Feedback on my set-up? Seahorses arriving Tuesday!

[flsvedlund]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! I'm subscribed to your thread so I'll be following your tank's great development. :beer:
As I'm currently cycling my new reef tank, I think it's about time to start planning the SH one. I was thinking to connect it to the reef's sump in order to increase significantly it's water volume and ensure water quality.
Important part of the planning is to convince the wife for a 2nd tank in the living room hehehe I've started showing her your beautiful photos, I think that will help

I hope it wasn't too much to read and was helpful! I know when I was researching/planning for this tank a lot of the information out there wasn't very detailed, so I try to be detailed with my answers.

I'll try to keep up with posting updates in here at least once a week or so. The tank is running very well right now without any major changes, so most updates will just be new photos. Let me know if you have any questions or want to know any more details about my tank or the seahorses.

There are definitely pros and cons to hooking the seahorse tank into an existing reef tank. In terms of pros, of course it is easier and helps maintain better water stability. In terms on cons though, temperature can be an issue since most people keep their reef tanks at a much warmer temperature than is recommended for seahorses. For example, I keep my seahorse tank at 72F, while my mixed reef tank is at 78F. You'd have to find an acceptable middle ground temperature for the two. The other big con is the potential to spread pathogens, such as ich from the main tank into the seahorse tank. Seahorses seem to be very susceptible to pathogens and its always a risk when they are in the same water as other fish. I have two jawfish in my seahorse tank and they were quatantined for 4 weeks, treated with PraziPro for any internal parasites, and then given a freshwater dip with methylene blue for any external parasites.

If you want to go the route of plumbing the seahorse tank into your reef tank, its definitely doable though. The tank that inspired my tank is actually set up that way. Its on N-R and has a very active thread and the guy that has the tank is super helpful and will answer any questions and give great advice. He's who helped me get started with my seahorses. Here's a link to that thread on Nano-Reef if you want to check it out:
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/321752-zia-got-gorged-new-fts-pg139/

I hope you can convince the wife! Seahorses are a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and very rewarding. I hope my photos help!

 

[kentmoney]

beautiful little tank, love the use of live coral and gorgonians.

Whats this whole seahorse smoking thing? I noticed the puff of "smoke" in the video, what does it signify?

 

[rayjay]

I haven't watched the video, but it's most likely the seahorse snicking food that is immediately masticated, with the expulsion of particulate matter through the gills.
That, plus the fact that most seahorses are VERY selective in the appearance of the food pieces they choose to snick, leaving a lot uneaten, creates "dirty" water and promotes growth of nasty bacteria cultures that seahorses fall victim to.
More frequent and larger water changes, plus keeping temperatures in the range 68° to 74°F can help to mitigate this problem.

 

[flsvedlund]

beautiful little tank, love the use of live coral and gorgonians.

Whats this whole seahorse smoking thing? I noticed the puff of "smoke" in the video, what does it signify?

Thank you! I love corals too much to do a fake decor tank for my seahorses. It is more difficult, but so far it has been going very well. I've been very careful in selecting the corals for this tank and in setting up the tank to keep both the seahorses and the corals happy. I'm glad you like it!

When the seahorses eat, they create a vacuum with their snout that very forcefully pulls in their food. When they do this, it smashes up the food since they don't chew. Then when they are ready to swallow, they don't want to swallow all the saltwater they sucked in with their food, so they shoot the water out of their gills. It looks like smoke because it has small bits of the smashed up food in the water. That's part of why seahorses are considered such messy eaters. However, my NPS gorgonians and corals (not to mention even the photosynthetic corals, my hermit crabs, starfish, and snails) absolutely love to eat the tiny food particles out of the water, so they really help to clean up after the seahorses.

 

[kentmoney]

Gotcha, very interesting! Thanks for the info.

I've been keeping reefs for years now, but I'm about to venture on my first seahorse/pipefish/boxfish tank. I'm excited!

Kent

 

[flsvedlund]

Gotcha, very interesting! Thanks for the info.

I've been keeping reefs for years now, but I'm about to venture on my first seahorse/pipefish/boxfish tank. I'm excited!

Kent

You're very welcome!

You'll love having a seahorse tank! Good luck! You should post a thread when you start the tank so we can follow along

 

[rayjay]

\I'm about to venture on my first seahorse/pipefish/boxfish tank.

Before you go any further could you please do more research into recommendations for seahorse keeping.
It is definitely not recommended to put pipe fish in with seahorses.
Even introducing other fish can lessen your chances of success by introducing pathogens the seahorses may not be able to adapt to.

 

[Bratyboy2]

Truly love your tank!!! First thread I have found that was inspirational and helpful all in one!!! I'll be checking out the vendor you recommended and the thread as well.

 

[flsvedlund]

Truly love your tank!!! First thread I have found that was inspirational and helpful all in one!!! I'll be checking out the vendor you recommended and the thread as well.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like the tank and that my thread was helpful! I didn't include every single detail, so just let me know if you have any questions

 

[kentmoney]

Before you go any further could you please do more research into recommendations for seahorse keeping.
It is definitely not recommended to put pipe fish in with seahorses.
Even introducing other fish can lessen your chances of success by introducing pathogens the seahorses may not be able to adapt to.

Thanks. Any literature or info on the issue?

Kent

 

[tjdouglas]

I have a pair of captive-bred pipefish that live with my seahorses that I bought from Ocean Rider in Hawaii. They are banded pipefish, and they have been living in the same tank with my seahorses for three years. They eat frozen mysis just like the seahorses. They breed nearly every 3 weeks or so, although I have never been able to keep any of the babies. (I think my seahorses eat the pipefish offspring...circle of life...lol!)

 

[rayjay]

If you check the older threads on seahorse.org you will find posts where so many have tried and failed. A few do succeed but it's luck when it happens IMO.
The captive bred ones that tj has can be an exception, or at least have a better chance of success as the pathogens they bring to the tank should be a lot less than the wild caught ones that make up 99%+ of the purchases of pipe fish.
There are VERY FEW true captive bred pipe fish made available even though many places CLAIM them to be so, but then again, the same true captive bred claim for seahorses has also been a problem for a long time, where tank raised get sold off as true captive bred.
Previously unexposed pathogen transfer to seahorses is very often the cause of their demise, so that even sometimes adding the same species but from a different breeder than the original stock, can cause the loss of one or both purchases.
I never was one of the lucky ones and in my eleven years of keeping, I lost many in my earlier years, and recently I put together 3 species that were individuals left as their tank mates died out, and I lost 3 of the four that I had put together to save tank space.

 

[flsvedlund]

Thanks. Any literature or info on the issue?

Kent

I don't know if there's specific literature on the subject. It seems to just be something that people know from experience. Wild caught seahorses and their relative (pipefish) will carry different pathogens that captive bred seahorses have never been exposed to. Thus the seahorses have no immunity to these pathogens, and can easily become sick and die. If you really want pipefish, I'd recommend getting the true captive bred ones from Ocean Rider. They won't have all the wild pathogens and they'll also be much easier to feed and care for, just like tank bred seahorses. If you also buy your seahorses from Ocean Rider, then they will have been in the same systems and shouldn't give each other any pathogens or diseases.

I've got two wild caught jawfish in with my seahorses and I've had no issues with pathogens or disease. However, they aren't seahorse relatives like pipefish, so I think the disease transfer isn't quite as likely. I quarantined my jawfish for like 5 weeks before I put them in the seahorse tank, and I treated them prophylactically with PraziPro and a FW+methylene blue dip to kill any parasites before they went into the tank with the seahorses. The seahorses and jawfish have been together for about 3 months now with no issues.

 

[Dsotto]

I just ran across this thread this morning and have been trying to catch up so sorry if this was already discussed. Beautiful tank by the way! Where have you been getting all of your corals, algaes, and gorgonians? I actually happen to live about 15 minutes from south watch and have toured their facility. It's amazing! The owner really cares about what he is doing!

 

[E.Y.]

Beautiful tank. My girlfriend loves the pictures!

 

[flsvedlund]

I just ran across this thread this morning and have been trying to catch up so sorry if this was already discussed. Beautiful tank by the way! Where have you been getting all of your corals, algaes, and gorgonians? I actually happen to live about 15 minutes from south watch and have toured their facility. It's amazing! The owner really cares about what he is doing!

Thank you! Most of the gorgonians and sponges and some corals are from KP Aquatics (sealifeinc.net). I've ordered from them a bunch of times and they're a great company with really healthy pieces at great prices and with great customer service. Most of the macroalgaes were given to me by a friend. The other corals are a mix of things I've purchased locally or online, or are frags from friends, or are frags out of my mixed reef tank.

That's awesome you got to tour Southwatch. They're a great company and I am very happy with my healthy, beautiful seahorses and their awesome customer service. I highly recommend them!

 

[MyLittleReef]

Beautiful Tank and great coloring.

 

[tinkerbel]

very nice set-up any new pics? hows ponies doing?

 

[Wilrok]

Great video ! I like how they puff out after they take in food .

 

[flsvedlund]

Sorry for not posting in a bit! I was pretty busy over the holidays. Happy New Year everyone!

Beautiful Tank and great coloring.

Thank you so much! My goal with this tank was definitely to make it very bright and colorful.

very nice set-up any new pics? hows ponies doing?

Thank you! I've got some new photos to post for you guys. I also have a new video. The ponies are doing great. I was out of town for 10 days over the holidays, so I had to hire someone to come feed them. Luckily the seahorses and the tank looked great when I got back.

Great video ! I like how they puff out after they take in food .

Thank you! Its fun watching them puff