New tank w/????

[nanafish]

Soon I will be upgrading my C-Horse tank to a 55g from a 29g. The larger tank is drilled out - covered by the overflow panel. It will be connected to a 20G sump. My questions are:To use vinyl tubing on the system or PVC? Then I was thinking about using a sturdier type of hose- Reinforced hose like that of used in kitchens for water sprayers (for the sink) or for dishwashers. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? I also plan on having an inline canister filter hooked up along with the protein skimmer. Is this going to be too much? Then in regards to the sandbed- Is it better for the horsies to have a deep bed or a shallow bed of sand. I am planning to purchase a fine sugar like granule. I'd like to get some jawfish down the way for the tan. As far as the livestock that I have in there now-
1 pair of erecti -- small ordered from source in Fl
1pair of Erecti - A p
1 pair of H. Erectus from Hawaii.
1 single Barbouri
1 yellow banded pipefish
1 pair of the smaller pipes-( they aer blue and yellow & red.
some snails and a small decorator crab.

Should I use ALOT of live rock? The smaller ponies seem to enjoy going into little caves that are created. finally - what type of lighting? The tank is 16" deep. I know that they are not fond of brite light .
\

 

[AwkwardParrot]

For the hose, i used clear flexable where i could, to reduce any vibrations between the set-ups. However i did use pvc to get me there, so i had as little flex as possible.
If the sand bed is too fine the jaw fish would not like it. if it is too course, it will not like it either.

Not too sure on the horses, but for a light, do you want corals?

 

[ducklabdad]

I vote for SPA-Flex hose for at least the longer pieces. you retain some flexibillity but get to keep the ease of use of regular PVC pipe. It is more expensive but the straight pieces are not your real expense. The real expense is in your fittings and valves.

Once you use the spa-flex, and plenty of "unions" you will understand.

 

[pledosophy]

I use the vinyl stuff most often. Just easy to work with. I also like to replace my all of my hoses once a year for cleanliness so it replaces a good portion of the pipe that way. JMO

As far as the sand. IMO with what you are trying to do, I would go barebottom and nix the jawfish. Your bioload is already high for a 55g tank, even with the 20g sump. Getting rid of the sandbed will help to improve cleanliness IME. Takes a little more care, but with your tank your gonna benefit from it.

If your heart is really set on the jawfish then you need to do a DSB and use a thicker sand. The jawfish is going to want to build a home (burrow) in the sand and the sugar sand will collapse on it. I would use a thicker argonite sand and plents of very small pieces of crushed liverock.

The cannister and skimmer are not going to be to much. Make sure to clean the cannister often. IMHO with a tank like yours I would add a UV to the output of the cannister. Something in at least the 15w range or higher.

I would really urge you to pull that decorator crab too. They are wonderful animals, I'm trying to talk the wife into a decorator crab tank for my office so I completely understand the draw. but they have no business with seahorses or pipefish IMHO.

JMO
HTH