Pls help me set-up a sea-horse tank.

[mazda2002]

Hello,

I have had 2 seahorses with bad results. They both died from disease. This being said, I want to start over, but keep them alive for more than 4 months this time.

Here is my current system at a glance:

150 Gal mixed reef, 30 Gal algae / clown / old seahorse tank and 50 gal sump.
Water parameters are all good. I have skimmer, phosban reactor, filter sock, about 250-300 pounds of LR spread out and a continuous water change set at 30 Gal per week more or less. I keep the temp at 78F but it goes up a little with the MH.

Here are some of the mistakes I think I made:

Water too warm.
Too much competition for food.
No UV steriliser.
Did not tread for diseases in time.

Here is what I have in mind:

55 Gal in living room. (existing tank and better view to see diseases coming)
I want to have one side drilled to plumb it to the rest of the system. This will rly keep maintenance down. I have about 30 pounds of base rock I can throw in there. I want to add some plastic chains and plastic plants for hitching posts. The aquarium is lit with one strip of T8 bulbs. My other tanks are all in the basement.

The challenge will be to keep this aquarium at the proper temperature and having enough flow from the main system for water parameters to stay good and stable.

My target species is tank bred H. Erectus. (local supply)

The room the tank is going to be in is kept at 72F in the winter and not chilled in the summer. The fish room in the basement reaches 86F due to the MH lighting. I don't see how I will get a stable water temp without resorting to a chiller, but I am open to ideas. This will probably be the most expensive part of this set-up.

I also want to add a UV steriliser to treat water coming for the main tank to prevent diseases coming from the warm water.

Am I going in the right direction?

 

[rayjay]

Well it's hard to advise all in one post, but the first thing I recommend is a stand alone seahorse tank system. Some hobbyists have found some sps suffer because of the degraded water quality produced by a seahorse tank due to their selective feeding habits and their habit of masticating the food they snick up, passing particulate matter out through the gills and into the water column.
I prefer a display tank with sump as I like the sump to contain the rock, making the display easier to clean and the seahorses easier to view.
Generally speaking a UV system doesn't help much with seahorse tanks. All it will take is a few parasites to get through the UV into your seahorse system and they will multiply from there. UV does not take care of all pathogens, especially those that are benthic.
Temperature is very important. If you allow the temperature to go above 74°F then you increase the rate of growth of bacteria exponentially for each rising degree. While some have succeeded at highe temps, most success will come at the 74° max. IME. Many seahorses are lost in the attempts to keep them in warmer situations.
I suggest setting up a system that is VERY easy to clean, in, around, and under any decor/rockwork as the more difficult the task, the less likely you are to do it as often as a seahorse tank needs, much more so than any reef tank.
While you need to be prepared to treat for diseases, it's best to think preventive first and that means vacumming hidden and trapped detritus and doing more and larger water changes than a reef tank needs.
It especially means that ANY mechanical filtration needs to be cleaned at least a couple of times a week, before the detritus begins to break down and enter the water column as food and bedding for pathogens.
This water quality issue is a situation that deteriorates over some time that varyies with the set up and husbandry and feeding, but eventually degrades over months to a year or so to the point disease sets in.
You can't test for this problem as the water quality can be bad and yet all hobby test kits show within specs for what can be tested and it really needs lab testing to know anything else.

 

[bluekoi]

The chiller is an expensive proposition, but a necessary one. I can't imagine attempting a SH tank without it.

 

[rayjay]

Where he is in Montreal, hot weather is only for part of the year.
A lot of us here have central AC so we can control the temperature from getting too high by controling the AC.
Before I had Central Air I had a large floor AC with tubes to the window and that meant I could control the room with the tanks AND I could sit there and be comfortable in humid hot weather.
For me with all the tanks it would be too expensive to buy chillers.
It was less money to install central air than to buy chillers for each system.

 

[mazda2002]

I was looking for a cheap way to add this tank to the existing system. I'm realising this isn't going to be an option. With a chiller I would be waysting tons of energy heating then cooling the same water. I looked at heat exchanger on my cold water house intake, but can't find an affordable one made of ss.

 

[rayjay]

While occasionally it works hooking a seahorse tank to a reef system, it usually is fraught with problems.
In addition to the heat problem, you can also be introducing pathogens to the seahorses that they haven't grown up with and are VERY susceptable to.
Also, because seahorses are very "dirty" feeders, some sps corals suffer from the water being too dirty.
My seahorse tanks are mostly just 40gT with 20g sumps. Live rock in the sumps and bare bottom display make for easier cleaning and viewing of seahorses.
It's simple and economical.
What temperature range do you keep the room in that would house the seahorses?

 

[Andrew D]

This looks like an all-Canadian thread. I'm in Burlington and have recently set up a seahorse tank, a 56G tall that was once my xenia refugium, connected to a 600G reef system with a display that is mostly sps. It's only about a month old, but all seem to be doing fine. I'm lucky because the tanks are down in the basement, with temperature moderated by opening a window in the winter and by the central AC in the summer. I'm keeping the temperature of the reef at around 75 while the seahorse tank is a degree cooler at 74. I planning to set up automatic dosing of mysis using a mini fridge, which should further moderate the temperature. I think it can be done, just have to plan carefully. Of course, I don't have near the experience and success as rayjay does, but I also don't have any other options at this point. My wife has been clear, no more tanks, so I'm forced to re-purpose those already in use. Also connected is an acrylic cube serving as a peacock mantis tank.

Rayjay (Ray?), I bought my seahorses from the Coral Reef Shop which I think said they got them from someone in London. Might this be you? If so, wanted you to know that at least two are in keen, if not good, hands.

Andrew

 

[rayjay]

No Andrew, they didn't get them from me.
I'd guess they got them from seahorsecanada.ca who got their original stock from a shipment I brought in from seahorsecoral.com in Florida.
They have been doing quite well in their reproduction.
Another source could be Yvette in the Woodstock area who also has excellent stock.
Just a warning though, while I have experience that doesn't mean I don't have problems just like most everyone else.
My best recommendation to anyone wishing to keep seahorses is to strive to keep the tank cleaner than you think is possible.
Water quality issues that CAN'T be measured probably account for the majority of deaths in our hobby, either from bacterial issues or chemical imbalance issues.
This problem occurs from a few months to many months depending on the particular set up and husbandry practices, allowing the slow degeneration of the water to the point it may be too late to save the seahorses once you see them affected by it.
Maintaining a seahorse tank the same as you would a reef tank is NOT sufficient long term IMO.