Show off your seahorse tanks!

[Mikee]

Setting up a 75g (not drilled) for seahorses.. need some inspiration .
Lighting?
Flow?
LR?
Skimmer?
Sand bed?

Thanks .

[Bugsy]

Where are you getting your seahorses from, here in Vernon??

[Mikee]

No, prob Vancouver or Ontario.. I know a couple guys that say there are a couple guys around them that breed seahorses but i dont know of that 100% yet. I am trying to find Erectus, Kuda, Reidi.

[Mikee]

Also new plans for the Seahorse tank..
90g drilled w/overflow
24x12x12 sump, skimmer/return area section
Skimmer - not sure yet might try out these Vertex-IN skimmers that J&L have..
Return - Eheim 1260
Lights - 4x54w T5 TEK light
80lbs Caribsea Seafloor Special Grade Sand / Substrate
Tonga branch LR, lots of seagrass and other macro algae

I plan to keep 2-3 pairs in there with pipefish, and softies.

[Diana]

Seahorses are great! If you are looking to breed them (or at least attempt to raise the fry) then I do not recommend reidi or kuda. The fry are pelagic and really hard to raise!

Your setup sounds fine, just make sure there is not too much flow. And for the skimmer be sure no micro bubbles can escape into the main tank, they can wreck havoc on a male's pouch! I've run a seahorse tank for 3 years with no skimmer and no issues. You might need more light for the seagrasses.

My setup:

33 gallon aquarium, rimless
96 watt PC light, hoping to put a 24" TEK light on there soon.
Small eheim canister filter
heater
tonga branchy live rock
several species of macro algae
mangroves (experimenting, hehe).
Mineral Mud substrate, with caribsea bahamas oolite on top

pair of H. barbouri
banded pipefish


I've kept H. reidi and H. taeniopteris (kuda) in the past. I am looking to add another pair, but not sure which species.


HTH
-Diana

[Mikee]

Thanks Diana! Where do you get your horsies from?

[Diana]

I got my tank raised barbouri and taeniopteris from J&L, and my tank raised reidi were from Big Al's. They have all bred for me, but so far the barbouri male has not carried to term (he is still quite young). I just keep crossing my fingers though!

[sphelps]

Well I guess this is a seahorse tank?




I keep a pretty low flow rate, tank is 50 gallons and the only flow is provided by a 1/2" return line which is probably putting out 400-500GPH.
Lots of LPS and soft corals, no problems with the tentacles on the LPS and the seahorse is always touching them.
Lighting is 4 24Watt HO T5s, two 12K and 2 fiji purples I believe.
I used a larger crushed coral sand bed based purely on the acrylic tank to prevent scratches related to fine sand particles getting into the magnet.
Pretty close to 40-50 lbs of rock but it's mostly stacked completely vertical on the back
The tank is plumbed into a bigger system so it takes advantage of a very clean system. However I think this style of tank would do better with higher nutrients.

[Mikee]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Well I guess this is a seahorse tank?




I keep a pretty low flow rate, tank is 50 gallons and the only flow is provided by a 1/2" return line which is probably putting out 400-500GPH.
Lots of LPS and soft corals, no problems with the tentacles on the LPS and the seahorse is always touching them.
Lighting is 4 24Watt HO T5s, two 12K and 2 fiji purples I believe.
I used a larger crushed coral sand bed based purely on the acrylic tank to prevent scratches related to fine sand particles getting into the magnet.
Pretty close to 40-50 lbs of rock but it's mostly stacked completely vertical on the back
The tank is plumbed into a bigger system so it takes advantage of a very clean system. However I think this style of tank would do better with higher nutrients.

^^And a beautiful one! . Thanks for sharing!

[Mikee]

Originally Posted by Diana

I got my tank raised barbouri and taeniopteris from J&L, and my tank raised reidi were from Big Al's. They have all bred for me, but so far the barbouri male has not carried to term (he is still quite young). I just keep crossing my fingers though!

Looks like i'll have to keep my eyes on J&L and Big Al's . Thanks Diana.