Minimum tank size requirements?

[Allmost]

If you really want to see how bad your tank husbandry is, remove everything slowly and see all the decaying mysis that you can't blow out to remove because it gets trapped too much.
When you think you have a pretty clean tank, in fact, there is all kinds of decayed matter just sitting there waiting to have bacteria feed on it.
I was amazed at the crap still in my tanks after blasting with a Hagen 802 power head, plus a turkey baster that ended up not working as well as the power head.
Now, I put my live rock in the sump and don't have so much food trapped, and, the seahorses are much more visible to me.

+1 for no live rock in seahorse tank, I only have some pitching posts and some corals, that's all

oh wait I did put a small piece of rock with some Xenia on it but that's it.

 

[Lukey]

That's actually what I meant. Don't ask me why I wrote "back to front" instead of "tall".

Haha no worries, I always used to say depth instead of width. Now I can't, because when water is involved everyone automatically thinks depth=height. Bloody dimensions :lmao:

If there is no LR, there might be enough swimming room for them, but make sure you really fill the tank with hitches, at all levels.

Yep this is my plan, no live rock and just lots of hitching spots for them. Will let me be a little inventive as well, because in the DT fake things just looked wrong as there were real coral in there, but in this tank that comparison won't be made as it'll be all fake so hopefully should come up good (might leave my two sea fans in there, will see yet, the always sleep on one so would feel mean taking it away from them).

Also, with a feeding dish, part of what Dan was getting at in the link Ray posted was that live food doesn't "settle" (aside from the possible gut fauna carried by it). Using a feeding dish encourages the food to settle. Which, can be fine, I do it. But, to make up for having them eat food off a surface, you need to be meticulous at removing uneaten food, and also meticulous at cleaning the feeding dish.

The reason why I want to get into a feeding dish regime is mostly for when I go away, and also to ensure I don't have to siphon the entire base of a tank out each time. In my large tank I have enough powerheads which are strong enough to keep 95% of the food in suspension, however this new tank I plan to only have the overflow feeding it and the drain out from it, with maybe a very small powerhead but am hoping the force from the overflow water will be plenty. The feeding dish will hopefully help when I go away, as i'll have to get people to do is drop the food into the dish, as opposed to now which is try and clamber up to reach into a 2.6ft high tank, turn off powerheads, feed in front of them, turn back on powerheads, wash arm etc etc, all whilst I freak out about my lighting and various other bits and bobs they may manage to drop in the water and destroy, or other freakish possibilities.

Well I have been given the go ahead from the partner to go ahead anyways, as soon as I pay her back, so hopefully int he next few weeks i'll kick it all into action. They must be happy enough in their main home, every morning they turn white and do their little dances together. My male is accommodating to both females, how caring of him.... :lmao:

Thanks for all your help guys, hopefully once I have a full time job within the next year (studying now) i'll be able to afford a nice big efficient chiller to keep the tanks slightly cooler. Until then, making do I suppose...