Light w. Corral/Horses

[billybobed]

Hello all...

I'm new to the site and have enjoyed browsing through the posts. I have a 40 gallon tank, about 6 months old that has live rock, and some odds and ends coral in it, 4 horses, 2 dragonettes, 4 blue striped pipes, a couple of starfish, and a couple of sea urchins (the soft kinds...not the spiky ones). I'm in the process of putting some more corral in (some brain corral for example), but am needing to procure a new lighting solution first for this corral. At present, I have a standard 1 florescent bulb setup that came with the tank...low power type of thing. Does anyone have a source they recommend for a lighting solution? I was thinking of a dual 65w setup with a lunar bulb. Do the horses fair well to the brighter bulbs? My concern is making it too bright for them to be comfortable. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[CCall]

Brain coral would not be good for the seahorses. Anything with sweepers would sting the seahorses.

 

[billybobed]

Thanks. Any thoughts on the questions posed?

 

[rayjay]

The more light you have, the more need you will have for a chiller to keep the temps at 74°F or a little lower.

 

[billybobed]

The room the tank is in is a home office with many computer servers. House has central AC with the room having its own independant AC. The room stays nice and cool. Room is in the 60's, I use a heater in the tank (though not on much) to maintain a temp at around 70. Thanks for the heads up though.

So, do the horses specifically have a concern the any brightness issues?

 

[rayjay]

Unfortunately I have no first hand info for you as I don't keep corals in my tanks any more because I can't afford chillers for them.
However, based on posting I see on the "org" there are others keeping corals with more light than necessary.
I guess it's just best to go with the minimum light you need for the corals you wish to keep.
You may have to acclimatize them slowly to new lighting.

 

[susan92368]

I run t5's over my horse tank.... they dont mind at all! always scooting about. As far as temps go, in the summer i clip a fan on the light leg... temp stays down.

 

[ChadTheSpike]

I run a 250 MH over my tank, and the horses dont seem to mind the lighting, they move around a lot, always come to greet me when I walk up etc...

I have heard antecdotely that bright lighting causes the seahorses to generally be not as brightly colored, but IME sehorses are whatever color they feel like I have some that are usually darker, and others that change by the minute practically, and some (like the one in my avatar) that are usually very light colored.

As a side note, I do run a chiller although my setup only heats to about 78 when it is shut off. There are ways to minimize the heat input of MH lighting (pendants, fans, etc.).

 

[billybobed]

Thanks for the input. I went with a fixture with 2x65watt bulbs with fans, elevated above. Awesome to see, everythings colors 10 fold more vibrant. Still can't help but laugh at the horses though, as i setup up all 4 floating at the top watching.

 

[Elysia]

I would like to know more about the 4 bluestripe pipes you have. Do you know the genders of them? Are they getting along?

 

[billybobed]

Hello Elysia...

Sorry for the delay in replying, been a crazy stretch. The stripes get along wonderfully. I have 2 tanks, and bought 4 at the same time, with the intent on splitting them off between the tanks if I found there to be territorial issues. From what I've read, this is an issue that can occur with them, but not a guarantee. Also read that if you introduce them at the same time, there's a greater chance that this is reduced. I've had them together now for a few months, no problems at all. 2 of them swim together like peas in a pod, no matter where one is, the other is with it. I'm guessing they are a male/female pair. The other two do their own thing...sometimes with the others, sometimes with the other pipes or horses (I have 2 dragon face pipes, 2 yellow banded and 4 little Kellogi (sp?)), or off on their own. I don't know the sex of any of them for certain, though like I say I suspect at least one male/female pair.

They're awesome little creatures though, just do a little homework first if this is your first experience with them. They're a little pickier then other 'fish' on what they want to eat, and you have to be more selective on tankmates, but they're lots of fun. Very curious in you and what's going on around them. Let me know if there's anything else I can help answer with them!

 

[Elysia]

I had a single bluestripe once, and she was a great little fish. They never seem to be available to me in numbers (at least, not when I am prepared for them.) I just have never known anyone to be successful with a group before. Congrats! I'm glad you have a back-up plan, just in case. I, too, found the bluestripe to be a very curious fish.

I'd love to see photos of your pipes. The majority of my affections go to sea slugs and pipefish, so I look forward to photographs of either.

 

[billybobed]

Here's a few of my tank. Somewhat bad photos unfortunatly with my tank being a bit dirty at the moment and with an iphone camera. They all get along wonderfully though. I'll try to get some better ones with everyone grouped together...with the iphone staring at em they all kinda scatter!

 

[Jaguar]

wow those are really large photos I need a bigger monitor. I ran 250w MH over my 70g seahorse tank with no problem to the ponies with the bright lighting. Just watch that your corals are seahorse friendly, and have there proper requirements in within the seahorse tank as well. Flow, and lighting and you should do well. As a general rule all LPS sting, and all soft corals are okay. If you can somehow manage to provide for SPS within your system most don't sting, however seahorses will hitch on them if they are in range of the seahorses.

 

[billybobed]

Doh....sorry for the large pics...I'm not to savvy when it comes to pics and such online.

 

[Elysia]

Well, the photos do illustrate how nicely the bluestripes stand out when they are vibrant and healthy.

 

[small alien]

Wow. Those are bad photos!

Great to see your pipes though. Thanks for sharing. A group of any pipe species is super cool. Interested to hear how your blue stripes do long term. Most be awesome to see them interacting. Good luck!!!