Newbie with lots of questions

[Lostsoule77]

Hi all! I'm setting up a 65 gal seahorse tank and have a few questions. I've been doing research for months on the net (mostly on here and Seahorse.org.) We currently have a 75 gal reef tank that we've had running for about 10 yrs so I'm not new to the hobby, just to seahorses.

My first question is how I should go about asking my questions? Should I post them all in one thread or post each question as it's own thread? Or is there one person who really knows what their doing and I could "talk" with? As I said I've been doing tons of research and most of my questions arise from inconsistencies in what I've read.

Thank you for any help.

 

[SaylorsReef]

I would post all of your seahorse questions in one thread.

Welcome to Reef Central and welcome to seahorses!!!!

 

[Lostsoule77]

Ok, thanks.

 

[rayjay]

Inconsistencies are just another part of this seahorse keeping hobby, just as in the reefing hobby.
Some inconsistencies are because there are several ways that can be successful, but others are because of outdated information, or information that would not be recommended by the majority of experienced seahorse keepers because only a small number of people get such information to be successful.
When starting out, it's best to do what is highly recommended to succeed because even at best, seahorse keeping can be frustrating but when one does one or more things that decrease the odds of success, the seahorses are the ones that pay the biggest price.
After you have become successful, that is when you might start to try other things, if you still wish to at that point.
Some of the things that most help in success are:
Buying TRUE captive bred stock
Set up a sterile system to start and then cycle it
Maintain temperatures 68° to 74°
Species only tank with additional livestock to be same species, same breeder
Practice due diligence with tank husbandry, even more than a reef tank

 

[Lostsoule77]

Rayjay thank you for the response.

I plan on buying two female H. Erectus from Seahorse Source when I'm ready. From what I've read they seem to be the best (or one of the best) seahorses to start with. Seahorse Source seems like a good, reputable breeder. If I am wrong on either point please correct me.

I'm not sure what was in the tank I got so I plan on cleaning it really well before I set it up. I was planning on using water from our reef tank and a lfs to fill this tank. After reading about all the pathogens that are bad to tranfer I was wondering if the water could also contain these pathogens. If so would it be better to start with freshly mixed salt water instead? I also plan to use live branch rock and live sand or cc when cycling. I don't want a bare bottom tank, but can't seem to find whether sand or cc is better for the horses?

I've hung a thermometer on the tank and the room temp. where it is has been varying between 70-74 degrees farenheit. I know that running the pump (for the sump) will raise the water temp some & I plan on getting a small chiller and would love recommendations.

I plan on (eventually if I do well) getting 6 H. Erectus. I'm setting up a 65 gallon tank that will have a 20 or 29 gal. sump. From what I've read this size tank would be good for this amount of horses. I did want to use kenya trees, finger leathers, & calpuera as some of the holds in the tank. Do you think this is a good idea? If so what do I have to do to them before they can go into the seahorse tank?

We keep a pretty strict schedule with our tank maintenance on the reef tank. I think I'll be fine with the same schedule for the horses. I would vacuum the sand much more often (we only do the reef once or twice a week.) Is there anything else that really needs to be a lot stricter?

The one thing that I can't find a highly recommended answer for is the correct flow rate to at least start with. I've read that is should be 3-4x, 3-5x, & 5-10x. I was gonna try to go with 5x since it was the median and then I read that it should be 10-20x with some spots of lower flow for rest spots. I was just wondering what the current proper recommendations really are?

I've been doing a lot of research and on the internet it's sometimes hard to tell what is current information or if the recommendations being given are from people who shouldn't really be giving recommendations.

Sorry for such a long post, just trying to get it all in.

Just to recap, the main questions I have right now are whether it would be better to use water out of reef tanks to speed up the cycle or if I should us freshly mixed saltwater? Does it matter whether you use sand or cc as substrate, and if so which one is better? What are the current recommendations for tank flow rate?

Thank you.

 

[rayjay]

You won't find a better place to buy your seahorses from than seahorsesource.com.
As for start up, that depends on who you talk to but after my earlier experiences I now start off with boiled live rock and fresh water with no other life forms and then cycle the tank. Pathogens will be transferred using water from a tank with other livestock in it.
I use bare bottom because I vacuum daily.
There are a number of people with non stinging corals but in my case I use ambient lighting which is not sufficient for keeping corals. I don't want to be buying chillers for up to eight separate systems once they are all up and running. When I did have corals in my original tank set up, I fresh water dipped them before placing them in the seahorse tank.
The degree of husbandry will depend on how many horses, how much they are fed, and how much of what is fed gets eaten, and where the uneaten food gets trapped when it settles in one place.
As for flow, just make sure you have hitching in low, medium and high flow areas so that the seahorses can hitch wherever they want.
Just don't have the flow so that they can't move around without being blasted.
For taking advice, if you "go with the flow" so to speak you will be fairly well off. In other words, if a lot of people recommend something and a few have different ideas on a topic, then go with the greater numbers. Once you have succeeded and gained experience you can then decide for yourself what weight to give to other suggestions.

 

[Lostsoule77]

Rayjay thank you again! How would you boil the lr and wouldn't that also kill all the bacteria on it? We've cured or baked rock going into our tanks before, but never boiled.

 

[rayjay]

Yes, boiling the rock kills everything and that is what I wanted.
Starting off with no pathogens in the tank and so the only pathogens the seahorses would have then are ones they come with and have some tolerance built up.
I boiled the rock in a preserving kettle on the barbecue because I couldn't buy anything but week hydrogen peroxide to sterilize it and the cost would have been too great.
After boiling and pressure spraying to remove dead material, I added ammonium chloride to the tanks to cycle them as it's faster than using rotting shrimp or fish food to produce the ammonia.
I could have bleached it but then it would take longer before the bleach was clear so that it could cycle.
Many people just use dry rock and cycle the tank with it.
Just remember though, many people never start with sterile systems and are successful, but I had problems so it was my decision to eliminate as much as possible, all the possible sources of trouble that I had any control over.

 

[namxas]

We've never had any problem using LR in our SH setups. Some folks are super careful when it comes to their SH, but Renee and I have lots of years of SH keeping under our belts, and as mentioned, never had a problem. We also use lots of live macro in our setups, SH or no.

Everyone does what works for them, and rayjay does breed his SH, so I can see him being a bit more careful, esp with reidi fry.

 

[Lostsoule77]

Namxas do you do anything special to your LR before putting it into the tank? I was planning on using it to help cycle the tank.

Also what do you do to the macro before putting it in? I'd love to have a ton of it in the tank for hitches and nutrient export. I just know that all sorts of bad stuff can come in with the macro and I was wondering what you did to protect your tank. Would fresh water dips be a possibility or enough for it?

 

[namxas]

To be honest, I simply inspect the stuff if it has come from an outside source, maybe give it a swish in FW, but most of my macro can now be considered "home grown" since I simply take some from one system and use it in others.

As for the LR, I do nothing special, altho if I plan to use it as a HN3 source, I go out and buy a couple of really smelly (uncured) pieces.

 

[Lostsoule77]

Thank you for the info! Sorry about the delay. Between work and everything else sometimes I'm on the computer 24-7 and sometimes I'm not on it for weeks. LOL I'm still reading and rereading everything to figure out what to buy and not buy for this tank. Going reeeallly slow to make sure I do as much right as I can before I even start cycling the tank. I want to make sure that I do as much as I can to ensure that once I get the horses they will survive.
It's taken me years to convince my fiance that we should get a seahorse tank (he's the one who does all the maintenance on our tank.) I'm doing all the research on this. He'll be the one setting it up and doing water changes. I'll be doing the feeding, testing, and day to day maintenance like vacuuming.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[Peka]

It's good to see that you are doing all of this research. It's important to know what you are doing with seahorses. Sounds like you will be a good owner....

 

[wdt2000]

I use both sand and crushed coral. I find crushed coral much easier to clean and maintain, but if your going for the natural look sand is the ticket with macro algae.

I also just add the live rock straight no bleaching or cooking, diversity is not a bad imho. That said I am also new to seahorses compared to the above keepers

 

[Lostsoule77]

Peka - Thank you. I certainly hope to be. I think it def. helps that I'm analytical. I research most things before I buy them. I think with anything living you need to do that even more, especially if they are delicate. I don't want the responsibilty of killing a living thing if I can help it.

wdt - I am going to try and go more natural. I think I'm going to go with a 1" sand bed. Not 100% sure yet. Still doing research. LOL As far as the live rock I'm using it to cycle the tank so I think I'll be ok. I'll prob do a fresh water dip or something. My only prob. is I want branch live rock since it can also serve as hitches for the horses. I can't seem to find any though because it seems that it was mostly tonga rock which they have stopped exporting. I found one site (Aquatic Connection) which says it has fiji branch rock. The site claims if you email them they will respond the next day. I sent them one and didn't get a response. I sent the same one again about a week later and still no response. I'm thinking that means I prob. shouldn't purchase from them.

 

[NyReefNoob]

if my reef was as easy to mantain as my sh tank id be happy, as stated there is alot of ways to get to the final destination, i have, sand, rock and alot of macro algea in my system have done maybe 3 wc in a year and a half, i do have a pair if yellow watchmen gobies, pistol shrimp blue striped pipefish, goldbanded shrimp in system as well as alot of clean-up crew.