Welcome ponieexpress

[Teeka01]

Welcome to the forum. This is a good friend of mine.

[ponieexpress]

thank you teeka!!

[FragOutpost]

Welcome!

[FragOutpost]

Tell us a little about your tank and how long you've been in the hobby.

[ponieexpress]

i just started doing research on saltwater dwarf ponies... looking to putt a corral together soon thanks to my good friend teeka! shes been giving me hints here and there and info on them i am looking foward to any info anyone has to offer me out there about dwarf ponies!! thanks alot!!

[FragOutpost]

Well good luck with your research and getting your tank setup. I don't know a whole lot about seahorses but I'll be glad to help in any way that I can.
Have you taken a look at these sites yet -
http://www.seahorse.com/
http://www.seahorse.org/

Thanks!

[ponieexpress]

yes frag... i have looked at those websites! thank you so much for the info..do you know anyone i can get hooked up to buy some? or any sea lettuce id be grateful.
also i had a question about water,what kind of bottled water can i purchase for my fresh tank changes and salt changes i heared it was r/0 but can you buy that at walmart? i bought some bottled water but it says it is filtered and ozonated plus minerals added,can i use that or get something else? can i use plain spring water for salt mixes and fresh water changes? sorry its so long.. but i need to get this right, thank you

[FragOutpost]

Check FloridaPets.com for some Sea Lettuce (Ulva). They usually have it in stock. Not sure where to get the seahorses online but that is something that I would try to buy locally if at all possible. That way you can see exactly what you are getting and will likely have a lower mortality rate.

What you want is either reverse osmosis or deionized water (both would be best RO/DI). Getting the best water you can will save yourself some headaches later on down the road. Most grocery stores, and probably Wal-Mart, will have the machines that dispense RO water into your own 1 or 5 gallon containers. It is usually like 25 cents a gallon or something like that. The problem with this water is that you can never be sure when the filters were last changed, maybe 1 month, one year, who knows maybe never. Buying pre-bottled water from the store will get expensive very quickly. If you must buy pre-bottled then look for deionized water. Stay away from anything that has minerals or other additives added to the water. Try to stay away from distilled water as distillation is normally done with copper hardware and copper will kill inverts. Though distilled water would most likely have very low to zero levels of copper, it is just not worth the chance in my opinion. I would avoid spring water and opt for something that says on the label how it is filtered. In the end you will find that it is much easier and cheaper to get your own RO/DI unit, until then I would use the machine dispensed water.

Hope this helps!

[ponieexpress]

ok frag thanks for the advice!! will it say on the machine that it is r/o and what is ozonated water?

[FragOutpost]

It should say on the machine if it is RO water or not. Try checking a few of the grocery stores in your area. Ozonated water is water that has been processed with ozone. This does not mean that it has been filtered to remove particles. Ozone is a process in which another oxygen molecule has been added and is used to "sanitize" the water. Ozone will kill things like bacteria, viruses, algae, etc that may be in the water.

[ponieexpress]

i may be asking a dumb question but here it goes... can i make my established small aquarium into a salt tank just by adding instant ocean?

[FragOutpost]

Theoretically I guess that you could but...I would highly recommend against it. I would break down the entire tank and wash everything in a solution of vinegar diluted with water. The acidic vinegar will kill most organisms and help to break up and hardwater and mineral deposits. Be sure not to use any soap of any kind. Have you ever dosed any copper based medications in the tank before? What kind of substrate do you currently have in your tank? With seahorses you will likely want some sort of a sand bed. Deep sand beds will help in providing anaerobic bacteria a place to colonize and process nitrates. What else do you plan to keep in the tank besides seahorses? Have you researched the different types of filtration methods? Do you plan to run a sump? How big is the tank? A skimmer is also an important piece of equipment that should be on your list of things to get. HTH!

[ponieexpress]

Originally Posted by FragOutpost

Theoretically I guess that you could but...I would highly recommend against it. I would break down the entire tank and wash everything in a solution of vinegar diluted with water. The acidic vinegar will kill most organisms and help to break up and hardwater and mineral deposits. Be sure not to use any soap of any kind. Have you ever dosed any copper based medications in the tank before? What kind of substrate do you currently have in your tank? With seahorses you will likely want some sort of a sand bed. Deep sand beds will help in providing anaerobic bacteria a place to colonize and process nitrates. What else do you plan to keep in the tank besides seahorses? Have you researched the different types of filtration methods? Do you plan to run a sump? How big is the tank? A skimmer is also an important piece of equipment that should be on your list of things to get. HTH!

they only recommend a very small tank such as a 2-5 gallon so its not gonna be this dramatic process...like a reef tank is.
as far as substrate im gonna use black sand, plant life, sea lettuce and some plastic between the two they will have enough hitching post.dont need a sump cause the tank is very small.as far as filtration,nothing with a bio wheel or a hard wave. they need a sponge filter.cause they are so small dont want to get sucked up in the filter!i wanna get 1 small crab and 1 small snail.. food... will be the decapulated brine shrimp.couple times a day.lighting is flouresent.and i will buy a new tank for my little ponies they will get the 2 gallon. so i have been reading on seahorse.org .im not rushing into anything yet...i want to get the tank running first about 4 weeks to establish,not in a hurry..thanks for all the qs!! i do have 1 thing to tell you... it said on seahorse.org that they use distilled water.or r/o- di.what do you think?

[FragOutpost]

The black sand is VERY nice. I really like the look of it. I think it makes the colors pop a little more. As for the distilled water...it will most likely not be a problem. I just meant that if you can get RO/DI then that is the best choice.
Please post pics of your progress. Progression pics are always great!

[FragOutpost]

Also, I have never kept seahorses before but I have read about issues with air bubbles and people having to "burp" the seahorses. I don't know the specifics though, you probably know more about this than I do.

[ponieexpress]

no i think it has more to do with the large seahorses and yes the larger ones are a big problem...thats why the dwarf seahorse is so easy the biggest part of dwarfs are the brine shrimp feedings.ok i will keep you informed as i progress

[FragOutpost]

Ok great! Thanks for clarifying that. Good luck and keep us updated!

[FragOutpost]

Ponieexpress - Did you get your seahorse tank set up yet?