Advice wanted for new seahorse setup

[DanEnglish]

I am planning a large (at least a 48" long tank, maybe 72") seahorse display and would like to have at least 3 pairs for seahorses. I currently have a 92g reef and a 110 FOWLR, and I am pretty experienced in the hobby in general. I will be doing this from scratch, with all new stuff (my other tanks are pieced together...) and so I wanted to get advice on what the BEST equipment is for a dedicated seahorse tank. The smallest I would get is a 90 (48x18x25) gallon glass tank with a stand. For lighting I will most likely use LEDs of some variety or T5's. I assume I dont need a fuge as I want to grow macroalgae in the tank. It will have a sump with a good skimmer - what skimmer is recommended, anything special? Also, what is recommended for flow for seahorses? Would one or two MP10's be good, or are they bad with the seahorses getting caught in them? Would an oceans motions or other variable delivery return be better? Also, how big a chiller should I get for a 90 gallon? Basically I want to get the highest end stuff and make a solid and reliable system that other people can maintain if I am away.

As for the seahorses themselves, what do you recommend as the largest and nicest? I have seen some impressive pairs of orange brazilians....

 

[rayjay]

Well, IMO, the first thing to do is to acquaint yourself with the needs of seahorse keeping as the needs are different from the salt aquarium hobby be it fish only or reef.
Cleanliness is next to godliness in this hobby.
Check out the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse keeping" that have been written by experienced seahorse keepers as well as Dan U of seahorsesource.com, the best place to buy seahorses.
The largest seahorses that would be possible to get is probably the H. ingens.
The (Brazilian) H. reidis you saw may be wildcaught and as such are not a good investment.
Don't buy seahorses for colour as they will change to whatever they want when placed in your tank. Very few stay the same colour as they were when purchased.
I can't help on the equipment side of things as I'm still using the same things I did when I started the salt hobby 18 years ago, and don't have knowledge of the equipment you speak of.

 

[DanEnglish]

I had two kudas, but this summer there was a power outage in my area and I was away the first day and the tank got over 90 degrees - needless to say I lost them. Quite a sad experience, I had them for about 6 months (posted pics on here), they were cheap supposedly captive bred from asia and almost doubled in size in the 6 months I had them eating mysis.

Basically I had them in a spare tank, but this time I have more funds to set it up properly. I think I will go with the ingens.

 

[mtc1966]

the only thing i differ in opinion with Rayjay is sand versus no sand i prefer a natural looking tank with lots of macros (see my tank in the fts thread) i think bare bottom whike good for breeders is just to industrial for me. i have also witnessed my erectus eating peanut worms from the sand. as far as equipment i suggest a over rated skimmer a sump for extra water volume . a good clean up crew . you can look up whats compatible with seahorses. the latest thing i added is a ozone generator/redux controller. it makes the water crystal clear and will hopefully put a end to some nuisance algae . i also just added more flow to the tank they take more then you think. they like to play in front of the output. t-5 lighting should be fine they do not require bright lights but you want them good enough to grow macros. since you have the funds over kill on filtration is what i would concentrate on.

 

[jck16]

I am planning a large (at least a 48" long tank, maybe 72") seahorse display and would like to have at least 3 pairs for seahorses. I currently have a 92g reef and a 110 FOWLR, and I am pretty experienced in the hobby in general. I will be doing this from scratch, with all new stuff (my other tanks are pieced together...) and so I wanted to get advice on what the BEST equipment is for a dedicated seahorse tank. The smallest I would get is a 90 (48x18x25) gallon glass tank with a stand. For lighting I will most likely use LEDs of some variety or T5's. I assume I dont need a fuge as I want to grow macroalgae in the tank. It will have a sump with a good skimmer - what skimmer is recommended, anything special? Also, what is recommended for flow for seahorses? Would one or two MP10's be good, or are they bad with the seahorses getting caught in them? Would an oceans motions or other variable delivery return be better? Also, how big a chiller should I get for a 90 gallon? Basically I want to get the highest end stuff and make a solid and reliable system that other people can maintain if I am away.

As for the seahorses themselves, what do you recommend as the largest and nicest? I have seen some impressive pairs of orange brazilians....

Hey, I'm still a novice at keeping seahorses (not a novice aquarist though) although I'd say after reading up on everything about their care for 6 months (including rayjay's guide) I feel somewhat knowledgeable enough to add some input.

My set-up is only 30 gallons with mixed soft coral, SPS, and LPS. The guide for lighting a seahorse tank is to cater to the needs of the photosynthetic organisms first. If you plan on keeping corals, then choose the best lighting for them (LEDs, T-5s, halides). T-5s or even PC lighting is probably enough for macroalgae though. As long as the seahorses have some areas with shade, lighting isn't an issue for them.

1 MP10 combined with the return flow is probably enough. The oceans motions idea would be good too especially since there's no chance of them being caught in the powerhead. Seahorses can handle more flow than a lot of people seem to recommend. Just as long as there are areas of slack water movement too. The nice thing about pumps with variable setting is that you can turn them down for feeding.

Fuge is helpful since I've found my seahorses at least to be good hunters. Any live mysis or brine I've thrown in the tank are all gone by the next day. So the fuge will allow live foods to at least have a chance to reproduce and thrive. Plus, having another place for growing more macroalgae is very useful for nutrient export especially on a reverse time schedule or 24/7 lighting.

Skimmer is a must, that's where you should splurge as much as you can. Seahorses are very messy when it comes to feeding unless you can train them to eat from one spot every day.

Chiller for 90 gallon + sump: at least 1/5hp, preferably 1/3hp so that it's not running all the time in the summer.

There's no automatic feeder for frozen foods that's on the market right now, but that would be useful. You could make your own from this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1925790

H. ingens and H. kuda are the larger species. H. abdominalis is the largest.

Just my 2 cents.