Considering adding a SH tank

[Eel Freak]

Hi!

I have a 350g reef system (200 display, 125g fuge, 25g in the sump) that runs at around 78 degrees or so, without fans or chiller, so I can run it cooler if need be... I redid some things in the fish room which opened back up my 48" x 18" stand. I have a shallow 50g tank that is only 13" tall, is this too short to be a good choice for keeping seahorses? I happen to already have this tank, so it's my first choice to use, but I could also get a drilled 75g tank from a friend for relatively cheap. My water is consistently 0's for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate, 35ppt salinity, and a pH of around 8.2.

I've done quite a bit of reading, as I've always wanted to keep seahorses... But I've read that they require 2-3x their length in tank height, but I also read that some like lagoonal grass-beds, and so I'm somewhat confused if there is a good choice for my 50g, or if I should go for the 75 and not be limited.

Thanks for any help, and all suggestions are welcome!!

 

[rayjay]

First of all, it is better to have a stand alone system for seahorses.
A 13" tank height is doable but not preferable. The 75 is most definitely the better choice.
Have you check out the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping"?

 

[Eel Freak]

Oh wow, thank you for all that! I thought I had done a fair amount of reading, but not so... I'll be reading all of that.

I came across a guide by seahorse.org that had listed some tropical species as tolerating 78°F, and they list H. reidi as such, but I did not consider that the bacteria are contained in our systems. I'm going to return to the drawing board and see if I can work out a solution where the water is kept at 75° or less.

 

[rayjay]

If you are still planning on hooking the seahorse tank to the existing system you need to be aware of other possibilities.
One, with seahorses being such dirty feeders, the water quality degrades fairly rapidly and many find that detrimental to the reef tanks, especially those with sps corals.
Most seahorses are very picky about the pieces they eat and leave a lot uneaten even if they can't find enough to satisfy their need. Also, when they snick up the food, they masticate it and expel residue out their gills and into the water, again polluting that water.
It doesn't take long then to degrade the water quality of the tank and eventually the water quality of the system.
Second, there can be the possibility that the seahorses could succumb to parasites introduced by other fish in the system. Seahorses don't tolerated well any exposure to parasites they haven't grown up with.