Question

McMillin5

McMillin5

New member
I have a 38gallon bowfront currently set up with fresh water.. Im really considering switching over to a Seahorse tank, im going to remove everything from the tank and set aside meaning rock,decor, filter,heater etc my question is if I can use a normal hang on the back filter or do I need to set up a sump and drill the tank like my 75g and the whole 9yards.. my 75g is running LEDs and i want to do the same for my seahorse tank just wondering what everyone is recommending for LEDs.. Thank you
 
A 38g tank is suitable for a pair of seahorses of standard size like kuda, reidi or erectus.
You can use a HOB filter but I would use it only as a water mover myself, and use live rock/sand bed as the primary biological filter. (I prefer bare bottom)
The filter of a HOB needs to be cleaned out AT LEAST once a week and preferably more often so it doesn't begin to allow nasty bacteria beds to culture in it.
You don't need a heater unless the room it will be in goes below 68° by may need a chiller if the temperature is liable to get above 74°.
Seahorses don't need any more than ambient lighting so whatever lights you chose would be merely to satisfy anything else you may choose to place in the tank. Some lighting systems elevate water temperatures so keep that in mind also.
 
so basically I can just set up a sand bed with live rock and i could use a small small power head to move water around?
 
Yes, it can be done that way. Make sure the intake of the power head is protected.
I also have an open ended air line in each of my tanks to aid in surface disruption aiding the gas exchange an helping to maintian pH.
Another good addition would be an oversized skimmer.
Anything you can do to improve water quality will be a plus. It is more work than keeping a reef tank because of seahorse eating habits.
First, they don't eat all the food they see, only "perfect" in their eyes pieces will do.
Second, they masticate their food passing particulate matter through the gills and into the water, further degrading the water quality.
This leads to the number one cause of deaths IMO, bacteria.
 
I would recommend using a filter and not just a power head. You need to mechanically remove stuff out of the water column. I would have some type of HOB filter and a protein skimmer. The ideal thing to do is to go head and setup the sump as it will give you much more flexibility and the potential for better filtration. Sand and rock do great for nitrification but don't mechanically remove organics from the tank.

Dan
 
I have a HOB with live rock and sand bed. I do make weekly water changes & replace filter media at 2 weeks. My water stays good. I may drill the tank at some point. 50 gl tall with 4 Erectus, 2 banded pipe, clean up crew.
 
Just adding my two cents here...but there are small protein skimmers available now that sit in a corner or the rear (no sump is needed) and work very well in small tanks. I have seen them at my LFS for about $99. Maybe more helpful than an HOB filter. I have a friend using one of these small skimmers and a few pieces of live rock in his 30 gallon tank and he is getting great results. Seahorses eat a lot, so a small protein skimmer is a great way to export some of the nitrogenous wastes out of the tank which HOB filters don't really do.
 
IMO, the small skimmer is better than nothing, but for a 30g tank I would prefer to have a skimmer rated for at least 100g.
My first seahorse tank without a sump had a skimmer fed by a power head in the tank, with gravity sending the return back to the tank from the raised power head.
I'm more concerned about what the seahorses DON'T eat than what they DO eat. Most seahorses in tanks will eat only a portion of what is put in the tank, and, when they do snick up a piece of food, it is immediately masticated, with particulate matter expelled through the gills and into the water column.
I think an over-sized protein skimmer with a mechanical collection method used in conjunction with proper in tank water flow is the best we can expect.
 
Tjdouglas: what are the skimmers called im very interested in buying one

Thanks everyone for the help.. if i do decide to drill the tank what size lines would you recommend and what size tank for the sump? 10-20g?
 
Personally I thing either is better than nothing, but the one you mentioned tj is only rated for a 25g tank while the cpr has a 60g rating.
I believe that skimmers are notoriously overrated and one needs to get one rated at a multiple of what the actual tank size is.
 
Did I miss something, without a filter area, non seperated area how would that work without at least a small sump?
Thanks
 
Dear Havoc, there are HOB and in-tank skimmers that do not need a sump. I only know because a friend of mine is using one in his tank. Rayjay, you are definitely right that the skimmer I linked to above would be too small. My bad!
 
When I used to feed mine ghost shrimp, at least the shrimp was fed by hand (using a grabber tool) so that each one got eaten or else I'd remove it. But I can see how if you just put non-live food into the tank, a lot of it is going to just sit there.
 
That all depends on who is giving the advice as we have quite a variety of set ups currently in use.
Myself, I prefer live rock, no sand, open ended air line, power head with quick filter attached, and oversized skimmer, and a mini power head running during feeding to keep food in suspension longer.
 
I currently have sand, rock, Mp10, hob filter, airstone, 2 t5 fixture. I am thinking about a hob skimmer but the tank is 20x18x 30. As you can tell it would have to be a hang on side skimmer at this point, just no more room. Sooooo I am thinking about changing the filler for skimmer. Just not sure yet if I will keep both.
 
Both would be best, but skimmer is my preference over a filter if only one can be used.
You still need a power head with a filter attachment to remove the larger particles so the skimmer works better and you lessen the amount of crap that helps produce nasty bacteria. Any filter needs to be cleaned VERY frequently.
Make sure seahorse tails/snouts can get caught in your MP 10.
 
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