Chad

Scott, I like the your idea of a more automatic setup, the day to day grind is what keeps the average aquarium keeper from attempting this stuff... It seems like you are going more full scale, so I have a couple of thoughts for you: How will you separate the growing naups from the more inner area when the are ready to be placed with the adults? How will you collect eggs from the system? Im not sure if you are space limited or not, but you could accomplish a similar effect by using four growout tanks connected to a main system via screened air lifters (200 um on the air lifter going in and 50 um on the air lifter going out), you could run the air lifters in each growout tank for 2-3 days before switching to the next growout tank, running each in succession, when you repeat the contents of the growout tank can be added to the main culture and the cycle can be restarted before harvesting. Eggs could be periodically collected by siphoning the contents of the newest growout tank into a tall and skinny container and allowing it to settle. Its manual, but would only need to be done monthly or so... Im not sure if you have seen this or not, but I am thinking similar to this mysis growout system: http://www.mblaquaculture.com/assets/docs/MBL_AQ_Mysid_Generator.pdf

heh! how many of us can?

Looks good! I like all of the little fanworms :D

I would like to add another thing to your list of how you know you have been in the hobby too long... When you have a storage unit 125 miles away, packed full that holds the extra fish stuff that you couldnt part with, but also couldnt fit into your small little city rowhouse!! There are 5 or 6 125+ gallon aquariums, a 3/4 hp chiller, a couple of sets of lighting, a pile of protein skimmers, pumps and who knows what else... But I didnt (and still dont) want to part with it!! I wish I had a picture of it to share!! Its a huge PITA when I have to weigh a decision like spend 50$ to buy a new one, or drive 250 miles to pick up the one I have! Hehe, its crazy how we collect these things!

Here is my submission, (sorry I posted in the wrong spot before!!) Enjoy!! This is my picture (Chad) From my main display tank Taken with a cannon point and shoot (powershot SD850IS) This is "Gary the Goby looking like his hand is caught in the cookie jar" Diamond goby eating a blue legged hermit crab

Along the same lines as the previous picture... Enjoy!

You are probably right about being able to maintain high enough quantities to not need to supplement with bbs... At least not with 'small' containers, I think somewhere in my searching I found 75 gallon tanks as the recommendation, although I think that was for 'meso-scale' production. My looking at raising seahorses is more educational for my own benefit than anything else... I dont really have ambitions to do much more than that If there is a local need/desire for pods and phyto though, I may be interested in filling that need Honestly, Im not sure whether I was using the 'maintenance' or 'production' protocol... It seemes that it could easily be used for either (either separate the eggs for storage and just add naups back or add the eggs back and maups back to the main culture). I would think that pretty large cultures could be established using that method. It produced really well, but was a bit expensive for me to run because I wasnt growing the phyto for it (as much as I like phycopure, its by no means the cheapest phyto mixture). I have also read about the rhodomonas and a dinoflagellate being used... probably why I had good luck with phycopure, which has T. iso, rhodomonas and some others that fill that gap (including a dinoflagellate).

I think its awesome he felt the need to point this out... That way he wouldnt have to hear "What the &%*$ are you doing???" Im not sure I have the guts to try it, although it does seem that it would work...

Sorry I havent gotten back, it was a CRAZY busy week at work, Im still reeling a bit, but coming back to reality I really wish tomorrow wasnt Monday!! I agree that rots are not very useful for growing seahorse raising... I was using it more as a talking point (the small stuff), it seems that folks that have done any of this stuff tend to have done a bunch of it. I have read a lot about nutritional profile of copepods vs. bbs and decided that trying a calanoid pod would be better even if it is more difficult to do. Thats what got me experimenting with setups and seeing what I could get going. Thanks, the welcome that everyone gives here is great!! I dont have an A. tonsa culture going at the moment and my method is the same as the one recommended by Luis A M at marinebreeder.org. Basically I use three 5 gallon containers (water bottles with tops cut off), each has two nested strainers, the inner is 200 microns and the smaller is 53 microns. I also have 4 1 gallon containers. I have an air pump with a couple of inline filters and a line running to each of the containers. Temperature is whatever room temp is (usually low 70s). Growing phase every other day for 8 days start a culture in one of the 1 gallon containers (sg 1.010 and 20% phyto mixture, I use phycapure because it has several different (7) types of phyto and I have had good success with it). Each 1 gallon container is allowed to grow for two days before being added to a 5 gallon container, after 8 days the first container is started again. After two days of growth, I split half the contents of the 1 gallon container into each of two of the 5 gallon buckets. Every other day I strain each of the 5 gallon cultures through the 200 and 53 micron filter into the third 5 gallon container. Anything that makes it through the 200, but not the 53 (eggs and naups) is added to the empty 1 gallon container, while the adults are left in the 5 gallon container. I discard about a half a gallon of water during this process and replace it with fresh phyto. To collect eggs use a 1 liter graduated cylinder (start once a month collecting eggs for a period of 1 week or so), empty the contents of the 53 micron screen into the cylinder and let it settle (eggs will be on bottom) and siphon the top off. Eggs can be refridgerated. Production is good for 4-6 weeks or so before it starts falling and the culture needs to be restarted. This method works pretty well (at least it did for me in my about 3 month trial just to see if I could do it...) In addition to The Plankton Culture Manual (which is excellent), here is an online version of much of the same (and slightly different) info (but this one is free http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/W3732E/w3732e00.htm#Contents Here is another document to peruse through (its not A. tonsa, but it is a similar sized calanoid) http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/hatchery-feeds/pdf/copepod-culture-manual.pdf I may be interested in taking a larger scale production of T. iso or A. tonsa... (just need to talk my live in girlfriend into having the extra fish stuff around... hehe, Ill get back to you guys about that one... I mentioned before that I usually have a culture of something going on... I do it because that way she doesnt 'notice' it hehe Anyway...

I have kept erectus and reidi, currently I have four erectus that are happy, and healthy *knocks on wood somewhere... All are trained to eat anything that comes out of a turkey baster and actively hunt all day long. Although I normally just feed beta glucan enriched mysis. Have you tried raising copepods for the DSH? Or are you just sticking to BBS?

Those pictures are awesome!! I am always envious of those with skills behind the lens!! as I am not one of them...

I have been playing with the idea of raising seahorses recently (played with it before with mixed success, but I feel my discipline and knowledge is much better on these days), anyone locally raising this stuff? If so, what species and are you having success? I have Tigriopus californicous and Arctica tonsa pretty much down and run a semi-continuous culture of one of them most of time (T. californicus at the moment). And how about phytoplankton, anyone growing it? And what? I can grow it, but I dont like to... I generally buy it and have a repeating order of phycapure... If anyone is culturing T. iso, though, Id be willing to buy it directly from you!

I recently purchased a TECO, and couldnt be happier with its performance. Its the quietest chiller Ive owned, has an extra quiet setting (I think Ive Owned 5), and it doesnt heat up my living room with the exhaust. The company has excellent customer service and spent half an hour on the phone with me indulging my random technical requests (head loss and heat transfer coefficients and such).

Anyone put one of these together recently? It is a great way to see a lot of different setups and ideas You always see and learn more in person than by reading

That is an interesting article, thank you for sharing!