our set up for seahorses...

[Turm75]

OK So I have a 42 hexagon tank that has tonga branch rock & sand on the bottom, with several soft corals in it. It also has a dragonet & a few shrimp, some crabs & snails. This tank has been running for over a year now. It used to be my seahorse tank in 205 but we moved so we sold the seahorses & kept the tank & the tonga rock. Right now we have compact lights on it. I have thought about upgrading to a T5 but I don't want to put too much light on the seahorses.
I also have a skimmer on this tank & one powerhead, which I might remove the powerhead because of too much flow. Oh, we have a Emporer on this tank. We did fine with Emporer last time we had seahorses but I wonder about adequate filtration.
The tank is doing fantastic & the corals are growing like crazy. I worry about bacteria & the health of the seahorses.
My main goal for this tank is to for one, keep seahorses, and two, try & breed them.
I have been doing a lot of reasearch lately & I hear that www.seahorsesource.com is the place to go.
My questions are:
Should I leave the lighting the way it is?
Should I upgrade filtration to a sump or stick with our Emporer?
Should I put a chiller on the tank? to make sure it stays below 74, or whatever temp depending on what kind if seahorses we get. I hear the JBJ Arctica or Current is the best. Any suggestions on that?
Also, if the seahorses do breed, is it essential to get the fry out? or could they stay in the tank with the parents?

 

[LatinP]

I'd get rid of the crab especially if you're going to breed.

 

[Turm75]

crabs

crabs

yeah I heard blue leg crabs are bad to have with seahorses but that red legs are ok. Any thoughts on that? I just don't want anything in the tank that will harm the seahorses or the fry. For corals we have:
gorgornia, large colt coral, 2 soft leather corals- one is finger leather & the other is toadstool; green star polyps, 1 small brain & 1 small clam which are going to be moved to the other tank soon, after I upgrade lights. We also have: hamer, frogspawn, acanthastreas, zooanthids, small montipora, a few diff types of mushrooms, zenias, candy cane, and some diff feather dusters.
that's about the extent of what's in tank besides what I mentioned before.

I will post some pics soon of the tank. Plus I will apparently have to resize the pics because they are too big...

thanks for taking the time to read this & to respond

Jennifer

 

[TamiW]

Anything with sweeper tentacles or other stinging tentacles needs to go. That usually means LPS corals. The seahorses will probably bother the montipora, SPS and seahorses don't mix either, but that's because seahorses like to hitch to them and irritate them.

As for blue leg hermits, I've always kept them with seahorses, and the only really problem is occasionally a brave seahorse will make a meal of a hermit. Other than that, they're fine. Its bigger crabs you need to worry about, like emerald crabs.

For flow, I think you'd be surprised what seahorses can handle. It's now common place to run a seahorse tank at 10x - 20x turnover rate. As long as the seahorses have some quiet spots they can rest in, they do much better with more flow. Its not quite reef craziness, but more flow helps stir up detritus, which makes removing easier. But make sure the intake of powerheads is protected.

If you want to raise fry, then you will need to remove them. They need a nursery set up to raise them. If you're not planning on raising them, then you can leave them and they'll just become food for the tank.

Seahorses don't care too much about light, but heat can be a factor, so Metal Halide is usually out. However upgrading from PC to T5 would be fine.

And +++AAA for Seahorse Source. You won't find better seahorses!

 

[namxas]

I have to disagree on keeping crabs with SH. I've even had well-fed scarlets grab onto the tails of resting SH and they're a lot more docile than blue legs.

Maybe they were just climbing around, maybe not, but the second time it happened...into one of the other setups they went.

I'm normally an envelope-pusher, but not when it comes to crabs and SH.

JME/JMHO

 

[Devaji108]

looks like a sweet set up. can you post of pics for us? Icandy is always nice
there is a great link on .....org all about SH tank mates even corals.
I found it help full.

 

[PintoSeahorse]

SeahorseSource.org is the BEST! 8D You will learn a ton from very helpful people there!

 

[scapes]

I have been doing a lot of reasearch lately & I hear that www.seahorsesource.com is the place to go.---YES, THEY'RE THE BEST!

My questions are:
Should I leave the lighting the way it is?---LIGHTING IS FINE AS LONG AS CORALS ARE OK. TOO MUCH LIGHT AND ALGAE WILL ACTUALLY START GROWING ON THE SH'S

Should I upgrade filtration to a sump or stick with our Emporer?---I HAD A 35G HEX WITH A FILTER ON THE BACK ONLY AND EVERYTHING GREW GREAT FOR ME, YOU SHOULD BE FINE

Should I put a chiller on the tank? to make sure it stays below 74, or whatever temp depending on what kind if seahorses we get. I hear the JBJ Arctica or Current is the best. Any suggestions on that?--YOU WON'T NEED A CHILLER AS LONG AS YOU CAN KEEP THE TEMP AROUND THE 74 MARK

Also, if the seahorses do breed, is it essential to get the fry out? or could they stay in the tank with the parents?---YES. ALL YOUR INHABITANTS WILL EAT THE BABIES, PLUS THE BABIES WILL NEED TO BE FED LIVE FOODS ALL THE TIIME
HTH

 

[miguelp19]

IAlso, if the seahorses do breed, is it essential to get the fry out? or could they stay in the tank with the parents?---YES. ALL YOUR INHABITANTS WILL EAT THE BABIES, PLUS THE BABIES WILL NEED TO BE FED LIVE FOODS ALL THE TIIME
HTH

what if the only inhabitants in the tank are the seahorses... do the fry still need to be taken out? will the parents consume them?

 

[scapes]

No, the parents will not eat the babies. The main reason the babies have to come out is bc they have to be fed so much that it pollutes the water and you will have to do constant water changes and if kept in dt you could heavily pollute the tank and that would cause major problems. Babies need their own setup, system, etc... And it's very time consuming. And unless done properly, they usually end up dieing. I tried once and it was just too difficult and extremely time consuming.

 

[miguelp19]

ohh that makes total sense! thanks

 

[scapes]

your welcome