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[Boosted Rxp]

i am building a 65 gallon horse tank for my daughter and i was wondering if a sedra 350 gallon per hour pondmaster pump and a 30 gallon sump be good size for it? i dont want too much flow right? it does 350 per hour with 8 ft of head pressure,any ideas?

 

[luvabunny]

350gph sounds like way too much turnover for a seahorse tank to me. That's over 5 times per hour. I believe the recommended is about 2-3 times per hour. Of course, you can have a higher turnover rate if you can spread out the flow coming into the tank, so the horses aren't blown about.

 

[Fredfish]

First, lets clear up what the pump flow will be for your tank. Are you saying that the pump puts out 350 gph at 8' of head preasure? Usually, the pump makers will give you pump output at 0' of head.

350gph in a 65 gallon tank is probably manageable, but you will need to distribute the flow over several return outlets so you don't have excessive flow in some parts of the tank.

I would experiment with the returns before putting seahorses in the tank.

For what its worth, I had 750gph flow in my 65 gallon reef and it was not enough flow for corals. I needed to concentrate the flow in 1/2 of the tank to get decent flow for corals.

In general, you want to give your seahorses a mix of moderate flow and low flow areas so that they can move back and forth between the two.

If you want to be safe, you can go with lower oveall flow as well. You don't need a lot of flow for seahorses.


Fred

 

[Boosted Rxp]

i dont know much about pumps but i thought it said 350 at 8 ft max maybe,my tank has 2 3/4" outlets to spread the flow out,steve

 

[reefD]

i started simple when i went into a seahorse tank. i was a previouse 5 year reffer and then set a the tank. it is a ten galklon! yeah thats it ten gallons and houses a pair of kuda seahorses. i have a small little bittie hang on filter that has chemi pure in tit )changed monthly) . wait let me give info on tank.
i set it up in january of 2005. it housed my angler till about may ...he was placed in an upgraded 30 gallon and the ten was left with nothing but some snails and crabs ...live rock(about 2 pounds) and macro. tank was tested a few weeks later and showed large ammonia. i let it be! only did top offs and kept testing. 6 weeks later! it showed low low ammonia and slight nitrate levels ...i did a water change and added the seahorses that week.
still its been 7 months and the horses feed like pigs. the tolerate a fast day and have not parasite signs. the macro is key as it grows fast. i use a coral life nano fixture with pc bulbs. macro is harvest as it can over grow but give an ideal envirnment for horses. i do a gallon water change a week and thats it. test show zero levels but iodine and calcium is sucked up fast and must be dosed. i keep the temp at 74 to keep metabolisim low and they dont mid at all. flow is really minmal except by the hang on return but the avoid the area majority of the time. hope i could help.

 

[Boosted Rxp]

everything bit of info helps,i didnt get alot of responses from people,i would just like to keep the horses alive and healthy,i got a 31 gallonb acrylic sump with refugium are for it now and will grow cheato in it,i am going to run it for a month and monitor temps to see if i need a chiller,steve

 

[reefD]

okay no worries. that set up would be good but you need to reduce flow greatly from sump to display. this way the cheato has more contact time with water which means greater scrubbing abilities. and seahorses are happy with low flow rate. honestly, really.....first yjing most people first learn when trying seahorses and setting up tank is that they get tossed in any moderate flow. light flow is tolerated but needs to be in a single area and not through out most of the time. dont get me wrong flow works for sure but when learning about sea horse care low flow helps a lot. your set up and research is right on! just keep in mind getting the return pump at a good gallons per hour rate but not...i repeat not too strong. . JMO. hope i could be of help. best of luck

 

[Boosted Rxp]

thanks again,i ordered a 3500 sedra which will push flow to 2 3/4 outlets

 

[reefD]

thats a better direction.

 

[pledosophy]

IME 350 gph in a 65g tank is not a worry. I had closer to 900 gph in my 65g tank with the flow broken up into two return split with locline into 4 flare nozzles and still needed a powerhead which was a MJ 900. In retrospect i might have gone with a Seio for the PH.

I think your plans sound good to me.

 

[Fredfish]

OK, I did some poking around. The 3500 has a maximum head of 8' which in pump speak means it can't push water higher than that.

I suspect that the 350 gph is at 0' head. You will be fine with this pump. Tried to find a volume vs head chart for the pump, but found nothing.

Fred

 

[Boosted Rxp]

i will add a powerhead if needed,i would like water to stay in sump longer anyway for the cheato and skimmer to clean it,steve

 

[reefD]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8513817#post8513817 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Boosted Rxp
i will add a powerhead if needed,i would like water to stay in sump longer anyway for the cheato and skimmer to clean it,steve

thats algea scrubb'in! great method

 

[Boosted Rxp]

tank is almost ready,i get the pump tuesday,then i will pick up sand and rock wednesday,i think i will let it cycle for a month then come the horses

 

[Fredfish]

Personally I would not add any horses to the tank for at least 2 months.

Read this article to get some idea of what is happening as a new tank cycles.

In any new tank, you are looking at multiple cycles beyond the initial nitrite/nitrate spike. It takes a while for a tank to settle and mature.

Adding horses early in the process will increase the risk of disease and loss.

I would add some cleanup crew a month after you add your rock. This will start to recycle some of the nutrients released into the tank and incorporated into algaes.

Your patience will be rewarded in the form of healthy happy horses.

Fred

 

[Boosted Rxp]

2 months even if all my rock is fully cured???

 

[reefD]

best advice has been said for sure! you need to go slower or youll have sick ponies with time! just wait two months and also test your water . watch for ammonia spike to reduce without water change it will produce bacteria for cycle and reduce on own when cycle is complete. best advice for sure. go slower!

 

[Boosted Rxp]

will do,i wont like sick or dying horses

 

[Fredfish]

It is my understanding that every time rock is transported/stored it will go through another cycle of die-off.

The less life there is on the rock and the less disturbed the rock is, the smaller the die-off and resulting cycle will be.

If you are buying from a commercial source, then most likely the rock will go through a major cycle. Its not likely it has been sitting in your lfs curing for several months.

If you are getting rock from a local hobbyist, pulling it out of his tank and then putting it in yours right away, the die-off would be minor.

When I set up my tank, I had it running for two weeks before adding rock from a local hobbyist. Even then, I went through the usual algae succession cycles over the next three months.

Fred

 

[Boosted Rxp]

all the rock will be from a local guy here whos had it in his for about 5 years,steve