Conevrting a 55 fowlr to a seahorse tank

[boyscoutricky]

For eight month i have set up an aquarium and could not decide what i wanted to put in it. I have kept so many different fish and wanted something different. At first i looked at dwarf cuttlefish but could not find anywhere to purchase them at a reasonable price so now i decided i would like to keep seahorses. The tank is a 55 gallon tank with an overflow to three drilled ten gallon aquariums that overflow into each other. For equipment i have a coralife 125 skimmer with an oversized mag drive needlewheel pump a aqeon pro 250 watt heater a efu-45 jbj reaction filter a rio 1700 return pump and lighting is christmas tree blue led and the standard flouresents that came with the tank. The only inhabitants are two stupid damselfish that can be imprissoned in one of the sumps for all i care i just put them in there as test fish after i had four others die only to find out i had extremely low flow and a low oxygen level so they ended up living. There is also a three inch sandbed and 75 pounds of live rock. This is my first seahorse experience but i have three years of experience and four aquariums So what kind of seahorses would be right for me? The other question i have is should i take the live rock put it in the sump and get better lights and grow algae or seagrass in the display tank?

Here is a pick of the tank and the sumps

 

[btreyes]

Your tank would be a really good seahorse tank, just make sure to isolate the damsels. Go with your macro and seagrass idea, maybe with other things like bright colored plastic plants for the seahorses to hold onto.

I would definitely try to move the live rock into the sumps, b/c seahorses change colors a lot of the time to match the live rock. I think that seahorses are also harder to find and possibly hurt when moving around live rock in the display tank.

I would go with captive bred erectus seahorses since they are much easier than all of the other seahorses I have kept. They eat frozen mysis and rarely get sick. They are also the best looking IMO. Seahorse source is one the best breeders that I know of and will give you a lot of help if you run into any problems keeping them. I also know of a few really good places to buy macros too if you want to message me.

You might want to join seahorse.org to as a way to learn more about seahorses; there is a ton of information including a tankmates guide with what you can easily keep with seahorses.

 

[roni mitchell]

I'm a newb to seahorse keeping. I just got two erectus for my bd on Saturday. They are eating but not real lively. Just wondering if this is because their still trying to get used to things.

 

[mtc1966]

I'm a newb to seahorse keeping. I just got two erectus for my bd on Saturday. They are eating but not real lively. Just wondering if this is because their still trying to get used to things.

you should start a new thread.

 

[boyscoutricky]

Thank you. Most of the rock will be moved to the sump along with all of the damsels and the frag tank will be taken down. I will have to move all of the rock and order algae and let it start to take over.

 

[Braxibear]

Make sure you take more pics as you develop further. I have an extra 55gal and my daughter wants her own tank for seahorses. I'd like to see you getting going before I pull the trigger.

 

[boyscoutricky]

Iw ill be sure to update. I will pull the rocks out within the next two days and move the fish then i am on vacation for a week so i will order the algea and hve them plant it and update when i get back.

 

[boyscoutricky]

Todays work. I moved almost all of the rock into the sump. For tommorow i plan to take out one more peice of rock. I will cut the frag rack in half and put it in there. Then the hardest part of tommorow will be to catch the damselfish. One is going in the frag tank and the other is going in one of my other tanks.

Here are some pictures of the progress

The rock I am removing is the one on the right.

this is where all but three peices of the rock got cramed into and the three went into another tank.

 

[btreyes]

It's looking pretty awesome!

 

[boyscoutricky]

Here is today and yesterdays work. i made a smaller frag rack and moved the third rock in the frag tank. I managed to catch one of the damselfish and believe the other one was crushed in the first rock move because i have not seen it for the last two days.

pic of the tank

here is the sumps now

1st sump half frag rack and rock

2nd sump rock and mangroves

last sump equipment

this is my last post for about a week because i am going on vacation.

 

[boyscoutricky]

Over the past two weeks i have made a lot of progress. The only thing that I was not able to find was the caulerpa I wanted. I rebuilt the overflow to make a algae scruber and had the back portion of the overflow split. I filled the whole tank with fake plants and I am going to get the seahorses on tuesday.

Pictures of the progress.:dance:

the finished display tank

The finished sumps

 

[rayjay]

Is that a build up of algae on the glass?
That would indicate to me, a lack of sufficient husbandry and I would be worried about nasty bacteria colonies.

 

[boyscoutricky]

Yes it is algae and i am working on correcting it. I have brought the levels down with skimming and water changes because before i was not worried about water changes because the only thing i had in the tank was damsels. The nitrate levels are back at being In the appropriate range and i forgot to scrape the back algae off.