new seahorse tank w/ questions

[sullyfish]

I am interested in getting a pair of seahorses and having been doing some reading, but have a few questions.

I currently have a 180 gal mixed reef with a separate 75 gallon oceanic tank that is my refugium. This is the tank I will have the two seahorses in. The tank is fed from my sump and stays about 1 degree cooler than my DT which is 76-79 range .The only other inhabitants will be snails, crabs and a starfish, in addition to 110 lbs LR and macro algea. My system is 6 weeks old and I plan on getting horses in a few weeks if all goes well. I already have tons of pods for them to feed on. I was looking at a pair of erectus from Seahorsesource.

In addition to any advice on my setup I have a few questions.

I notice micro bubbles in the refugium. I do not have an airstone, they are coming from the inlet fed from the sump/return pump. Is this going to be a problem ? If so I was thinking of having a set of baffles that the water will flow through before going to refugium, or a 5 gal bucket with live rock rubble or something.

I have a UV sterilizer that I am currently not using, but could setup in the refugium if it would help eliminate the horses from infections/pathogens. I realize I am running a risk having the tank plummed into my mixed reef. Not sure if it is worth the effort.

 

[namxas]

The tank will be too warm (tropical SH should be kept < 74*F). The reason is SH are particularly prone to bacterial infections and the bacterial count goes WAY up at 75*F and above.

I wouldn't trust crabs or most stars with SH...I've even had scarlet reef hermits grab the tails of resting SH. Most stars are also opportunistic omnivores that will have no problem eating a sleeping SH.

Also, SH are pretty hard on water quality since they must be fed daily, so if you like your reef "pristine", it may not be that way after you add the SH. Don't count on the pod population supporting the SH, they'll be great snax between feedings, but a pair can decimate a pod population in pretty short order.

IMHO, SH have a very special set of needs, and to be honest, shouldn't be an "afterthought" to a system.

HTH

 

[rayjay]

I'll second Greg's opinions.


MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING

 

[sullyfish]

in that case I have removed the crabs and starfish from the fuge and I am looking at a chiller to get below 75. I will also hook up the UV sterilizer fwiw. As far as water quality issues due to extra feedings I will have to monitor however I feed multiple times a day now w/o issues.

thanks for the replies