sea horse fuge.

[crsaz]

I am planning a large reef tank atm. (600-700 total volume) and latley I have fallen in love with erectus seahorses sp?. I have seen people do sea horse fuge's before but they seem more like a last minute add on. I want to design the tank with both my main tank and the seahorses in mind.( I will aslo have a 125 sump/fuge) the seahorse tank is more of a display fuge. my question is will this work? I want to have 30"x30"x30" cube under my main tank so it looks like "windows" on 2 sides. I would love to fill the tank with all sorts of cool algae's/ sponges. has anybody done a display fuge like this? any tips/pointers are welcome and much aprecieted

 

[namxas]

lots of peeps ask this, and there are a couple of things to consider:

SH are hard on water quality, altho that's a lot of volume.

it doesn't sound like you're planning on any corals in the SH fuge, but avoid any coral with sweepers or potent stings (this includes nems).

SH are very prone to bacterial infections at warmer temps, so even tropical species are best kept in the low 70's (75*F max.) to keep this at bay.

the temp thing is a very real consideration (probably the biggest mistake most folks make IMHO) as when the temps spike in the spring/summer, we see a lot of sick SH (mostly vibriosis) in the ER on the "SH site". the problem is that captive systems are MUCH smaller than the ocean and have a ridiculously high baterial count, which really takes off right around 75*F.

sounds like an awesome setup if you can run a cooler reef.

all of my SH systems are well-planted with various species of macro, and the SH do very well in that environment.

 

[crsaz]

UiThank for telling me about the temps. I think I could run the chiller outlet into the sh tank to keep it 2-3 degrees cooler than the main tank. Along with extra fans. All my current systems sit at about 76 with just computer fans.

What do you mean they arr hard on water quality? Because of excess food? I am planning on doing carbon dosing and a massive skimmer so I can keep the water squeaky clean.


Also would you recamend running the inlet for the sh tank through a uv sterilizer to minimize the danger of a bacterial infection?

Also what other species of sh can be mixed with erectus? And you said no corals with long sweepers are acans and favias ok? I want to keep a few corals in the tank

Will 5 t5's be too much light? 2 day lights 2actinics and q fiji purple?

 

[namxas]

sounds like you'll be OK tempwise.

yes, SH lack true stomachs, and as such require food daily since they cannot hold the food for digestion. also, lots of food in = lots of feces out (you'd be surprised at the size of the poop!).

IMHO, UV doesn't really do much in terms of bacteria, as most of it is benthic/demersal and UV will only affect waterborne pathogens.

SH aren't picky about light, so go with whatever will work with tankmates. acans and favia are fine.

now the BIG question...mixing species is a crapshpoot. sometimes it works, but most of the time there are problems. each species often carries pathogens that they're resistant to, but other species are not. this is even true for CB SH.

your best bet for success is a good QT and obtaining your SH from the same source. my fave SH breeder is Dan over at www.seahorsesource.com. Beth (screenie is Peka here) from SH corral, has beautiful erectus as well, but only breeds that species.

of course, pix of you build are compulsory!

 

[crsaz]

of course there will be pis. it's gonna be a while till' its up and running. I am in the planning/designing stages right now.