Seahorse Setup ???

I am currently designing a personal seahorse/pipefish tank, I wanted to hear any comments on my purposed setup, and any suggestions that would make it a better setup.... Thanks

So far the planned tank is limited in size to a footprint of 16"x16", as for height I was leaning towards a 30" tall tank, I know its a bit a a pain to clean but Im not too concerned with that. I was planning on having a 2"PVC overflow in the center of the tank with a 1/2" or 3/4" return going up the center of the overflow as well as a waterproof power cord for lighting. Im trying to figure out how much return circulation flow I should run, the tank would be about 33gallons, what are your opinions??? mag7, mag9, or mag12 ??? I was thinking that having the return plumbing split into 4 loc line returns would slow down the current enough while maintaining good flow rates, any input is appreciated... Around the 2"PVC overflow I was going to zap strap live rock all around it and make it look like a pillar of rock, will have a few seahorses and pipefish, and probably some macro algaes and sea grasses, along with some zoos. Given the small canopy dimensions of less than 16"x16", what lights would you recommend to light it up nice? Any suggestions would be great...
Thanks: Kyle

[EmilyB]

From the pipefish angle, I will tell you they will out-compete a seahorse for the first two mysis shrimp.....

[Beverly]

Kyle,

Don't have experience with returns and related pumps, so I can't help you there.

However, everything I've read about seagrasses and zoos is that you're going to need serious MH lighting for these to thrive.

If I were setting up a new SH/pipe tank, I would go with a standard 24" long footprint and throw on some PC lighting. You could make the tank as wide as you want to accommodate the amount of lighing you think you will need for the inhabitants other than the SHs/pipes. SHs don't need lots of light, ime. The tank could still be 30" high for mating purposes of larger SHs.

One caution about breeding SHs: once they get going, you will have fry every 2 weeks or so. Rearing fry and raising the right sized foods for each brood of fry can be an all-consuming task all in itself. Have done this for 3 broods of fry, unsuccessfully, and I was a wreck from all the work

However, larger SHs, such as H. kuda or H. reidi, are typically not available in Canada except as wild caught, which can sometimes be very tricky to train them to eat frozen. Here is the SH Feeding Station Gallery for you to read through to get ideas of how to train WC to eat frozen:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/hh-feeding-stations.htm

Here are two Canadian suppliers of captive bred SHs:

http://www.seanic.ca

http://www.aquaparadice.com/

HTH

Yeah I was thinking the same thing EmilyB, the pipe fish would get the first few but not a big deal...
Thanks Bev, I was waiting for your reply... As for tank size I am restricted to a footprint of 16"x16", this is because I aquired a marble pillar that would allow a tank of that size to sit on it, and I can just sheet a canopy in marble to match. As for height I will probably go with 30" but am still debating 36" tall, I have long mechanical grabbers for doing maintence so its doable, but it would be a bit of a pain, on the same note, with the low amount of feeding in the tank it should keep pretty clean... I was thinking of a thin acrylic tube going down to an acrylic feeding dish with a railing around it for holding onto for a feeding station. I have raised seahorses before with pretty good success, I have the unique privledge of having an unlimited supply of Mysis Relicta in my backyard, also I have the very unique ability of being able to throw my plankton net into the lake and go trolling for live Mysis Relicta, when you throw live Mysis into saltwater they wiggle around like crazy, it drives seahorses wild... Once they start eating the live Mysis, they seem to switch over to frozen Mysis with ease. For lighting I think I am going to light it up with 8x 10Watt LED's, 4 blue and 4 white. Ill see how the LED's do and if they are not cutting it I will change to a 250W DE 10K or 14K metal halide. For flow I think I am going to go with the Mag12 unless anyone chimes in, I can always restrict the flow with a ball valve if need be. Well if anyone has any ideas that would make this setup better suited for seahorses please chime in....
Thanks

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by UnderWorldAquatics

As for tank size I am restricted to a footprint of 16"x16", this is because I aquired a marble pillar that would allow a tank of that size to sit on it, and I can just sheet a canopy in marble to match. As for height I will probably go with 30" but am still debating 36" tall

What species are you going to keep in this tank? Larger SHs may find the 16"x16" footprint sort of cramped. Medium sized SHs would not need the extra height. H. barbouri, a tropical species available as CB and grow to about 5"-6" need only 3 times their body height for the height of the tank. So you'd probably only need a 24" high tank maximum, depending on sandbed depth.

BTW, what species of SHs have you kept in the past?

I had a couple red H. Reidi, and a couple of H. Kuda, gave them to a freind when I moved a few years back, still alive and well....

[reefhawk]

hey kyle, the pet store in vernon (total pet) has a couple seahorses for sale was htere today.

thanks for the line, but I will be getting captive raised from a farm

[BCOrchidGuy]

BRAVO KYLE

Captive bred is the way to go, stores will keep buying wild caughts as long as people keep buying them.


Doug

Thanks Doug, I think we should all be buying captive raised marine life whenever possible, its the direction this hobby needs to go in a big way... We have been playing around with the breeding and raising of a few different inverts and fish, wont say what at this time but hope to be producing substantial numbers in the near future, as well we are still plugging along with the tank raised fish, cant wait till we set it up on a larger scale.