The reason that I haven't posted for a while is that we haven't had a great week. We had a nitrite spike and lost all but one of the babies which was hugely disappointing. I have been discussing this with my friends on seahorse.org and as a result we are making quite a few changes to our routine, etc.
So far, we have added purigen to the tank (this is supposed to help maintain water quality), and added tetraselmis phytoplankton as they produce a natural antibiotic. We are also rinsing the bbs at each feeding time before adding it to the tank and are cleaning all of the equipment with vinegar after use (brineshrimp hatchers, containers, enrichment vessels, etc). We will being doing the same once a week with all the equipment in the tank so that it is all completely cleaned.
I have also added an ammonia alert card and bought some strip tests so that we can do daily dip tests to make sure that water conditions are maintained.
I am also adding nannochloropsis oculata to the enrichment vessel as well as Dan's Feed.
I will also be getting a skimmer to add to the tank, although I haven't been able to decide on which one yet. I will probably get an in-tank skimmer, as when the new tank arrives there will be a compartment to house all equipment.
Stevie gave birth to his third brood on Friday (6th May), and so far so good. There were only 8 but so far they are all still with us, as is the baby from brood 2. One of the new babies does appear to be deformed so we will monitor his progress. He appears to have a short tail, and his snout does look to be crocked (although with his size it is quite difficult to see this properly).
Note for self: Stevie did have one baby on 5th May which was day 15 of the pregnancy.
Brood 2: 1
Brood 3: 8
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