Sunday, March 17, 2013

VIDEO Valentina Manga!


Valentina once loved to eat by hitching from the filter pipe or from one of the hoses.
But no more!
Now she is a "bottom feeder" just like Hoover!
Valentina lies on her side playing the "limbo dance"
with the hoses as she makes yummy~yum with the brine!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

VIDEO! Herbert Hoover Swims~then Hitches!


Well my blog fans...
Who don't know who you are...
because there are zero of you!!!!!

My video has sound!
Don't ask...
I am so computer illiterate...
And I am not sure how it happened...
But it did...
And let's hope it continues to happen!

Seahorse Talkies!
What a concept!

Just a brief note...
This video shows my beloved Hoovie just "swim floating" in
 his easy way around the tank...then hitching...
Gotta love this "big, little boy"...
OF MINE!!!!!!

Friday, March 8, 2013

VIDEOS!!!!!! Courting ballet!

Okay...
Talk about new territory!
Bare with me!
I am going to post videos.

This one is of very, very poor quality...
Copied from my phone onto my camera.

But the essence of it shows the elaborate courting dance of my beloved, and mystical creatures!
 
For now, I will explain the video in a caption of words while I explore ways to add voice (my voice)...

Look...
Forgive me!...
I'm just getting started!!!!

Thanks!!!!

I dream of a real comment one of these years!

Ha!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ummmmmmm...
Okay....
Don't ask me how!
BUT~~~~>>>>
I GOT SOUND ON THE VIDEOS!!!!!!
 
YIPPEE!!!!!!



Friday, March 1, 2013

Housekeeping

As you know by now, caring for the seahorses requires a loving and knowledgeable dedication.

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!






Monday, February 18, 2013

Happy Birthday VALENTINA !!!!!

Today is Thursday, February 14th, 2013 or Valentina's Day.
Can you take a wild guess as to whose birthday it is today?
Come on, take a wild guess!

Valentina remains shy...
Only coming out to dance once or twice during the month.
But, when she does, it is absolutely precious!

Valentina, with her rotund body makes every attempt to sway gracefully back and forth. However, like
"Humpty Dumpty", the swaying gets out of control and Valentina finds herself rolling over quite clumsily and ungracefully.
As if embarrassed, she swims off and once again hitches to the filter area!


The Birthday Gal...Valentina!

Valentina enjoys a spa day on her birthday!
She loves the feeling of the bubbles!

More bubbly for Valentina!

After shutting off both the filter and the air bubbles, the water was dead calm.
The photo shows Valentina's mirror image.


Back to the Spa!

Valentina enjoys a facial in these 4 photos.




Tuesday, February 12, 2013

"THE PET DEN" & The Seahorse Troth

Now, this is a most amazing...
You know, my seahorses are very, very, very spoiled in a multitude of ways.

One way is that the majority of the time they dine on only the finest live brine shrimp from my great friends Dennis and Maurice.
These guys own "The Pet Den"
located on 6230 Jericho Turnpike
in Commack, New York.
They can be contacted at:
(631) 499-0276
You can expect all your pet needs fulfilled
and all your questions expertly answered!

Visit "The Pet Den" when you are in the Commack area.
It is the experience of a lifetime!
The staff is more of a big, loving, fun, family then just co~workers!
Come in and meet them.
Brouse around.
This is no ordinary pet store!


I've spoken  about "The Pet Den" before.
They are legendary on Long Island for their exotic pets,
and pet supplies.
And may I elaborate...
they have fresh, frozen or dried delicacies for any hungry reptile, amphibian or bird to savor at mealtime!
May I define "fresh" as meaning "alive"...
"The Pet Den" caters to the rare, and exotic pet.
But, never fear...their expertise  extends to all creatures...
large and small!

Young or old, you can also have a party at "The Pet Den"
in their "Party Jungle" Room.
Their motto:
"Come Rumble At Our Jungle"!

 Okay...
Because seahorses cannot live by live brine alone,
"The Pet Den" also carries  premium frozen brine.

Well, now and then, I will give my spoiled rotten babies frozen brine. When using the frozen brine, rather then putting it directly into the tank, I have trained the seahorses to eat out of a troth.

Now there's a concept for you!
Seahorses eating out of the same receptacle, troth, that horses eat out of!

It is quite adorable!

Once the frozen brine has been put into a strainer and then rinsed under cold water, it is ready to go. Putting the brine directly into the tank scatters the brine. This diminishes the seahorses ability of consuming the majority of the brine. It also has the tendency to "overfeed the tank". The leftovers can cause toxins like ammonia to spike. It can also change the PH and other chemistry's in the tank.
Because seahorses are fragile, these tank changes can make them sick or can even be fatal for them.

Anyway...
Seahorses can be trained!
And that is exactly what I did!

Over the period of a few days, I fed the prepared brine into the top of the troth.
It floated down to the tray area.
Using a turkey baster with a few brine shrimp in it, I slowly made a trail in front of the seahorses that EVENTUALLY led them to the troth.
Please note that the turkey baster was a brand new one and is dedicated for seahorse use only.
That goes for any seahorse equipment.
Cross contamination is therefore minimized.

After a few days, at mealtime, the seahorses would go and hitch onto the troth before I even put the brine into the tube.
They were waiting to be fed!

Again...seeing is believing!
And it is sooooooo adorable to see the seahorses eating out of the troth.






The adorable seahorses eat the frozen brine out of the troth.
Their tails hitch on the lip of the feeding tray.

Here my seahorse hitches on the side plant.

Look how the sweet seahorse's neck stretches to eat the frozen brine.