92 gallon future seahorse tank progress

[Northside Reef]

Really nice tank. the seahorses look awesome, makes me wish I could had them shipped for pickup tomorrow but I am too busy to get there.

 

[btreyes]

Thanks, you'll really enjoy them and they are going to do awesome in your tank!

 

[theresearcher]

Seeing your sea horses makes me want to get some now. Do you think a single pair of erectus could live in a 20?

 

[btreyes]

I wouldn't do that, unless you want to do a crap ton of water changes, have a big hang-on protein skimmer, a bunch of seaweeds, or a big sump, or a combination of all of those. The "recommended" size for a pair is 29 gallons. It's doable though.

 

[theresearcher]

Do you think two filters, macro algae, and weekly water changes would suffice?

 

[rayjay]

While it IS doable, it is highly unlikely to succeed in the long term, especially with such a species as the very full bodied erectus.
You would have to be siphoning out uneaten food/detritus daily and doing major water changes at least weekly, something on the order of maybe 39 to 50%.
Any mechanical filters would have to be cleaned bi-weekly instead of weekly.
Problem with such a workload is that sooner or later one usually slacks off when things have been going good for some time, only to find out too late that the slaking off ends up causing the losses later on.

 

[Northside Reef]

So thought I would share a picture of my pod population, these guys are crawling on everything. so I think Friday will be a good day for the new seahorses

 

[rayjay]

Believe me, once the seahorses are in the tank, they will quickly decimate the pod population.

 

[Northside Reef]

as long as they have fun doing it I am OK with that. Also designed a ton of hiding places for the pods to seek refuge.

Here is a shot of the tank after it was set up initially. Marco sliced rock glued to the tank walls, rubble below the tonga:



and a very dense forest of macro to escape in. I will update Friday













.

 

[pledosophy]

Do you think two filters, macro algae, and weekly water changes would suffice?

Depends on the filter and the size of water change.

 

[JLynn]

Lovely rockscape! Should look very cool when things are growing all over it.:thumbsup:

 

[Northside Reef]

Seahorses are here! But I am not sure if it's the new home or lack of interest, they have not eaten any of the Hikari Mysis I've tried to feed them. Hopefully tomorrow..

Photos:

 

[Northside Reef]

 

[DanU]

Watch closely and see if they are eating the pods?!

Dan

 

[Northside Reef]

I remember Abbie telling me that these guys go to bed when lights are out. lol three of them are still up and decimating the pods on the tank wall. The other three are sleeping.

But yeah I watched them eat at least some before the tank lights went out. I will try Hikari again in the morning. I will post results first thing when I do.

And thanks Dan, these guys look great. I just want to see them eat something I put in the tank, as RayJay said these pods won't last long.

 

[theresearcher]

So cool!

 

[Northside Reef]

So far it looks like they're eating but it takes them quite a while to show any interest. It concerns me because I have to put a lot of food in their tank before they finally decide to go after it. Is this normal behavior?

I have been using a pipette to sprinkle food near them but a bit down stream so it flows in front of them. They kind just look at the food until I get a few squirts in. Right now I am using two sometimes three cubes of the Hikari Mysis shrimp. before they start eating.

I have a bunch of Nassarius snails in there to help clean up the extra waste but at this rate not near enough.

Can someone point me to where I can purchase a good feeding station? I am going to try to get them using one. They like to hang out on the gorgs so I thought a feeding station near there might help cut down on the waste.

 

[DanU]

This is normal activity if you have a lot of pods, especially the right size for them to snack on. Think of it this way, if you offer a kid all the candy they can eat, what is going to happen when dinner time rolls around. A lot of folks believe that having all the pods in the world is a good thing. It is good to have some but too many will through them off the frozen feed as live almost always trumps frozen. They are used to having frozen food in the water column. Never had anything by turkey baster or pipettes. Too many in the tank for that. I would cut back on the frozen until they decimate the pods and then slowly dial up the frozen as they take more.

Dan

 

[Northside Reef]

Thanks Dan, I really appreciate the time, especially chiming in on a Sunday evening. I obviously made the right choice of venders.

I will be glad when they have been in the tank for a couple of months and I can quit fretting like a new parent over every sniffle.

 

[btreyes]

They look great!