Sorry about the lack luster response in the seahorse forum. Just the way it is.
I've never used that octopus skimmer, but I do like the octopus I have on my reef. I forget the model number but it's a recirculating skimmer that is rated for a 125g tank. The recirculating feature is nice cuz it makes it more efficient, but that pump is loud. The non recirculating one might be a bit quieter. Anyways it is rated for way above your needs which is always good.
The lifereef brand is nice, but a little to expensive for me for what you get. I'm not knocking the guy, but . . .
Here is what is under my stand. I got that sump at a swap meet for $20. It came with a stand and a canopy, which I sold, for $25. I guess what I'm saying is Lifereef is nice, I would call it the Cadilac of sumps, but I'll never own one. I just don't have the coin. I bought those lights for $20 for both.
If I were you, I would go with a tank that can hold the skimmer, drill that at about the 10" mark and have it drain into the refugium tank. Do a bubble trap baffle and then have a return section. You will have to elevate the skimmer tank to drain right.
If you already bought the lifereef sump, there is nothing wrong with rollin in a Coupe De'ville, but us guys in fords will look at you with envy.
If your going to be growing macro in the refugium I would go with chaeto myself. It's seems to do good, but does need high flow for best results IMO. Your refugium needs to turn over at least 30x an hour. I don't get that much just from my drain, so I use a powerhead in my sump. If your just looking to use the sump for nutrient export, just keep it clean. No sand, no mud, no rock, just chaeto. Melev's website has a good article on refugium bulbs. I use the one he reviewed. The bulb is like $10 and the clip on light is like $10. I'm growing LPS with it now, it's an amazing bulb, the right color spectrum and everything.
If you want to grow food stuff, or use it to continually replenish minerals in the tank I'd go with Miracle Mud by Ecosystem. I'm cheap, I completely admit it. If I go to a restraunt I ask the waitress to bring extra bread just so I can put it in my to go box. I am that cheap. But I'll pay for Mircale Mud happily. I think it's that good.
I'm not a big fan of canister filters myself. I mean they work great with proper maintenance, but I'm lazy. For some reason I like to peruse the boards for an hour or so a night, but I don't want to mess with my tank more then an hour a week at most. I like to sit, watch, and enjoy. Canister filters need to get cleaned, at least every other week. I tried using one, if you ever open one up that has not been cleaned in a month, man the smell. Not for me. People who do use them and have the dillegence to clean the applause, I'm not that guy. For media I would suggest carbon, Pura Phoslock, and Seachem's Denitrator. Again it depends on what your keeping. My seahorse tank is a heavily planted tank, so using a phosphate media, or nitrate media would pretty much kill my plants. I don't use any media myself, but it has great merit in many systems. Depending on what you want the display to look like it could be very benificial.
I've never had the budget for a controller myself. It's on my wish list. Just never really saw the need for one for how my tanks are running. It would be nice on the reef for the alk, Ca, and pH probes, the monitoring would be "nice" to, but I get by without one. Honestly after I get my routine down, I don't test my seahorse tank but once a month. It's always been fine. I'm not braggin, but once a tank stablizes you get to know how it runs, you can see what's going on, there are indicators. That said I still test my reef at least once a week if not more. More sensitive with the SPS and a lot more money invested into the corals.
Since you want to go with low maintence if you choose to use macro algae in the display I would stay away from caulerpra species. I do use them, but I also pruin often. Without the prolifera, the mexicana, or the racemosa, I wouldn't have to stick my hand in my horse tank unless I was adding a frag. How it is now I would like to pruin once a week, sometimes it goes two or three, but then it is out of hand. There are many algae species which are beautiful and add to the tank that are less aggresive in growth, of course that does mean they are sucking up less nutrients. There are pics of my tank around, if you see something you like I can give you an ID. Otherwise reefcleaners.org is a great place to look for macro. Cheap too, which I like.
Another very important thing not to skimp money on is the source of the seahorse. Seahorsesource.com is the place. I recommend them so often I have even been accused of working for them, I don't. I have been on this board as well as many others, and they have thee best reputation out there. All of there seahorses are aquacultured, never spent a day in the ocean. That means they have never been exposed to parasites, they eat mysis, they are in good health. I have never read a negative thing about them. They have a variety of species available, really the best place to shop.
As far as your flow plans. It's hard to say. The 900 gph that you have planned could be far to much, or not nearly enough. When I got into this hobby general rule of thumb was 5x the tank volume mzx. So for your tank going above 275 gph was insane. Based on my experience and what I was seeing I rejected that. I went to 7x, then to 10x, then to 15x, and on and on now I am at 50x turnover, and I have another powerhead I am debating on adding to bump me up to 60x.
When I said I was going to add a Seio 620 to my seahorse tank I got flamed beyond belief. People called me names even, but it worked. Hard to argue with succsess. I was ready to pull the plug at any minute, but never had to. It worked.
I watched some video of seahorses in the wild. I spoke with some divers who were working on cataloging seahorse populations in the Philippines. I looked at pictures of Reidi living in acropora beds. Seahorses can tolerate some flow. So much that humans can't hold on to the rocks to even count them. They are stronger then given credit form.
IMHO the key to flow is to have it broken up. Ya, I'm running at 10 times the flow that is recommended, but my closed loop runs through spray bars behind the rock work. My sump return is a single nozzle but it is only one, and my powerhead had a wide flow dispersion.
People do O.K. running the flow your talking about, but I would go more. Break up the returns to have multiple places it is returning to. Split those with locline. Avoid alternating flow like a reef would need, and give the seahorse a place to rest if they need it. My barbouri sleeps in a place where the power head and sump return are pointed at (I have a gorgonia that need flow that the seahorse loves to chill on). IMHO it is important to have enough flow to eliminate build up on the rock work and keep all of that detritus in suspension so your monster skimmer can pull it out. If your not looking at keeping a planted tank, this is going to be your best friend. If you are looking at keeping a planted tank, this is still goint to be your best friend, but you might need to dose nutrients for your algae. Best part of dosing nutrients to grow algae, if you see a sign of hair algae you stop dosing it goes away.
If you have two returns, I would use spraybars. Make sure there is a siphon hole at or above the waters surface but, also extend that flow down behind the rocks as well.
The Vortech would work, but you would need to grate it off so there was no injury to the seahorse, which could be not so pleasing to the eye. IMO I would not use a koralia except for the nano in a seahorse tank. I have seen to many reports of injuries to seahorses who are stupid and get the tail into the impeller. It's a hard injury and infection to treat and come back from. JMO. I use the nano's and all is well, been almost a year.
UV's are a great invention and were not listed in your game plan. I think they are great for seahorse tanks, and must if your going to keep more then one species. They kill the bacteria that is proven to be problematic in mixed tanks, and also help with water clarity and nuissnace algae. Ozone is also reported to be great for this, but I have never used it (I lack the ORP monitor that can be hooked up to your controller) so I have never tried it myself.
Last thing which I haven't seen you mention but that I believe is important is temperature control. I would get a chiller depending on where in the world you are. Here in the Pacific Northwest I only use mine 1 month a year, in California I used it all year. Keeping the temperature at or below 74 is a great way to keep the seahorses healthy. I set my heater at 68, my tank hovers around 69F 11 months a year, but for that one month I need a chiller to make sure it doesn't hit 72F which is my max for comfort zone. IMO 74F or under is crucial so I like to give myself some room.
If you made it through all of that and are still awake and have any more questions, let me know. Always happy to help.
Kevin
