My 55G Seahorse Mixed Reef

[Andrea_Aust]

I started with 2 seahorses in a 20G system but soon realised it was just too small and the stability of the small tank was such a chore.

So I found my girls a nice 55G 24" cube and because I also was beginning to adore all the colourful corals, I decided this tank would be a reef system with a variety of seahorse safe corals.

I should mention here that I only have females (4 in total - 2x H.Reidi and 2x H.Barbouri) so I was able to accomodate some corals that may not be safe for a system where seahorse fry are likely to occur.

This is a pic of Suzii (H.Reidi) and Lucy and Zaraa (H.Barbouri) have a bit of a disagreement on just who saw the mysid shrimp first! :fun4:

Suzii and Black Betty (H.Reidi) chasing the same morsal

Lucy

This is Zaraa ... looking for pods high up on the rock wall (the wall was made from waterfall foam and dead coral)

I started the tank with only dead coral rock - no live rock at all. Any live rock that came in was dipped in 1.030 salt water to evacuate the unwanted hitchhikers like bristleworms, mantis and other large shrimp, crabs and anything else I didn't recognise. Any pods or mysis that came out of the small rocks were quickly rescued.

Here is the system 11 months later.

A foam covered Vortech (MP20) provides all the current

Crusing down the acan boulivard

 

[Andrea_Aust]

Now some of my corals ...

I just love acans! I run a new LED light on this tank and I am thrilled with it. It's the eco-lamps KR91 (designed for LPS) but have found even my newly aquired SPS (montipora) are growing well under it.

This meteor shower moon coral is lovely too ... I have seen the horses swim over its tenticles without any reaction at all. Again a young horse may not cope so well ... but for my system this poses no threat.

Morphs are also one of my favourite corals but since the LED went on, it's all a little out of control.

 

[tahoe61]

I have been curious to see your tank. Everybody always is if Seahorses are involved. I really like your tank, it is not sterile looking like most Seahorse tanks. Very natural looking, and the Seahorses only complement that. Hard work I am sure and your devotion shows. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Andrea_Aust]

I think there's so much mis-information about seahorses. That's not to suggest that they do great in any old reef tank - indeed they do have special needs.

My experience has been that seahorse love a good current - not strong directional streams but a broad flow. The vortech offers amazing water movement --- a lot of people warned me against this pump for a seahorse tank but ... with the foam cover I have found it to be safer than any other powerhead I have used (and I've tried many).

It's true that Lucy does like to snick the mysis off the foam from time to time ... and then of course she gets too close and it pulls her in. At first I was frantic in seeing this but then realised with the 'lagoon mode' the power ramps up and down and when it goes down, she just pushes off. The foam protects her tail and body. Gosh I have even seen her stuck to it and still aim at a mysis she could reach. She has obviously worked out she can get off ... all in her own good time.

The other thing I have running that helps a lot is a massively oversized skimmer. It is rated for a 200G system. I also run a refugium / pod breeding ground in the sump. The sump has just been upgraded and now also run LED in there.

My parameters are:

Ammonia / Nitrite / Nitrate 0 (I don't test ammonia or nitrite anymore)
PH 8.2
ALK 8 dKH
Calcium 400
Mag 1350
Salinity 1.024
Temp 23-24.5C (73.4F - 76F)

I run permanent Carbon Matrix (SeaChem) and change it every 3 weeks plus I also run SeaChem Purigen just to help keep the water clean and buffed.

SeaChem Reef Salt is what I have now finally settled on and use RO/DI water for mixing and top off.

I also love my filter feeders (feather duster worms / sponges etc) and I think because seahorses have a fairly basic digestive system, their poop seems to be well appreciated by the corals. I mean ... you can almost see the mysid and brine come out looking like they did going in ...

I vacuum the substrate every week or so ... I'm borderline anal about keeping the tank as clean as possible. Takes me 5 minutes and this ensures I have no less than 10% water change every week.

I'm curious to see how the montipora do in my tank. The new LED lights have proven too strong for the corals I had up higher before so I decided to try my luck. I found most sites warned against them in SH tanks because of the SPS needs (being flow and water quality I guess) and I really believe the tank has ample flow and the water quality is fine. I can see the rainbow monti already spreading off his frag disc after 2 weeks so its certainly growing.

Anyway I'll endeavour to keep the thread updated as things progress.

 

[DanU]

I think there's so much mis-information about seahorses.

I couldn't agree more. Even the so called experts are still learning about husbandry.

My experience has been that seahorse love a good current - not strong directional streams but a broad flow.

A very common misconception. We find seahorses are typically healthier in higher flows. We often find seahorses in the wild in currents that folks wound not consider in a tank.

This is not the type of setup that I would consider a natural environment for seahorses as they are not reef creatures. However, having said that, the time, effort and attention to detail has clearly paid off. We can often do in tanks what nature doesn't do. There is no one correct way of doing things. Congrats on a beautiful tank.

Dan

 

[Andrea_Aust]

Hi Dan

Yeah its fair to say that a seahorse on a reef is not an everyday sight ... but I wonder whether that may have more to do with all the predatory fish that live on reef systems?

Here in South Australia its not unheard of to find the mighty Southern Knight along some of the rock systems where you find temperate corals and the likes. In fact there was a chap that started a stunning temperate tank here with seahorses he collected from one of the drop off reefs along the south coast. I wonder whether it has a little to do with the amount of macro that runs along the reef ... that I suppose being a bit of a safe haven for these wonderful creatures.