Lynn and Franks 24g hitching post.

[bluespotjawfish]

Oh my, I hope my dreams stay put. I really don't want to know what they are.

Glad your step daughter is doing better!

[rebekwl]

Good luck with your dreams Lynn. I have weird dreams due to medication also, only mine aren't so pleasant.

[panmanmatt]

Hope you get the dreams figured out.

I just got in so I can try to help with any other ponies questions you may have again.

[lcstorc]

Well for now this thread is mis-named but it will be back so I don't want to actually close it.
We do have a new temporary inhabitant in the tank since it was just so empty. He can move to the reef when I am ready to try ponies again. I need to resolve the heat issue and find a way to keep this tank cool enough for the ponies to live long term.
For now here is my new buddy.

[kathywithbirds]

OH he's so cute!! I love blennies and gobies, they have such personality!

[panmanmatt]

Cute fish. He doesn't have to move to the reef, keep him with the horses.

[lcstorc]

Reallly? I get so caught up in the species only tank I am always paranoid about leaving anybody in there with the ponies. He is certainly a docile little guy at least. Well, gotta get the heat issue resolved first anyway so he is definitely there for now. I can re-evaluate when I am ready to get more ponies.
Frank and I were talking about it this weekend. We think we have a plan so now we just have to do it. Hopefully we will get started next weekend but other smaller projects may be in the way short term. The end is in sight though since coming up with the plan is often the hardest part. We are going to re-do the entire chiller configuration as well as re-do the flow in the pony tank and the flow between the two tanks. Hopefully it will work the way I want it to and keep the pony tank at about 76 and the reef in the 79 ballpark. Only time will tell and I will be sure to lower the temp slowly now that I have my new little buddy in there.

[panmanmatt]

Gobies make great tankmates for ponies. They are very docile and will help clean up the leftover mysis. I had a clown gobie that used to carry the mysis to my one female ponie so she didn't have to swim after it.

[lcstorc]

I knew the clown gobies were ok and actually that is the one other fish in the tank. A yellow clown goby. He was perfectly fine with the ponies when they were there but he does not deliver dinner. I wish you had some video of that.

[panmanmatt]

I wish I did too. Unfortunately it was before I had my camera.

[Techno-Vicki]

Very nice Lynn. I love the way the two tanks fit the stand. Did you have it made? What about a fan directly on the pony? That is all I have on my 24 and it never gets too hot. I would love to add a couple of sea horses, but I am chicken. Tough to keep the water quality stable. I like how you have yours connected.

[lcstorc]

Thanks for the compliments. ACtually the stand came that way but was designed with the area where the seahorse tank is as a curio shelf kind of thing. We just put the pony tank there. The lid on the pod is actually raised about 5 inches to allow for the plumbing between the tanks as well as to allow our many fans to cool the water. The problem is that I live in Florida and even with ac and a lot of fans (in the house and the tank) the house stays at about 77 and the tanks at about 80 and that is with the chiiller running. Seashorses need water in the 72-76 degree range. No matter how hard I try with my currrent setup I just cannot keep it that cool. I had it down to 78 on a regular basis when I last tried the poniies but that was just not cool enough. The problem is that they are very prone to bacterial infections and the higher temps allow the bacteria to grow more quickly. By the time you notice a problem it is often too late.
So sometime in the next couple of months we are going to re-do our chiller. Right now it takes water from the sump and pushes it out through a manifold on the reef. The pony tank is cooled by the exchange of water between the two. We are going to reverse the process. The water will still probably come from the sump but the temp probe and the water coming out of the chiller will be in the pony tank. Hopefully this will keep the pony tank cool enough to realistically keep them. The reef will still be cooled some by the water from the seahorse tank.
Once I make this change I want to let it run for at least a couple of weeks to make sure it is stable then a trip to Ft Pierce to get some ponies again.
Meanwhile we did more tank swapping this weekend and the flameback angel is in the pony tank now. He needs to go back to the lfs for extreme coral picking but he is fine there for the moment. Adds a bit of color for now anyway.
The way the tanks are connected is the only way I would try seahorses. I was just too scared of water quality as well. Many people do it quite successfully but I like for the tank to have access to the larger water volume not to mention giant skimmer and large fuge.

[lcstorc]

Well we can officially close this thread. The remaining inhabitants were put in my other tanks and Caitrina bought the Aquapod from us. I hope she has as much fun with it as we did.
So once again I am down to 3 tanks.
Whatever will I do with my time.

[Dentoid]

I'm sure you will find something! This will make it a little easier for us to follow your tanks! OK, close the thread!

[billyr98]

thread closed per request.. But she has others to follow