I have an old 55g which I was planning to use as a quarantine for the 120g seahorse display tank I am setting up. However, it recently occurred to me that this 55g would be overstocked if I tried to use it as a quarantine for 8 seahorses. My thinking was that I often see breeders overstock their grow out tanks with no problems because the environment is sterile and temporary, so it would probably be alright for me to have a slightly overstocked quarantine tank as long as I made sure to keep everything very clean, but I want to double check. Is it ok to use a 55g as a quarantine tank for 8 seahorses?
Quarantine Tank Size
- Thread starter JLynn
- Start date
DanU
New member
I see no problem with it as a quarantine tank. This is a temporary setup. As long as you can keep the parameters in check you should be fine. If you had proper filtration and the extra maintenance, it could even work long term but it would be more work.
Breeders do run much higher densities. I have had up to 500 3 inch seahorses in 90 gallons but I also had the filtration and water changes and other maintenance needed. The system was able to handle over a 1/4 of mysis a day. The differences in breeder's tanks is the filtration, maintenance and water changes. Most folks don't want to siphon 3 times a day especially when a 1/4 lb of mysis turns into a 1/4 lb of feces. The tank also had 10 to 15% water changes daily and the skimmer would collect about 3 cups of thick skimmate a day.
Dan
Breeders do run much higher densities. I have had up to 500 3 inch seahorses in 90 gallons but I also had the filtration and water changes and other maintenance needed. The system was able to handle over a 1/4 of mysis a day. The differences in breeder's tanks is the filtration, maintenance and water changes. Most folks don't want to siphon 3 times a day especially when a 1/4 lb of mysis turns into a 1/4 lb of feces. The tank also had 10 to 15% water changes daily and the skimmer would collect about 3 cups of thick skimmate a day.
Dan
