Just starting a seahorse tank

[BLUE OASIS]

Hello everyone, My son (13 yrs old) & I have a 90gal Fish & Coral tank for some time now, and he decided he wanted to try seahorses. We went out and bought books to read and did some research before we went into this.

We went out and bought the following:
40gal tank
40 lbs of LR
50 lbs of LS
Empiror 400 duel wheel filter
Heater
Max Jet 400
Orbit with 2 96 watt bulbs and
Will be buying a hang on Protein Skimmer once we get the seahorses.

We started the cycle by doing a 25gal water change on our 90 and added to his tank. It has been alomost a month now and we are ready to add the clean up crew.

We read that the color of the seahorse is based on what is in the tanks, so we went out and bought some fake colorful coral and put in a live red Geogrigan (Spelled it incorrect probbaly) so the horses we stay red / yellow.

I guess the question is what horses would you recommend and if there s something else we should do please let us know.

G & T

 

[Swanwillow]

stay with small peaceful hermits...

captive bred horses... easiest so far are kuda, reidi, and erectus.

you read the thread on here, so you know the debates and GOOD JOB!!!! I like the sound of the tank! a skimmer isn't nessecary, and many people that keep horses will tell ya not to have them, I think its a 50/50 split on to have or not to have. But, I have one, and like it on the other hand... if you don't have one, more water changes. if you do, watch out for micro bubbles in the tank

oh, and its spelled gongorian (I think-ha, now I'm second guessing myself?)

 

[BLUE OASIS]

Swanwillow, I want tot hank you for writing back. It is good to see that another person also thinks we are on the right path in setting up a seahorse tank.

As for the protein skimmer we have one on our 90gal and see what it pulls out of the water (yuck) so we will be getting one for the seahorse tank.

We went to a web site that a lot of people recommended called www.seahorsesource.com and it looks like we are going to start off with a erectus. My son wants to mate the pair and see if we are able to raise the babies (which we here are not easy) but we have a seperate 20gal for this set up.

G & T

 

[agood69er4u]

We currently have 3 sea horse tanks, a 30,50, and 75 gal. we use a protein skimmer and UV sterlizer on all of them. Check out Syngathid.org best place on the Net for info on syngathids. Also I have got SH from Dan at seahorse source u will not be dissapointed

 

[Fishfreak218]

i think he meant www.syngnathid.org

 

[Swanwillow]

or seahorse.org they both are equals

 

[LisaD]

I like the sound of that tank too, I would also consider an Aquafuge HOT refugium. I have one on my 55 and it is great for exporting nitrates. Erectus are great seahorses, you could keep several pairs in that tank. Be sure to buy at least two to start, they don't do as well alone as with company. Using seahorsesource is an excellent choice. I know Dan and his livestock personally, and recommend both.

Here's what I have on my 55, and it has worked great for seahorses, leaf fish and waspfish:

~65 lbs of LR
~50 lbs of LS
Emperor 280 filter, biowheel removed
No Heater
BakPak 2R protein skimmer
Coralife 4 x 65-watt PC light fixture
Aquafuge HOT refugium

 

[BLUE OASIS]

What is the ideal water temp for a seahorse tank?

I am concerned if we need to buy a chiller as the water with the lights on can get upto 83 degrees.

G & T

 

[LisaD]

83 is on the high side, shoot for mid-70s. maybe go with less lights = less heat, or set up a fan in the hood. you don't necessarily have to have a chiller.

 

[Swanwillow]

depends on the horse: but Kuda, reidi, and erectus need below 76, preferably 72-74