[MarkS]

I have a 55 gallon that currently houses an iguana. I am going to build the iguana an enclosure and would like to use the 55 for seahorses.

The setup that I have in mind is:

• 4" of VERY live sand. I mean visible amounts of worms, pods, ministars, microhermits, etc. I want to see the sand pulsate. I plan on making this myself in a large vat. I expect that I will need about 4 orders of IPSF's 9 for 99 and let the sand "cure" for about three months with regular, daily, feedings.
  
• 50 pounds of Fiji live rock.
  
• Massive amounts of macroalgae.
  
• A Remora Pro skimmer.
  
• 4 x 96watts of PC lighting.
  
• A few branching gorgonians.
  
• A few non aggressive corals. Need ideas here. NO SPS!
  
• Two Maxijet 400's for circulation.
  
• A 20 gallon above tank refugium with 4" of live sand, about 20 pounds of live rock and 3 x 36 watts of PC lighting.

So, is this a good set up? Are there any changes I should make?

I will not be using a sump because the return would create far too much current. This is why I need a hang on skimmer.

Please post any and all comments, both positive and negative. I am well aware of seahoses requirements though.

Mark

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How come when you talk to God it is called prayer, but when God talks to you it is called schizophrenia?

[Biomanjcs72]

The only thing I might say is that it's possible (given the horses eating habits and the number of horses you put in there) that they would strip the tank of pods, etc very quickly. Maybe think about having an artemia culture tank waiting and ready to go incase they eat you tank clean quickly, but I bet you'd be fine. JAT [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

[icemark]

The only thing else that I would recommend would be that you would want to make sure that the tank was 20 inchs tall min.

The seahorses will need at least that for breeding and living happy.

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Mark

Play Well

[MarkS]

Wouldn't the refugium supply enough pods? I thought the idea was to give them a safe place to breed while allowing them to return to the main tank.

Mark

[Biomanjcs72]

The refugium MAY be enough, I was just setting out a contingency plan. Seahorses can eat something ridiculous like 2000 artemia a day, the refuguim may not produce that fast. JAT HTH

[organicreefer]

heres an idea for a seahorse tank .......add some triggers lol

[MarkS]

Originally posted by organicreefer
heres an idea for a seahorse tank .......add some triggers lol

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Anyway.....

Originally posted by Biomanjcs72 The refugium MAY be enough, I was just setting out a contingency plan. Seahorses can eat something ridiculous like 2000 artemia a day, the refuguim may not produce that fast. JAT HTH

What are artemia anyway? I am going to buy OceanRider seahorses and they are supposed to eat both live and dead foods. I was going to feed them dead, enriched mysis.

Mark

[Mikeman]

thats sound pretty good, take a look at this site(I'm sure you have already www.seahorse.org ) great site, the refugium may be enough, but I think the main stable diat should be the enriched mysis,

[Biomanjcs72]

Artemia are brine shrimp. ANd are these horses captive bread? if so, I may think about getting some eventually. Hey, if they'll accept prepared stuff, more power to you, I just haven't heard of it except in rare exceptions.

[popcorn]

Having looked into this idea myself (minus the iguana-turned-seahorse thing), I definitely think Ocean Riders are the way to go. (For anyone who doesn't know, they are captive bread and will indeed accept prepared food. They are weaned to certain things, and more info is on their website)

One other thing that I remember reading is that seahorses like something to "attach" to. If that thing is a branching gorgonian, it will damage the polyps and might kill the gorgonian. Just something to consider.

Good luck, and keep us posted. It sounds like there is some serious planning here!

[Elmo18]

MarkS,

I too am planning a seahorse tank at the moment. I've been over at http://www.seahorse.org and they have a lot of useful info.

I have a 25 gallon tall Eclipse tank, and will possibly look into getting 4 seahorses, at least two of which are Ocean Riders. I think the most important part of the seahorse tank is a sense of security for the seahorses and the amount of water flow.

Place powerheads at the top of the water surface directly horizontal, not pointed up or down. This will allow water movement to degrade gradually as you go deeper into the tank.

Seagrass and caulerpa is important too so they can have something to grasp on to.

I'm making a drawing of a possible seahorse aquascape right now. It will consist of terraced live rock, with sand.

Keep us posted. My tank has beneficial worms, etc in my sand bed since this was my old reef tank. I have cured Vanisi in there right now. Everythign is ready here except the small powerheads that i need to get and the numerous amounts of caulerpa and sea grass.

Then it's time for mysis shrimp and some Ocean Riders.

Regards,
Ilham

Your setup looks good. I hear it's even ok to use NO lighting for seahorses since they don't need too much light. However, for the corals you will have in there, the PC's will be awesome!!

[the_blue_tuna]

A couple of comments for you Mark,
Would you not be better to "cure" your ultra live sand in place as moving it will probably disrupt the different bacteria by rearranging the layering (a massive stir , so to speak) and I feel this may be counterproductive for you. My second thought , is why so much light? Maybe over the main tank , depending on what you put in as far as coral stock , but 108 watts seems a bit much for a refugium.Just my thoughts.

[Angel]

I currently have 4 OR seahorses that I have had for over a year now in a 55 gallon tank. They more than readily eat the frozen Mysis. I have live rock in there and a Gorgonian and they cling to the Gorgonian all of the time and it doesn't seem the worse for wear. I have had it in there for over 6 months with no ill effects. When they are not clinging to the Gorgonian it is extremely healthy and bushy looking. I do feed live ghost shrimp, or red shrimp, just for variance in diet. I have even heard of someone who would feed the very small silversides to thier seahorses and they ate them fine. I myself have never tried that.

My seahorses also cling to the heater on many occasions. Always have. They are the sunbursts and except for one time of a flesh eating disease that was cured in about 2 weeks with medication, I have never had any other problems with them.

I highly recommend the OR horses for anyone interested in seahorses. Angel

[MarkS]

Originally posted by the_blue_tuna
A couple of comments for you Mark,
Would you not be better to "cure" your ultra live sand in place as moving it will probably disrupt the different bacteria by rearranging the layering (a massive stir , so to speak) and I feel this may be counterproductive for you.

Actuall, that is not a bad idea.

My second thought , is why so much light? Maybe over the main tank , depending on what you put in as far as coral stock , but 108 watts seems a bit much for a refugium.Just my thoughts.

Oops. It is a bit much. I guess I should change that to one or two lights.

Thanks,
Mark

[mastaJ]

Everyone commented on something except the corals, so... how about some soft corals those would be a good addition like, some sacropythons (aka leathers) ya, i think those would be a nice addition. Overall i think this is going to be a cool tank, keep us updated...