Skimmer or no Skimmer??

[Diana]

Well, I will be the one to come in here and say no skimmer. I kept seahorses for 3 years, in several different size tanks (20, 46, and finally a 30). I only ever kept at maximum 3, which was in the 46. I think 6 ponies in a 46 would be a heavy load on the tank.

I had only a eheim canister filter running on the tank, and a few snails as cleanup. (Hermit crabs are generally not a good idea with seahorses). I had lots of macro algae for nutrient and nitrate export, and did regular water changes on the tank.

As for feeding they got fed once a day in a food dish, sometimes they would eat all at once and sometimes they would leave some and come back later. They were trained on the dish, that way they ate ALL the food I put in the tank, and there was no waste.

Flow in the tank was kept to an absolute minimum. The main reason for my choice not to use a skimmer is the havoc micro bubbles can cause on a male's pouch. They manage to get in there and then you have to be doing pouch evacs. I never once had a male with pouch problems, even with giving birth every two weeks for countless years.

So, success without a skimmer. But I had lots of macro algae. And they consumed all food put in the tank.

-Diana

[BlueAbyss]

I'm gonna say go for a skimmer... and DUMP THE FILTER! It will just become a nitrate factory, pumping out mass quantities of the stuff and you'll wonder why it's so high.

If you do intend on still using the filter, I would clean it every day, no less than every 2nd day, specially if you are feeding more that twice a day.

[Key Equine]

Well, I had the filter already so I've filled it with live rock...

[BlueAbyss]

It will still trap detritus, even the finest of stuff, and will eventually cause you problems. Empty it and use it as circulation only, forget that it's intended to filter the water and pretend it's a pump. Trust me, and I'm sure someone else on here will agree with me.

The live rock will do you better in your tank, where it can both nitrify and denitrify. Forcing water through the rock like that will turn it into a biological filter, effectively eliminating it's ability to perform denitrification inside the rock.

[Diana]

Seahorse tanks do work a little differently then reef tanks, especially if you have lots of macro algae where you actually want a slight accumulation of nutrients to feed the algae. Plus in general the bioload on the tank is kept to an absolute minimum.

I suggest you visit www.seahorse.org, they have a wealth of information on seahorse setups, and they helped me out when first setting up my seahorses. Consider the natural environments of seahorses in the wild: seagrass beds and gorgonian fields, and realize that these areas are often full of nutrients and detritus. Obviously waste accumulates very quickly in aquaria thus it needs to be monitored, but a little waste buildup in a filter should be nothing to panick about as long as it is maintained monthly. I would not reccommend it for a reef tank, but for FO or FOWLR it seems to work out fine.

-Diana