New seahosre tank for my classroom

IofBholder

New member
Aloha all,
Tell me if this sounds like a good seahorse tank:
29H, lighting provided by LEDs, (moderate intensity), A sponge filter run by a water pump, The water from the sponge filter will be routed to a separate refugium (20 gal Tupperware container). The refugium wiil contain coral sand, and macro algae to promote a food source for the main tank. A protein skimmer will also be incorporated into the refumium area with a sponge scrubber to minimize the air bubbles in the main tank. I will also use LED lights (high intensity) to promote the growth of the limu (macro algae) in the refugium. So what do you think? Any thing I should modify? Thanks for your input.
 
Eh Howzit Brah? Im going to setup a seahorse tank but will be using a 33 long. I already have a 75 gallon refugium for my 75 sps tank. The 33 will be hooked to it also. I like what you are doing and look forward to reading of your progress.

Hey you think if i sent you some money, would you send me a pound of limu? I have alot of caulerpa, or maybe send me a pound of ogo would work too.

I lived on Oahu for 20 yrs and moved to Nebraska when my health took a turn for the worst. So to bring a little bit of home, I setup up my 75 and always catch myself dreaming of home.

By the way jus kidding about the limu and ogo. My lfs can get that for me. Keep us posted on the progress look forward to reading.

K den Braddah, Ike
 
I'm going to setup a seahorse tank but will be using a 33 long. I already have a 75 gallon refugium for my 75 sps tank. The 33 will be hooked to it also.
It is NOT recommended to hook the seahorse tank to a reef system, especially an sps tank.
First off, we try to keep our seahorse tanks in the range of 68° to 74° as they very often are wiped out by the nasty bacteria like the vibriosis when temperatures reach 75° and higher.
Also, sps prefer excellent quality water and seahorses degrade water quality by not eating all the food pieces, and many times only a small portion of what is added.
Additionally, they masticate each piece of food when they snick it, and pass particulate matter into the water column.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but the majority of times the seahorses don't last a year with many not even making it six months.
 
Eh Howzit Brah? Im going to setup a seahorse tank but will be using a 33 long. I already have a 75 gallon refugium for my 75 sps tank. The 33 will be hooked to it also. I like what you are doing and look forward to reading of your progress.

Hey you think if i sent you some money, would you send me a pound of limu? I have alot of caulerpa, or maybe send me a pound of ogo would work too.

I lived on Oahu for 20 yrs and moved to Nebraska when my health took a turn for the worst. So to bring a little bit of home, I setup up my 75 and always catch myself dreaming of home.

By the way jus kidding about the limu and ogo. My lfs can get that for me. Keep us posted on the progress look forward to reading.

K den Braddah, Ike

Brah can get you plenty kine limu. We are working on a limu reintroduction program sponsored by NOAA. The students are setting up 10 gallon aquariums and are going to run salinity/temp/light experiments to see which paremeters are optimal for growth. We want to maximize the amount of limu we can reseed our shores with. I'm gonna use some in the refugium(s).
 
Hey rayjay thanks for the heads up. I plan on doing alot of reading before I setup the tank with the seahorses.
Braddah Bholder, I have maybe a sandwhich bag full right now but let me check with my lfs and see what I can do.

Ike
 
Aloha Ike,
Thanks but I don't need any Limu, I get it from Oahu. No worries. Good luck with you horse tank, text with you soon.

Mark
 
I am confused, my impression was that seahorses required depth in their tanks due to their mating ritual(s) hence the use of a 29h aquarium as opposed to a 30L aquarium?!? Why would a 30L or 29L be preferable?
 
I am confused, my impression was that seahorses required depth in their tanks due to their mating ritual(s) hence the use of a 29h aquarium as opposed to a 30L aquarium?!? Why would a 30L or 29L be preferable?

from what i understand height is a good thing but more important for breeding and the seahorses will enjoy having more tank with to roam around.
 
Regular or H versions of the same gallonage are going to have the same "ROAMING" room IMO so I would go with the "H".
 
Regular or H versions of the same gallonage are going to have the same "ROAMING" room IMO so I would go with the "H".

are you just saying because they have the same gallons they have the same area to roam ? i am not saying there is less space just a reg tank is wider and they can do more side to side swimming .
 
The subject says this is going to be a classroom aquarium - have you considered how the seahorses will get fed on weekends and vacations? Seahorses do not handle periods of time without food well, so you'll need to have a way to feed them over the weekends and during xmas, spring and summer break.
 
are you just saying because they have the same gallons they have the same area to roam ? i am not saying there is less space just a reg tank is wider and they can do more side to side swimming .
And why do you think they want to swim side to side more than up and down?
Looking at a seahorse and considering their makeup, I think they would expend less energy going up and down as opposed to sideways. Up and down is primarily swim bladder whereas sideways motion involves more physical activity that their bodies are not designed to do as easy as other fish.
 
Please correct me if I missed it, but I didn't see you mention what species you are going to be keeping???

That would be the most relevant way to decide the adequate height they would need to be comfortable. Especially, as already mentioned for their breeding routine they need the vertical height. On a side note, they also will be much healthier and much more vibrant/brighter in color depending on the species when made comfortable and the ability to have at least 3x their fully grown at their extended length is the best way to insure happiness as well as longevity! :)

figured I'd put in my two cents LOL
 
Aloha Psalty,
My my I certainly did not mean to open such a large can o'worms, but I was looking at medium (barbori or comes species) sized ponies. By the way. I live in teacher housing next to the school so I take care of ALL my animals 365 days a year. I live on an island with a population under 3000. We have more axis deer here than peeps. I have a goldfish that can't feed itself so I hand feed it twice a day. Tiny Tim (my goldfish's nom de plume) is over 6 years old. I promise I will post some pics of Tiny Tim. I always have to let my sub know he's not dying as he flops about his tank. I digress.
I have always thought that long tanks offer greater surface area for gas exchange at the surface and if an under gravel filter is employed, yet it seems to me that a refugium negates the added surface/filter area and other requirements may have a higher relevance. Am I out of line?
 
Last edited:
Aloha iofbholder!

I was also thinking along the lines of psalty. While the feeding seems to be covered by your location - please consider that a sitter should be trained for the times you are away on vacation. Also I was thinking if the tank is physically plumbed into the school system (or school building) - is the school air conditioned 365 days a year? A single day of non-airconditioning on a warm day there would increase the temp significantly.

In terms of the tank - I would say as long as you don't stick a honu in it - a pair of seahorses should be ok. :spin1:

The tank is not covered right?

ps Have you ever visited the oceanrider facility on the big island?

pps for the mainlanders...honu is hawaiian for turtle. :lol2:
 
Re: airconditioning

Re: airconditioning

Aloha iofbholder!

I was also thinking along the lines of psalty. While the feeding seems to be covered by your location - please consider that a sitter should be trained for the times you are away on vacation. Also I was thinking if the tank is physically plumbed into the school system (or school building) - is the school air conditioned 365 days a year? A single day of non-airconditioning on a warm day there would increase the temp significantly.

In terms of the tank - I would say as long as you don't stick a honu in it - a pair of seahorses should be ok. :spin1:

The tank is not covered right?

ps Have you ever visited the oceanrider facility on the big island?

pps for the mainlanders...honu is hawaiian for turtle. :lol2:

Uh air conditioning? The only air conditioning here is for the school's servers. Fear not however as we are at 1000 ft above sea level, rarely do we see 90 degrees in fact we actually dip into the 50's in the winter. This aquarium is not my first tank setup here, but it will be my first seahorse tank. I haven't been to OCR, I am aware of their great work. The only time I get over to the Big Island is when I take students there for their middle school trip...hmmm that does give me some ideas though. No Honu for this tank, no mano either. The more I run tanks, the more I see the value of a healthy refugium. What drawbacks do refugiums have? Mano = shark.
 
Back
Top