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Sunday I woke up to find that my elephant ear mushroom ate my peppermint shrimp. (Mister Big Lips, is the corals name) He\’s never done anything like this before, but sure enough, it took him the whole day to swallow the shrimp. The next morning he was spitting out the exoskelaton and legs….:ohmy: That whole night I had nightmares about waking up to find one of my horses being slowly eaten… so that morning I packed up Mr. Big Lips and took him to the LFS in the next town. (mine here doesn\’t have a very good saltwater situation and no experience with corals) They traded me for a beautiful red tree sponge, about 15 inches tall. I brought that home and carefully put it in the tank. The horses were fascinated! Before I could even get it situated all four were crowding me and two were already hitched to it. It was hilarious! I put it into the highest flow, so when they try to hitch to it they get thrashed around a bit, otherwise I think it would be their favorite spot. But I still didn\’t get any cool color changes! 🙁 But I love making them happy.:P
Post edited by: carrieincolorado, at: 2006/11/28 20:43
Dear Carrie:
Under the circumstances, it sounds like a very sensible precautions to remove the elephant ear mushroom coral from your seahorse system.
That was a very good idea to swap Mr. Big Lips for a colorful tree sponge too. They are veritable seahorse magnets and the ponies really do love them. Tree sponges are usually brightly colored (red and orange shades are common) and their shape and texture seem to make them irresistible to seahorses as hitching posts. Very often, all the seahorses in the tank can be found clinging to the same tree sponge together, eschewing other nearby holdfasts that appear every bit as comfy and attractive to human eyes.
Positioning the tree sponge where it will receive brisk water flow is also the right thing to do. The strong water movement will help discourage the growth of algae, which can easily smother a live sponge.
A bright red tree sponge like yours may well result in color changes at some point. Collectors will often find bright red or vivid orange seahorses living in beds of colorful sponges in the wild. Leslie Leddo has some great photos of a bright orange H. barbouri and an orange Pinto perched on a red-orange tree sponge in her aquarium, and the seahorses blend in perfectly with their bright orange hitching post.
Best wishes with all your fishes (and invertebrates), Carrie!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna
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