Researching SeaHorse options

[travis32]

I've got a 125g mixed reef right now and I'm planning my next build. I've thought it woudl be cool to have a shared sump for my 125g and for the Seahorse tank. I was thinking the macro tank of the seahorse tank would help filter the reef tank, and the reef tank would help keep the smaller seahorse tank stable..

I haven't decided on the size of tank yet, but, I thought it needed to be more vertical than rectangle for sea houses. So, I was thinking a 65 tall RR tank. If there's such a thing. Over flow would drain into a shared sump. And then return pumps would pump water back into both tanks.

So, some prep questions:

1. Type of lighting for macro algae and for the seahorses (that makes the tank look good.)

2. is it o.k. for a reef and seahorse macro tank to share water?

3. Can the salinity for seahorses be at reef levels (e.g. 1.026-1.027?)

4. Can temps be the same between a reef and seahorse tank? (temp would be controlled by the sump.. Only one set of probes needed then. )

5. How much rock is needed if all I have is 2 or 3 sea horses and maybe a pipe fish or two and lots of macro algae.

6. would a SWC 200 skimmer be sufficient for running two tanks out of one sump. One of them lightly stocked with lots of macro algae for additional filtration?

 

[rayjay]

To start off, there ARE a few successful seahorse keepers with seahorse set ups connected to reef systems. There are a LOT MORE that have failed in the attempt to do so.
I can't help on lighting as I don't have macro and seahorses only NEED ambient lighting.
Specific gravity is not a problem, but the temperatures are VERY often a catalyst for bacterial infestations on the seahorses (like vibriosis) that most other marine fish don't fall victim to.
The recommended temperature range for the seahorses is from 68° to 74°F but most reefs are kept warmer than that.
Seahorses often fall victim to pathogens that they haven't grown up with and are exposed to after being with other fish or seahorses from different breeding sources.
Seahorse tank recommendations for most standard ones available in the hobby would be 29g for the first pair and an extra 15g for each additional pair.
Pipe fish and seahorses together are a crapshoot at best, with one species or both often dying.
I don't think it has been determined that you need a specific amount of live rock.
It's hard to give an amount because a heavier denser piece requires more than a lighter more porous one does and you are the only one who gets to see what you are buying.
(I don't even keep the live rock in the DTs but rather have it all in the sumps.
If your reef tank has some of the more demanding of sps corals, the "dirty" water resulting from keeping seahorses, has been found to be detrimental to those corals.
I don't know anything about store bought skimmers as I build my own.

 

[travis32]

Rayjay I really appreciate your time in giving me the advice. I will consider rethinking the shared reef idea then. Was thinking it would save some money and time (especially on maintenance). But, if it's detrimental to the reef.. not good.

I have a 29gallon tank that was used for quarantine at one point. I didn't expect it to be large enough. That's cool. Yeah, I was thinking of having additional remote tubs for rocks and other refugiums. If it's not necessary to have rocks in the display for seahorses then, I won't necessarily focus on that. And focus more on having a variety of macros.

Thanks for the information!
When I get ready to build this, I'm sure I'll have more questions!

 

[rayjay]

Before you go too far you need to solicit other opinions on how to do so as my ways are not in the majority with most people having sand beds and live rock in the display tank.
You could start with viewing the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping" that have been written by experienced keepers and a well respected breeder.
If you are thinking "time" and "money" then don't plan on keeping seahorses unless you are thinking in terms of "LOTS".
Seahorses need more care than sps tanks, IMO.
Water quality, being a seahorse problem, means more due diligence for housekeeping chores.
True captive bred seahorses give you the best chances of success but are more costly than tank bred imports.
Then there are the medications you should have on hand as well.

 

[travis32]

Thanks! I'm fine with reading up and researching. I'm not planning to make any final decisions until this coming spring or summer. I'll be moving to a different house and I'm trying to plan my aquarium strategy with my home strategy. And although I don't mind having additional chores. I need to consider if a lot of maintenance is needed daily or weekly, a lot more than my reef, then, I'll reconsider the option all together and see about something else. Jellyfish anyone? (Yes, that was an attempt at a joke. )

But, I'm not ruling it out, I will do as much research as I can before making any decisions.

 

[mmorman]

seahorses

seahorses

here is a post i did about someone elses questions on seahorses..honestly you shouldnt share because the temps will be different, I am assuming your running your reef at 78 to 82 degrees, and seahorses need to be around 72 degrees to thrive...

heres the post:
First off I i have been keeping seahorses for over a year now and love them so here are my 2 cents:

-Keep them in Male Female pairs... its in their nature to pair off an to be happy, the best part of keeping seahorses is watching the morning and night time mating/dancing routine they will spend 20 minutes twice a day doing.... It is beautiful and is the reason i started keeping seahorses after witnessing this. check out a video of this online before you decide to do a femal only tank.
-Since its your first time doing seahorses only get Captive Bred and Raised Hippocampus erectus seahorse ONLY!!! its irresponsible to get wild ones because they WILL die, no matter hoe good a host you are to them.
H. erectus are very hardy and as long as you do normal maintenance and you buy ones that are already eating a frozen mysis shrimp diet they will live.
-breeding seahorses is easy, but raising the fry past day 5 and week 5 is almost impossible unless you know your Shiznit, so donate the fry to someone who can care for them.
-ALWAYS use a heater with a guard, seahorses love hitching to the heater and will fall asleep and burn them selves, they will get an infection and die...
-even though it recommends to keep the temp between 72 degrees and 78 degrees, H erectus and most other seahorses thrive around 72 degrees, plus they wont get sick at this temperature, but around 78 they will. The issue with this is that most people want to keep full blown reefs and other fish in a seahorse tank but to get the seahorses to thrive they need very low flow and very low temp, which no other fish and/or corals can survive and/or grow in. seahorses are best kept in a seahorse only tank with hitching post, sand, pipe fish, and smooth rock. maybe a mandarine or blenny...
-seahorses love to play in a bubble curtain by letting it push them around... get one, youll love watching them.

-I have a 75 gallon and I have some nice korelina power heads and all i use is two cheap 300 GPH power heads that were like $30 each from petsmart. anymore than that and the Seahorses wont be able to swim or catch food. they need calm water or they will get banged around into rocks and they wont be abel to do their greeting dances or play with each other...

they like grabbing tails and wrestling.

basically you dont want any power heads or anything that sucks or blows that their tail can fit into. Also you want around a 14 inch tall tank for H erectus, they say 12 but the 12 inches is what you need, so taking into account the sand and rock try to give them 12 inches after all that stuff is in their. use the power heads to get your water column to flow from down to up in a circle from front to back, you can accomplish this with 2 small power heads in a 40 breeder.. you can put 2 pair of H erectus in there.. youll be pushing it with more than that..


if you have specific question hit me up...Ive been very successful at raising them and breeding them...Ive got about 90 babies right now from 5 clutches ranging from 10 days to 5 months old..


Matt

 

[rlpardue]

I think everyone wants to plumb a SH tank and reef tank together; I know I did. The temperature issue is the major obstacle. After you watch a pair of seahorses die of a white bacterial infection, you'll understand. After setting up a separate system, I've had happy seahorses and no vibrio/bacteria issues. It's worth having two plumbing systems so you can keep the SH tank at 72 degrees.

 

[eagle9252]

I have 15 g column tank that i will be setting up soon. I have sand and rocks in the other dt so its a simple cycled start up. What would you put in there. I will have a 10 g sump in line but have it looped in the main system as well to turn the water over about 2 times a day. I will also have a chiller on the sh tank if needed. I will also have some micro algae in the sh dt


I was thinking if the water transfers just say 2* aday it should not effect the temp. As both systems will be running separate but only loop to keep the water parameters the same and making weekly wc easier. The tank will have a ba on it and the return pump ether a mag 7 or mag 9.5. Feeding the chiller and the tank. The 120 mixed reef has a 75 sump and was thinking that i would feed the sh tank with 1/4" tubing and a return to the75g sump with a 3/4". The flow will be slow enough that it should not make noise and not create any temp swings

 

[rayjay]

It would have really been better to start your own thread so the OP can readily see what applies to his query.
In spite of the recommendations in this thread you STILL want to hook into another system with a tank that is too small for seahorses.
Any connection with the main system increases the odds of failure for seahorse keeping, by allowing pathogen exposure the seahorses often cannot handle.

 

[eagle9252]

It would have really been better to start your own thread so the OP can readily see what applies to his query.
In spite of the recommendations in this thread you STILL want to hook into another system with a tank that is too small for seahorses.
Any connection with the main system increases the odds of failure for seahorse keeping, by allowing pathogen exposure the seahorses often cannot handle.

First of all are you the posting police????
I went back and reread the op's post. I'm very much in line with the op's questions that were never answered in the first place. I don't want a huge amount. I had a 27g cube but the wife said it was too big where she wanted it. I will only be putting in a pair and have been told that's fine. With minimal others.

 

[TamiW]

First of all are you the posting police????

No, but he is the seahorse police. You have been warned.:debi:

 

[rayjay]

Sorry you took offense to my post. It was merely to aid both you and the OP as any reply given could apply to one or the other.
You asked "what would I put in there?" but I never indicated anything to put in because IMO, it was not suitable for seahorse keeping. I never saw any other questions in your post, only your stated preferences for the set up.
I'm wondering what questions weren't answered that you wanted a reply to?
Ones I couldn't help with I gave a link to a page with links of information that is extremely helpful to someone wanting to keep seahorses.
The advice from links at the bottom of that page, and from posts in threads about seahorses keeping are in the main, given to try to help someone else from making mistakes that others beforehand have made.
It's not that seahorses can't be kept other ways, just that the odds of success are low so when starting out, it is better to go with the experience, and once you succeed that way, you may or may not want to proceed with other methods.
My opinions are not the be all and the end all, and obviously you don't have to set up any specific way if you don't want to so just go with what you have already been told if you trust the source.
There aren't many that have succeeded doing this the way you describe so replies from those that have may not be too numerous.

 

[eagle9252]

the op stated he wanted to combine the systems together without doing anything with the temps. i was camping and was being lazy and did a copy/paste from my phone.

i have read several forums and websites and even yours prior to my posting. i have not even decided what kind yet but due to size of the tank i'm very limited. i would prefer the 27gal cube but the wife said no it was too big.

i always read or over read before doing anything. got ready to install the sump for the sh tank but i cant put it where i wanted so now i have to regroup.

 

[rayjay]

If your wife would accept the 27g cube in a different location, you could set it up with the 10g sump to increase the total volume of water, and operate it independent of your other system.
It would be good for a pair of standard sized seahorses.