It also requires time.
Yes, time!
And plenty of it!
You can still have your career but some flexibility is necessary.
My seahorses are fed twice a day and each feeding is about 2 hours.
Every month, the seahorse tank needs some housecleaning.
The entire process takes about 2 hours from start to finish.
When I first began, it took close to 4 hours.
But you know what they say about , "practice makes..."
There is a hugh, single, reason I so, totally enjoy the tank
house cleaning. That one reason is because I get to gently lift my sweet babies out of the tank and then place them into their temporary holding area...a white bucket.
This housekeeping is actually called "a water exchange"...
And no matter what the water in your water tank,
fresh or salt...
and regardless whats in the tank...
you will have to do a once a month water exchange.
And so yes, once a month I get to cradle my seahorses. They wrap their tails around my finger, lovingly hitching.
Despite their rough exoskeleton, I realize their beautiful fragility.
Approximately 25% of the tank water is removed through a cylinder with tubing. Debris is sucked up from the rock bottom. Glass sides and all peripherals are wiped clean. Artificial plants and ornaments are scrubbed.The filter is thoroughly cleaned up, and new white and charcoal filters are put into place. The bio~wheel is not messed with since it holds the biological balance of the tank in check.
Then, the tank is put back together. New salt water with about a 1.023 salinity is added along with additives "Prime" and "Cycle". Prime conditions the water of impurities like chlorine and ammonia. Cycle adds hundreds of thousands of beneficial bacteria for the seahorses to the tank.
The tank's filter is allowed to run to get the water clarified.
THEN...
THEN...
THEN...
I get to pick up my dolls,
cradle them once more as they hitch to my finger...
and gently return them to where they belong...
Until next month!
Night~~~T~~~Night!!!!
The temporary home for the seahorses during the housecleaning
or water exchange...
The coral is placed into t he bucket to give the seahorses a
place to hitch.
My favorite part is being able to gentle cradle the
seahorses as their tails grab my finger
in order to hitch.
The seahorses take a few minutes to acclimate
to the bucket~~
In fact...
They were frazzled and stressed.
The seahorses went around and around and around the bucket.
Feeding them brine quickly calms them down and they
forget they are in the bucket!
Valentina and Hoover enjoys the bucket at last!
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