hi all, i am new to RC and have been cruising different forums (nanos, seahorses and the macro algae ones to be specific). i just got done reading fishymans thread on a new tank build and thought i would share my build, all advice and constructive criticism will be GREATLY appreciated.
i have been reading a basic book on seahorses, and have been messing around with a 12g nano cube for the past couple years. i have had a massive growth of macro algae (feather and bubble or "grape") in there about 2mos. back. it looks awesome and got me reinterested in the hobby. since its outbreak i have added a new clean up crew (over the summer it dwindled down to one astrea snail, a turban snail, a fighting conch, hundreds of bristleworms and tons of tiny crustaceans).
someone at a lfs told me that i had to change my sand since it is only good for 18mos.?(which i later learned might not have been needed). anyway a few days back i changed the sand bed....what a chore and mess! and cost me the life of my arrow crab...... i also pulled out the rocks that had the calupera on it, added more live rock and then put the rock with the macros on it back in but separate from the main stack of rock..... (i know i am rambling on but i will get to the seahorse part in one second)..... yesterday i was snowed in and messing around looking at the macro algae forum (oh what trouble could i get into stranded at my house all day....) and saw an awesome planted tank. i had to have one!! and since i have wanted a seahorse tank for years maybe i would try to set it up to kill two birds with one stone. i have a 60 gallon tank in a cabinet that was my original idea for a seahorse tank but i knew that i couldnt afford to set it up correctly now, and plus i am thinking of someday turning that into a strictly coral tank......man this stuff is addicting.......OR i could set it up as a seahorse tank and the tank i am about to describe could someday be my quarantine tank.....i should have one any way right?
so how could i set up a tank cheaply to keep me out of the doghouse with my wife who told me to stay away from the my lfs for awhile..... i had 10lbs of live sand left over and a few pieces of live rock with macros growing on it from the sand change on monday that wouldnt fit back in. i went in my basement and started looking at all the old fish tanks and equipment i had stored down there from my days of doing freshwater. it was like xmas....i found a 20 gallon acrylic "sea clear" tank that i forgot i was given about 10yrs ago! i looked around and found two HOB filters, the easiest one to clean up was an aquaclear 300. i spent the day yesterday cleaning and setting up my new seahorse tank.
the tank is a bit scratched but what the heck, i put the live sand in and then washed the old sand i had pulled out of the 12g nano with real hot water (since i guess it didnt need to be changed and was still good). it looks the same as the new bag i bought which is carib seas agri alive "bahamas oolite". it gave me about 1" of sand bed. since i was out of drinking water (we get 5g jugs of water that i have been using in the 12g nano for 2 yrs) i ran to the store and bought purified water (RO with minerals added- potassium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride, is this all good?) i added the water and ran the filter, which leaked due to a bad o-ring....damn! i ran back to town and hit the hardware store (my 3 lfs i go to are at least 1hour away and with blizzard conditions the 2 mile drive to town was an adventure!! ) and bought an o ring and since i didnt have a sponge insert for the HOB filter and can be impatient sometimes...i bought a culligan water filter cartridge that was a tube of wound polypropylene fiber. i cut this off and took a big pile and stuffed it in the filter chamber along with a carbon bag i found for it. it really cleaned the water nice! but i will get a sponge for it today.
the wife wasnt too thrilled when she got home to see that not only did i not wash the dishes but that i had set up "another tank"....."but honey it didnt cost anything....well the o ring,water and filter....but lets not quibble over small details.....and you have always been real supportive of the seahorse idea..." i also moved her printer and scanner to set up my new tank..."i think they look lyin on the floor sweetheart!....." . if i open the blinds in the morning i get about 2 hrs of sunlight hitting both tanks with no noticeable heat rise.
i am not patient usually BUT i have raised reptiles for many years and succesfully bred many species so i can force myself when needed to proceed slowly and i know seahorses will be a challenge. i am going to sign up at seahorse.org later today and continue my research here, there and other sources.
my desire is to get my live rock (not too much... my goal was to have only the back half of the sand covered) and put my macros in there and let the tank cycle (will that hurt my macros?). i would like to get a cleanup crew and i was really hoping to put in some sand sifting stars, i just like them, but what are your thoughts. if i wanted to plant eel grass i would probably need to go with a dsb but without an undergravel filter would that be dangerous, due to anaroebic bacteria?
my thought for a clean up crew was going to be 10 nasirius snails, a couple turbo snails, a few astrias and turbans, maybe the two 2" long tonga conchs i put in the 12 nano that i think was a mistake (i read that the fighting conch in there was pushing the limit and now regret buying them....but not really they are cool). and then of course some tiny hermits and all the tiny crustaceans and bristleworms that will be in there from the live rock. fianlly i would like to add a couple tiny bottom dwelling fish like gobies or blennies assuming they are SH safe.
i have not decided on a particular species but know it will be captive bred and one that eats frozen food which will limit my choices. the room does get cooler than the rest of the house in the winter so i could get a species that would benefit from a winter cool down. in the summer i would say it doesnt get warmer than 77 with the a/c that we run all the time for the fur people (dogs) that stay home while my wife and work to support their life...haha.
i plan on buying 2 50watt heaters with guards since i read that on fishymans thread. i will find some live rock and probably buy it on line... with freezing temps though will it completely kill everything on the rock or do they ship with heat packs? also i wonder if the shipping charges will just bring the total price up to the higher price i will pay by buying it locally....i do believe in supporting local buisnesses...(a constant struggle for me ..save money or support local busness?) i fall somewhere in the middle.
the light in the hood is a 15" 14watter...man put the sunglasses on!!....i will tie it to my bumper and drag it to the lfs today.....i will not put corals in as i have the nano and other tanks (i think the big one is a 75 gallon.....man o man i could get in some trouble with that one!!yee haw!!) in the basement....man i should never had gone down there. but i do want the the algae to grow and the SH to look good. the current macros grew with the 24watt compact lite supplied with the nano, actually it was the same bulb that we had in there for 2 yrs....you mean they dont last that long??? i will research and take your advice on lites.
ok i better run, if you read this far, thanks, i know i am "wordy" t say the least...my buddy calls me "captain long wind". i look forward to being apart of this forum and glad i found it. thanks, john
i have been reading a basic book on seahorses, and have been messing around with a 12g nano cube for the past couple years. i have had a massive growth of macro algae (feather and bubble or "grape") in there about 2mos. back. it looks awesome and got me reinterested in the hobby. since its outbreak i have added a new clean up crew (over the summer it dwindled down to one astrea snail, a turban snail, a fighting conch, hundreds of bristleworms and tons of tiny crustaceans).
someone at a lfs told me that i had to change my sand since it is only good for 18mos.?(which i later learned might not have been needed). anyway a few days back i changed the sand bed....what a chore and mess! and cost me the life of my arrow crab...... i also pulled out the rocks that had the calupera on it, added more live rock and then put the rock with the macros on it back in but separate from the main stack of rock..... (i know i am rambling on but i will get to the seahorse part in one second)..... yesterday i was snowed in and messing around looking at the macro algae forum (oh what trouble could i get into stranded at my house all day....) and saw an awesome planted tank. i had to have one!! and since i have wanted a seahorse tank for years maybe i would try to set it up to kill two birds with one stone. i have a 60 gallon tank in a cabinet that was my original idea for a seahorse tank but i knew that i couldnt afford to set it up correctly now, and plus i am thinking of someday turning that into a strictly coral tank......man this stuff is addicting.......OR i could set it up as a seahorse tank and the tank i am about to describe could someday be my quarantine tank.....i should have one any way right?
so how could i set up a tank cheaply to keep me out of the doghouse with my wife who told me to stay away from the my lfs for awhile..... i had 10lbs of live sand left over and a few pieces of live rock with macros growing on it from the sand change on monday that wouldnt fit back in. i went in my basement and started looking at all the old fish tanks and equipment i had stored down there from my days of doing freshwater. it was like xmas....i found a 20 gallon acrylic "sea clear" tank that i forgot i was given about 10yrs ago! i looked around and found two HOB filters, the easiest one to clean up was an aquaclear 300. i spent the day yesterday cleaning and setting up my new seahorse tank.
the tank is a bit scratched but what the heck, i put the live sand in and then washed the old sand i had pulled out of the 12g nano with real hot water (since i guess it didnt need to be changed and was still good). it looks the same as the new bag i bought which is carib seas agri alive "bahamas oolite". it gave me about 1" of sand bed. since i was out of drinking water (we get 5g jugs of water that i have been using in the 12g nano for 2 yrs) i ran to the store and bought purified water (RO with minerals added- potassium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride, is this all good?) i added the water and ran the filter, which leaked due to a bad o-ring....damn! i ran back to town and hit the hardware store (my 3 lfs i go to are at least 1hour away and with blizzard conditions the 2 mile drive to town was an adventure!! ) and bought an o ring and since i didnt have a sponge insert for the HOB filter and can be impatient sometimes...i bought a culligan water filter cartridge that was a tube of wound polypropylene fiber. i cut this off and took a big pile and stuffed it in the filter chamber along with a carbon bag i found for it. it really cleaned the water nice! but i will get a sponge for it today.
the wife wasnt too thrilled when she got home to see that not only did i not wash the dishes but that i had set up "another tank"....."but honey it didnt cost anything....well the o ring,water and filter....but lets not quibble over small details.....and you have always been real supportive of the seahorse idea..." i also moved her printer and scanner to set up my new tank..."i think they look lyin on the floor sweetheart!....." . if i open the blinds in the morning i get about 2 hrs of sunlight hitting both tanks with no noticeable heat rise.
i am not patient usually BUT i have raised reptiles for many years and succesfully bred many species so i can force myself when needed to proceed slowly and i know seahorses will be a challenge. i am going to sign up at seahorse.org later today and continue my research here, there and other sources.
my desire is to get my live rock (not too much... my goal was to have only the back half of the sand covered) and put my macros in there and let the tank cycle (will that hurt my macros?). i would like to get a cleanup crew and i was really hoping to put in some sand sifting stars, i just like them, but what are your thoughts. if i wanted to plant eel grass i would probably need to go with a dsb but without an undergravel filter would that be dangerous, due to anaroebic bacteria?
my thought for a clean up crew was going to be 10 nasirius snails, a couple turbo snails, a few astrias and turbans, maybe the two 2" long tonga conchs i put in the 12 nano that i think was a mistake (i read that the fighting conch in there was pushing the limit and now regret buying them....but not really they are cool). and then of course some tiny hermits and all the tiny crustaceans and bristleworms that will be in there from the live rock. fianlly i would like to add a couple tiny bottom dwelling fish like gobies or blennies assuming they are SH safe.
i have not decided on a particular species but know it will be captive bred and one that eats frozen food which will limit my choices. the room does get cooler than the rest of the house in the winter so i could get a species that would benefit from a winter cool down. in the summer i would say it doesnt get warmer than 77 with the a/c that we run all the time for the fur people (dogs) that stay home while my wife and work to support their life...haha.
i plan on buying 2 50watt heaters with guards since i read that on fishymans thread. i will find some live rock and probably buy it on line... with freezing temps though will it completely kill everything on the rock or do they ship with heat packs? also i wonder if the shipping charges will just bring the total price up to the higher price i will pay by buying it locally....i do believe in supporting local buisnesses...(a constant struggle for me ..save money or support local busness?) i fall somewhere in the middle.
the light in the hood is a 15" 14watter...man put the sunglasses on!!....i will tie it to my bumper and drag it to the lfs today.....i will not put corals in as i have the nano and other tanks (i think the big one is a 75 gallon.....man o man i could get in some trouble with that one!!yee haw!!) in the basement....man i should never had gone down there. but i do want the the algae to grow and the SH to look good. the current macros grew with the 24watt compact lite supplied with the nano, actually it was the same bulb that we had in there for 2 yrs....you mean they dont last that long??? i will research and take your advice on lites.
ok i better run, if you read this far, thanks, i know i am "wordy" t say the least...my buddy calls me "captain long wind". i look forward to being apart of this forum and glad i found it. thanks, john
