 - 2.5 weeks he may have air stuck in there. If that is the case let me know and I'll send you the instructions to release the air. Good luck. :) He looks terrific by the way.
smiley-love0671_zps2059580f.gif
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Nice ive noticed he has gotten quite big over the past few days. i will have to keep an eye on him i think last time he was just puffing to fool me but this time is alot bigger.... and ya i dont plan on trying any of the babies till mine grow a little bigger. I still cant believe how much they have grown in a year :)

And their patterns have got really nice with the lower wattage of lights so anyone reading and thinking about seahorses i highly recommend low to moderate lighting. This boy likes to boast the tiger stripes my other male has the more traditional markings and my female must be a blonde at heart she stays very light with little markings
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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Location
Cambridge, Ontario
Kevin Tran said:
Oh boy! Oh joy! Lots of mouth to feed Steve, good luck
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will most likely become food for the reef tank unfortunately :( .... is my first batch from either males so the success rate will be extreamely low as they are still not quite fully grown.... and since my skills and setup arent as advanced as yvette's im gonna wait for my third or fourth batch just to be sure and save some of the hair on my head lol.

Im just wondering whats next first blood shrimp had a brood then stomies duplicating now seahorses.... maybe i should start setting up a bunch of small tanks since ill be raising brine and rotfiers before too long
 
Kman

Kman

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Apr 15, 2014
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KW
You should get the food cultures sorted out in the mean time. You need a few different stages /sizes going so you can meet all the stages of growth. Plus it give you experience on what works and what doesn't for you.
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
Kman said:
You should get the food cultures sorted out in the mean time. You need a few different stages /sizes going so you can meet all the stages of growth. Plus it give you experience on what works and what doesn't for you.
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ill be starting a few different cultures for my reef anyway so that will have me practiced for the next batch.... yvette has a very easy and efficient way to do the brine shrimp and has it pretty down packed to knowing growth time and ratios needed so will be getting lots of tips from her.... i dont want to even waste the time trying the first batch because it will be too hard to tell if its me doing something wrong or just the super low survival rate so if i wait it should be a better indicator of my success
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

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May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
well i just had to post a pic of one the little babies its such a shame to know they dont have long..... maybe ill try the next batch. it is pretty funny that they can hide behind numbers on a measuring cup lmao

once again thank you yvette for my lovelies... just goes to show how hardy your stalk is ;)
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