New Seahorse Tank

[The_Wonderboy]

I'm setting up a larger (than my last one) seahorse tank after trying them out in my smaller setup. I've done high tech freshwater planted tanks before, and decided to turn my best freshwater tank into a seahorse paradise. Without any further nonsense:

The tank I'll be using is an ADA 120p cube garden. It's aprx 70ish gallons.
I'll be using the Tek light 4 bulb 48" fixture - but I was wondering what bulbs to use??
The filter will be a fluval 405 and (2) Koralia 1s for water movement/aeration.
The aquarium is already setup for CO2, so some advise on how much to dose would be great!
I put about 80 lbs of live rock in the tank last night with a 120 lbs of substrate (Caribsea Bahama Oolite).
The substrate is close to 4" in the back and aprx 2" in front...
I also have a Jebo 36W inline uv sterelizer and a Hydor inline 300W heater.

Please visit this link so you can better visualize the equipment and customizations to this setup: LINK!


This is a link to the beginning of the saltwater setup I've had for a few months now: LINK!

And the picture of the brand spankin' new ADA saltwater setup:

What do you think?

 

[panmanmatt]

Looks good so far. Only thing is I would remove those Hydors in favor of a different type of powerhead. There are way too many openings for a seahorse to stick their tail into the propeller. Not really a risk I would want to take.

Also, I can't see using a heater on the tank unless your temperatures drop down into the upper 60's. You want the temps in the 72-74 degree range, even for tropical seahorses.

 

[ann83]

I agree with Matt on the Koralias, people have lost seahorses to them, after the seahorses getting their tails caught in them. I'd go with another kind of powerhead that you can cover the intake on.
Also, watch that temp. With all that equipment, make sure you can still keep the temp under 74.
I wouldn't dose C02. I don't know anyone dosing CO2 in a macroalgae tank or a seagrass tank... although you may want to wander over to the macro forum to ask that question. Also, seahorses have a tendency to have diseases related to gas bubbles (internal gas bubble disease, external gas bubble disease and pouch emphysema), and increased levels of CO2 in the tank is one possible culprit; so I wouldn't risk it.
Beautiful tank though and it looks wonderful for seahorses once the powerheads and temp are taken care of.

 

[The_Wonderboy]

hm, thanks for the koralia suggestion - I'll be taking those out...
As for CO2, I have heard of people dosing their macro tanks quite often and mine is set up to dose, but I won't be actualliy dosing until I do find out more.

 

[ann83]

Let me revise. I don't know anyone using CO2 soley for macro (although I'm sure some do). I do know some that use CO2 for seagrass; Sarah (Samala) being one of them. Here is a good thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=778087&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
However, Sarah has said recently on more than one occasion; macro and salt plant guru that she is, that she does not use CO2 on her seahorse tanks for the reasons I listed above about gas bubble disease. It has also occured to me that dosing CO2 has the potential to affect pH and bring it low - and seahorses are very sensitive to pH and may stop eating if the pH hits 8.0 or so (each SH has a different threshold for what is low enough to stop eating). Samala knows seahorses and knows her saltwater algae and vascular plants; so she'd be a good one to get advice from, provided you can get in touch with her with her busy schedule.