Dawn's seahorse garden!

Michael Hoaster said:
I'm with Kevin - your scape is awesome! The multi level substrate does look very natural. Is that a compact caulerpa prolifera? Looks cool! Great spot for the green goby. You've got the best example of reef/plant tank I've seen. That's a challenging combo that few have mastered.
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Thank you Michael, I am flattered. Since I love macro algae, I have always had some in my reefs. This is definitely the most successful tank that I have had though at getting both coral and macros to flourish. Choosing coral that like nutrient rich water has been a key. I would like to add a clam because they seem to like those conditions.

That is caulerpa prolifera. The rock it is growing on was in the fuge portion of my seahorse tank sump. Actually I think the rock is a petrified clam shell or that is what it looks like to me. Hopefully I can keep that caulerpa confined to that portion of the tank, ha ha! The gobies do love swimming in it and also among the xenia stalks.

I like this scape better than any I have ever done. 56 column tanks are quite tall for their footprint so using that vertical space can be challenging. However tiering the levels really helped and I got the DSHs that I wanted. I believe all the rock and sand provide so much biological stability to this tank since all it has for filtration is the HOB aquaclear with filter floss. No fuge, no skimmer or reactors. In a way the simplicity is beautiful. But then we all know that nature does it best, don't we?
 
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I agree, your coral choices are key for working in a higher nutrient environment. I love that you have simplified your equipment and found so much success!

I think your prolifera will cooperate. I've never seen a tank overrun with it. And you've managed to keep racemosa under control and that overran my previous tank.

Tall tanks are a challenge. You've done well to build verticality into your scape. Chapeau!
 
I am using a similar philosophy in an 'old school' 2.5 gallon contest pico. The rules are simple in this contest: it must be roughly a 2.5 gallon in dimensions close to 12 x 6 x 8. It must have a hob filter, no sumps or outside filters like canisters and no partitions to make aio. It may have a powerhead or an air pump. The contest opened Mar 31st and closes Sept.

I decided this contest tank was the perfect time to try my hand at dwarf seahorses if I could order a PJ Reef's auto magnetic bbs feeder. They were not available when I had Jr, or I would have kept her. Anyhow they are available now and I have one. Hatching bbs daily is an enslaving task so this feeder is a game changer (I hope). My tank is predominantly macro algaes because of their attractiveness and their nutrient uptake. Also dwarf seahorses love them for hitching. Kevin saw this tank in my youtube acct so I thought I would include it in this thread since its heavily macro algaes.
https://youtu.be/ybbRU9qBJX8
 
I just came home from a trip to my son's and he sent me with some coral frags. It was a sweet deal for me, I watch (and enjoy) my grandchildren for 4 days and get a purple cap and an orange monticap, a pink birdsnest, a green pocillipora, a war coral and a beautiful reddish purple favite with sky blue dots. I will do that anytime even though I did have to drive 8 hrs both ways, LOL.

Anyway it is going to be fun placing these frags. I need to be thoughtful about it however because my tank is beginning to fill up. There are still great spots to place coral but I want to put them where they will thrive. My son is an sps guy so I need to make sure they are getting enough flow. I will take a pic after I get them settled.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
With the new SPS corals, what will you do differently?
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I guess I will have to do some testing to see how much alk and CA is being used. I think 2 part will be able to keep up. I am hoping to add it to the water change water but I may need to do it more often than once a week. I hope it wont be a daily duty though.
 
As things often happen, I stumbled onto a cool thing quite by accident. My gyre was eroding my DSB at the front of the tank. I wondered if I put some larger rubble rock pieces under the sand with smaller pieces more at the surface if it would impede the erosion. Not only does it seem to be working but its a pretty cool looking zone in and of itself. It is the perfect place for a jawfish lair and they have been on my wish list. I plan to do a video soon so anyone interested can see it then. O yeah, I think I will order some pods and squirt them in that area as its a good safe place from most of the fish.
 
I love it when that happens! It's magic. I could see a jawfish in your tank, big time. You're really getting a nice, peaceful community of fish. Agreed on the pod addition too. Coarse gravel makes for a handy refuge for them.
 
Oh goody, new stuff in the tank! That is a great deal!!! Jawfish are very cool fish. They should be a good fit in your tank depending on the species you get. I'd stay away from a blue spotted jawfish, as they do best in cooler water, unless you want to reduce your tank temps. With sps, that's probably not a good idea. Nice FTS!
 
Systemwizardinc said:
i just cant seem to keep a seahorse alive
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They have very specific needs that must be met or else they don't do well.

Their immune systems are more inefficient than other fishes so bacterial infections of the gut, gills or skin are a problem unless pathogenic bacteria is kept in check.
 
https://youtu.be/xn9vKrLLW8I
I took a feeding video yesterday. You can see all the fish plus the new rubble zone in the right foreground. I get close to see one of my crabs motoring through the rubble. I am seeing copepods in that area which is very exciting and also lots of micro brittle stars. Its a fun place to check out with a magnifying glass.
 
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