Mono SeaBaes

I think I'll ask the group about the proper care and stewardship of Mono
Seabaes. I picked 4 up at Walmart not long ago. I read where they
would do well in "all water types..ie- fresh, brackish, marine". I
asked the clerk =? how much salt they were using. I leave ya'll to
guess her answer.

So I threw the dice, brought 4 of them home. They were stunning,
indeed, angels on steroids, graceful, yet swift. Appetite was healthy,
as expected. I slowly acclimated them to the tank's water. They seemed
to get along fine with the tankmates, enjoyed checking out their new
surroundings, galloped playfully from end to end. I googled and read
gobs and gobs of info on Monos. So I felt very comfortable in that I
could manage these great additions just fine.

Less than a week went by, and they all expired, sequentially. They were
a little larger than nickels when I brought them home. My neighbor and
I witnessed their growth spurt to over a quarter-sized diameter right
before their passing. They were a delight to the tank. And I cornered
myself on how lacking in stewardship my skills might have been. I was
truly sick over the incident.

As it turns out, Monos really prefer marine environments. But if you
gleam and google monos, you'll quickly find that their information is
wrong. I data-mined like a mad man wanting to setup proper housekeeping
for these great creatures. A long-time poster here keeps them and told
me that they did indeed flourish in marine water only. Maybe they had
problems from being in transit to Walmart...maybe something from the
import docks, who knows.

I could easily list the things that could have caused their death, be it
my errors or not.
-Water Quality (mine)
-Water Quality (Walmart's)
-Mis-Informed (anybody's fault)
-Transit Shock (too broad to narrow down)
-Walmart stock (not out of the question, entirely)
-Acclimation Processes (afterall, they did expire in my tank)


But it quickly showed me that all websites aren't "published in stone"
with regard to the data they publish for the hobbyist.

-ED


































--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"« Grìffîñ »" wrote in message
.. .

But it quickly showed me that all websites aren't "published in stone"
with regard to the data they publish for the hobbyist.
===================
You got that right. I take most websites concerning fish and other pets
with a grain of salt........ no pun intended. ;-)
--
KL
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

« Grìffîñ » wrote:
I think I'll ask the group about the proper care and stewardship of Mono
Seabaes. I picked 4 up at Walmart not long ago. I read where they
would do well in "all water types..ie- fresh, brackish, marine". I
asked the clerk =? how much salt they were using. I leave ya'll to
guess her answer.

So I threw the dice, brought 4 of them home. They were stunning,
indeed, angels on steroids, graceful, yet swift. Appetite was healthy,
as expected. I slowly acclimated them to the tank's water. They seemed
to get along fine with the tankmates, enjoyed checking out their new
surroundings, galloped playfully from end to end. I googled and read
gobs and gobs of info on Monos. So I felt very comfortable in that I
could manage these great additions just fine.

Less than a week went by, and they all expired, sequentially. They were
a little larger than nickels when I brought them home. My neighbor and
I witnessed their growth spurt to over a quarter-sized diameter right
before their passing. They were a delight to the tank. And I cornered
myself on how lacking in stewardship my skills might have been. I was
truly sick over the incident.

As it turns out, Monos really prefer marine environments. But if you
gleam and google monos, you'll quickly find that their information is
wrong. I data-mined like a mad man wanting to setup proper housekeeping
for these great creatures. A long-time poster here keeps them and told
me that they did indeed flourish in marine water only. Maybe they had
problems from being in transit to Walmart...maybe something from the
import docks, who knows.

I could easily list the things that could have caused their death, be it
my errors or not.
-Water Quality (mine)
-Water Quality (Walmart's)
-Mis-Informed (anybody's fault)
-Transit Shock (too broad to narrow down)
-Walmart stock (not out of the question, entirely)
-Acclimation Processes (afterall, they did expire in my tank)


But it quickly showed me that all websites aren't "published in stone"
with regard to the data they publish for the hobbyist.

-ED

I have kept Mono sebaes for long periods of time in FW, but they are
NOT an easy fish to keep in FW. I heavily salted about 2 tbls per 5
gallons and used marine salt. I kept a KH well above 100 ppm. Also I do
not recommend worms of any sort (my opinion) as I find they will
constipate these fish. A marine flake such as HBH is good supplemented
with krill, brine shrimp, and spirulina.
I believe proper feeding, great water conditions, high Redox potential,
and good disease prevention are the keys to success in keeping Mono
Sebaes.
This site has some more information about this (although not
specifically Monos):
http://aquarium-info.blogspot.com/

Carl

carlrs wrote:
I have kept Mono sebaes for long periods of time in FW, but they are
NOT an easy fish to keep in FW. I heavily salted about 2 tbls per 5
gallons and used marine salt. I kept a KH well above 100 ppm. Also I do
not recommend worms of any sort (my opinion) as I find they will
constipate these fish. A marine flake such as HBH is good supplemented
with krill, brine shrimp, and spirulina.
I believe proper feeding, great water conditions, high Redox potential,
and good disease prevention are the keys to success in keeping Mono
Sebaes.
This site has some more information about this (although not
specifically Monos):
http://aquarium-info.blogspot.com/

Carl

Yeh..my tanks then were 1 TBsp / 5 gallons. It was my tank water that
killed them, but I wasn't able to make sense from nonsense with their
death. I never knew what water condition they were sourced from or what
the Walmart store kept them in. They had a "Fish of the Month" deal
there, I went home, googled around, went back and picked out 4. All
specimens looked great at the store, though. I'd like to have them
again, but my LFS could have trouble ordering them.

Thanks for the note.
-ED

My guess would be that W*lm*rt were keeping them in unsalted
water....your conditions would have been right from your research but
not right for a fish kept in unsalted water.....

We've all been there, done that, and tried to do the best for our
fish....sometimes it doesn't work out for reasons beyond our control - I
know a man who says "never blame yourself for deaths in the first few
weeks" - I would second that providing you acclimatized the fish to your
conditions to the best of your ability....ie. didn't just throw them in
which I'm sure you did not.

Good luck with finding some more - I've seen them at my LFS and have
resisted to date....they certainly are very attractive fish

Gill

Gill Passman wrote:

My guess would be that W*lm*rt were keeping them in unsalted
water....your conditions would have been right from your research but
not right for a fish kept in unsalted water.....

We've all been there, done that, and tried to do the best for our
fish....sometimes it doesn't work out for reasons beyond our control - I
know a man who says "never blame yourself for deaths in the first few
weeks" - I would second that providing you acclimatized the fish to your
conditions to the best of your ability....ie. didn't just throw them in
which I'm sure you did not.

Good luck with finding some more - I've seen them at my LFS and have
resisted to date....they certainly are very attractive fish

Gill
=)

« Grìffîñ » wrote:
Gill Passman wrote:

My guess would be that W*lm*rt were keeping them in unsalted
water....your conditions would have been right from your research but
not right for a fish kept in unsalted water.....

We've all been there, done that, and tried to do the best for our
fish....sometimes it doesn't work out for reasons beyond our control
- I know a man who says "never blame yourself for deaths in the first
few weeks" - I would second that providing you acclimatized the fish
to your conditions to the best of your ability....ie. didn't just
throw them in which I'm sure you did not.

Good luck with finding some more - I've seen them at my LFS and have
resisted to date....they certainly are very attractive fish

Gill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3pbk...neil%20you ng

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

I have kept these fish for a long time.
have to prefer them to the argents although I rate them both highly.
They do best in large volumes of water.
Full fresh or full fresh are fine but really they do best in brackish.
Brackish tanks take a good 6 weeks or so normally to cycle/mature
not something to be rushed.
not quite sure what the problem is that you guys are having but they
definitely don't like nitrite.
They also need lots of food when little
gotta run now but will re-read thread and see if I can't give ya a heads up
on them.
Been catching mono's and scats for my tanks for ages.
Still some of me favourite fish too
Brackish setups Rock da Kazbar!

Ok when they are small..... feed at least 3 times a day.
remember brackish tanks tkae a long time to cycle and that adding salt to a
tank can wipe out your good freshwater filter bacteria.
Mono's die like flies in nitrite spikes.
give them some scat friends, they are more chilled in company.
Don't worry too much about slow acclimatisation (salt to fresh to salt to
brackish), in that way at least they are tough.
Get surface disturbance happening to keep tankwater full of oxygen.