flsvedlund
Lion Tamer
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!
