Changing directions

[summitk]

I currently have a 65 gallon setup with softies and a pair of blue hippo tangs that I got when they were 1.5 inches each. They are now out growing their tank (which I knew would be inevitable someday), and I am now thinking about restarting from (mostly) scratch.

I was thinking about partitioning my tank with the back third being an in-tank refugium and the front two thirds being the display. I'd be able to get rid of the sump and have a self-contained system. I was thinking an opaque partition and a seahorse tank with a huge fuge/pod factory and dedicated light.

Searching through several pages on the internet, I couldn't find anyone that had done this, which makes me think there may be an obvious reason for this or it just goes against the way we do things. I've had great success with soft corals without a skimmer and with regular water changes, and I don't see why things would be any different by keeping the fuge up with the rest of the tank.

I know it's non-traditional, but I was wondering if anyone had any input that could help me with a project like this. I hear there is a local seahorse breeder in Pittsburgh. Does anyone know him/her and if they supply locally?

I'm interested to hear y'alls thoughts.


Thanks,
Summit

 

[needmorecowbell]

Actually, that is a cool idea. I dont see any reason why it wouldnt work. The partition would need a pump to get the water moving and if you could put a light in there, it would be ideal. The flow will need to be low in the tank so you'll need to figure out what gph will be good for you. The partition will also need a gridded opening, or something to let the water in, just make sure the seahorses don't get stuck in it. A good remedy would be putting a box around it, kinda like an overflow box.

If you do this, please keep us updated. Thanks!

 

[summitk]

Yeah, I was thinking of a "swiss cheese" opaque wall so that pods, nutrients, etc could travel freely through, and so that "light attracted" things would have a "motivation" to move sides (assuming I can have a reverse photoperiod fuge without being too funny looking). I was thinking caulerpa planted in the fuge and a few maxi-jets moving water from the display into the fuge, so the net driving force would be in via pumps, out via "swiss cheese" holes in the partition.

I was even thinking of having a colony of peppermint shrimp in the fuge (making it not a "true" fuge) to spawn and supply the main tank with fry along with the large amphipod colony brewing in my current fuge. I'd feed the fuge with an auto feeder, and hand feed the sea horses (probably via a tube that goes to the bottom of the tank into a dish).

 

[needmorecowbell]

I think you should go a more simpler route, just 2 holes, one intake, one output with a u-tube. That way you can get the reverse photoperiod and it will look neat. If you want it unique to that extent, I would make small holes. Just big enough for the larger pods to fit.

 

[summitk]

I was hoping to avoid U-tubes and the such, though I can't figure out a way without having a variable water level in the main tank (ideally, for a feeding situation, you'd want a pump taking water from the main and returning it to the fuge with overflow going into the main tank). This would make the display a variable level tank. I would like to avoid that if possible, though an ATO may be a good option if the alternative is having more instrumentation.

I was even thinking of minimizing pumps (minimum wattage) by having power heads replaced by a single pump from the main to the fuge so that the temp stays down. Still thinking about how I'd make this happen without having a third chamber, an overflow box that takes water from the surface of the display.

What about three chambers:
1. Fuge, highest water level, gets water from overflow and delivers to main
2. Display, medium water level, gets overflow from fuge and its overflow goes to fuge
3. Overflow chamber, gets water from display and sends, via pump, to fuge

This makes the overflow the variable water level chamber, which can have an ATO filling it as well.

 

[Raceimage]

I've had alot of problems with caulerpa. It's very invasive and actually toxic for most fish. It was accidentally introduced into my system and literally took it over. It was so bad the slots in my overflow would get clogged. The only thing that I found to eat it was a sea hare. Your system seems interesting; however, if it were me, I would go with a different type of algae such as cheato, shaving brush, maidens hair, mangrove,etc

 

[needmorecowbell]

I agree. I use chaeto. Mangroves would look really cool popping out at the top.

 

[summitk]

I have no experience with mangroves. I an a chaeto guy myself, but for some reason or another feel that the times I have had more pods when I have had more caulerpa growing. It's probably because they grow under the same conditions, not that they are conducive to pod growth though.

I also have never gotten my chaeto to "roll" in my fuge as some people insist is the only way to do things.

Which brings me to another point. We all read a lot online prior to making moves on our setups, which we invest a lot of time and money into. I appreciate all of your input based on your personal experience, as it's so easy to have a mantra based on what everyone reads and regurgitates without seeing for themselves.

I think I'll also try to plant some grass in the display, as I just really like the look. Mangroves would be awesome, though someday. Maybe not in this setup.

 

[jerpa]

I have chaeto and caulerpa in my fuge. The chaeto has pretty much choked out the caulerpa since I upgraded the fuge lighting. I've never had it tumble and it doubles in size every week or so. I do flip it over once or twice a week.

 

[pop0tart]

Here is a good AIO build on a 20 long:

http://reefchronicle.com/mytank/20-gallon-long-aio/

 

[cloakerpoked]

In general, seahorses need very low flow, little to no competition for food, and colder water than a reef tank. Peppermint Shrimp are active scavengers, and would probably out-compete the seahorses for food. I think your idea is really cool, but may be difficult to accommodate the seahorse's needs, particularly temperature. I guess you could look into a "happy medium" temperature for seahorses and a reef tank, but you'd struggle to find something that is optimal for either if you do both in a closed system like that.

 

[summitk]

Have you had seahorses before? How low is low flow? Right now I have three MAxi 1200 with sure flow mods in my 65. I was thinking of just unmodding them and using them for the display. I was also considering using a single pump for flow as well as refugium circulation through some creative plumbing. My thought was that this could reduce heat production.

I was going to use T5s for lights to keep heat down as well. I have a chiller that I can run externally if need be, but I'd really like to not need it.

I have more soft corals in my tank than I want, so I was assuming that by lowering the temperature I'd just have different corals overgrowing than the ones I have, as each has "optimal" growth conditions that cary a little.