Sea Horse Tank

[drdude05]

I have been thinking of setting up a species tank with a few sea horses. I have a 20 gallon and a stand that I am not using and am thinking about converting it. I am trying to do some research on them as far as requirements in tank size, type of filter (i.e. does the tank need to be setup like a reef with sump etc or will a canister/power filter do), current, and feeding requirements. Anyone out there with a sea horse tank, please give details on setup.

Here is what I have so far. 20 gallon high tank, stand, CPR bakpak +2R skimmer, PC lights two 65W one 10K daylight and one Actinic 03, RedSea Wavemaster Pro with a MJ 600 PH if I need more flow, 100W heater whould this stuff work to setup a sea horse tank?

I think I may take on old 10 gallon I have and convert it to a sump with an insump skimmer and run an over the back return box to the sump when I have some more cash. The list above is equimpment I have from my last nano tank that I am not using.

[Twitterbait]

the tank and backpak you have should do fine. make sure to protect the intake of the filtration so the horses don't get sucked in. sounds like you have a good setup for a few horses.

you don't need a sump.

[drdude05]

What type of horses would you recommend for a tank this size and for someone who hasn't kept them before?

[Twitterbait]

stick to tank raised reidi's or Kuda's

[drdude05]

I have been reading that horses need to feed often. How often is often?

[drdude05]

What are some good sources for CB seahorses? I have found seahorsesource.com and oceanrider.com. Oceanrider seems to be very expensive when it comes to horses, several are over $100 with some being $300. I also found dracomarine.com but this seems to be a search site rather than a seahorse supplier.

[Twitterbait]

http://www.seahorsesource.com/index.html

there you go. i would feed the horses once to twice a day. if you have a bunch of pods then you can feed less.

[drdude05]

Well, I think I may take the plunge. I think I am going to go ahead and setup the 20 gallon with the CPR HOB skimmer, PC lights, and the MJ 600 with the wavemaster pro. I also have an Aquaclear power filter that I may add for added flow and to turn into a refugium versus running carbon.

I am thinking of keeping a pair of H. erectus or H. kuda, seahorsesource does not have H. reidi listed.

[drdude05]

Will likly put in a 1"-2" sand bed and a mixture of Fiji and Tonga live rock. I eventually plan to keep some Macroalgae, a few gorgoinans, and a softy or two.

[VWD]

Sounds good and keep us posted, pictures and all

[Twitterbait]

awsome. make sure you pay close attention to the temperature for them. horses like colder water. also keep a large grating over the pump intake or they will get sucked in.

[drdude05]

Anyone have any recommendations as far as soft corals to include in a sea horse tank. I'm looking of species that would do well in mild to moderate flow.

[drdude05]

Well the horse tank went up this evening, waiting for the dust to settle and then will snap some pics.

[drdude05]

Well, I just set the tank up yesterday and already I am thinking about design changes. I am thinking about losing the AC 30 powerfilter I have and plumbing a closed loop on either a spray bar or terminating with loc-line with four nozzles in the tank. I was thinking about using a Mag 3 or a Mag 5 and making sure I split the return lines to diminish the force of the flow so I don't knock the seahorses around.

Does this sound like a good plan and if so how do you plumb the intake to the pump so that it runs up and over the back of the tank and down to the pump intake? How do you get a siphon started so that it will draw from the tank?

[Twitterbait]

remember the law is simplicity. what is your goal. if it is just to keep crap moving off the bottom then look into a powerhead with a wide spread diffuser. just make suree to throw a large strainer on the intake or your horses will get sucked in.

honestly a simple method would be to not worry about it. just siphone the crap off the bottom into a bucket with a filter sock once a week. if you leave some stuff on the bottom you will get a better pod population.

happy horsing, let's see a pic.