Seagrasses and pipefish

[asid61]

I already asked about this in the other forum, but want to get RC's option on this.
I have a 44 gallon pentagon tank, dimensions 440in/2 x 24in height. That's comparable to a 36 x 12" tank with 24" height.
I want to make a deep sand bed of around 6", wait a few months after seeding with live sand, and then add some turtle grass. Then, after waiting another month or two for it to take root, add a pair of H. erectus.
I have been keeping a successful pico reef for about a year now, and want to move on to some seahorses, which have always fascinated me.
My plan for equipment is a simple 50 gallon power filter and a pair of Seaclone 100 skimmers. The pumps on them (maxijet 1200 295gph x 2) plus 250gph for the power filter bring me up to 840gph, or about 20x turnover. The other forum told me that would be okay, provided there will be low flow areas.
Lighting will be an Evil Cluster of very high power, so I'm considering shading from above with some bits of plastic or tinted acrylic.


Questions:
-How many horses can I have?
-Do Sea Horse Source seahorses always eat frozen?
-How much of the tank should I shade?

Does this sound like a good plan?

 

[JLynn]

First of all, be sure that your sand bed is exactly 6". 6" is the minimum for turtle grass, and 18" (the height of the water column after adding the sand) is the minimum for H. Erectus (but even that is pushing it a bit). So height-wise, it is a rather tight fit. I would suggest reconsidering turtle grass, in light of this. Shoal grass, for example, only needs a 4" sand bed, which would give the seahorses some more space and cost you less. Secondly, a few months for the live sand to seed is insufficient for any seagrass, but especially for turtle grass. The reason seagrasses need a mature sand bed is that, like all true plants, their source of nutrients is primarily their roots, so the sand they are rooted in must have a high nutrient content built up to meet their needs. The way around this is to have 2-4" of refugium mud (miracle mud, Fiji mud, etc.) in the sand bed. If you don't like how the mud looks and want a sandy look, simply put the mud 3" below the surface of the sand bed (the depth the turtle grass should initially be planted at), have live sand on top of it, and put trim on you stand to cover up the side view of the mud. You should however, get live sand in addition to mud because bacteria aren't the only thing in live sand. Beneficial creatures like worms come in the live sand, and they will help maintain your sand bed and (in some cases) eat detritus on the surface of the sand bed.
As for shading the tank... I am not sure whether or not this is actually necessary. I have heard conflicting opinions on this. It is true that the species of seahorses currently available to us live in shallow waters and should be used to the bright lighting required by seagrasses, but you are buying captive bred seahorses (or at least, you should be), which will likely have never experienced such intense lighting. Biologically, at least, I see no reason why shading should be required. If you want to have shading, I suggest doing it in the corner and having a live rock structure there (since the grass won't grow there anyways) with some fake decorations or macros which don't need quite so much light. One option for shading is to make a little live rock "cave" in the corner, and have either fake corals or an NPS or two inside it as a hitching post.
Seahorse source seahorses do indeed always eat frozen. No worries about that. To the best of my knowledge, all truly captive bred seahorses do. While the technical volume of your tank should allow you to keep two, the sand bed will take up a lot of that volume, so in reality, you can only have a pair. It would be overstocking a bit, but you may be able to keep 3. Your decision. All in all, your plan sounds fine, apart from the little things I pointed out in the first paragraph. One other thing to consider is the algae which grows on the seagrass blades and inhibits photosynthesis. It needs to be removed, so be sure that part of your clean up crew is devoted to cleaning up the seagrass itself. Certain species of snails and those little asterina do this job in the wild, and I would suggest investing in a sizable amount once the grass grows in. When there are only a few blades, when you first plant it, you can remove this yourself with a soft toothbrush. Lastly, a little warning: turtle grass goes through a die off when it is transplanted. Because the roots are inevitably damaged when it is collected, and because shipping and handling are often rough, the root system it has when you receive it is insufficient to support the blades of grass, so some blades will die off before the roots have a chance to recover, at which point slow growth will begin again. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time so you don't freak out and over correct to fix a non-existent problem. .

 

[Don Quixote]

First of all, be sure that your sand bed is exactly 6". 6" is the minimum for turtle grass, and 18" (the height of the water column after adding the sand) is the minimum for H. Erectus (but even that is pushing it a bit). So height-wise, it is a rather tight fit. I would suggest reconsidering turtle grass, in light of this. Shoal grass, for example, only needs a 4" sand bed, which would give the seahorses some more space and cost you less. Secondly, a few months for the live sand to seed is insufficient for any seagrass, but especially for turtle grass. The reason seagrasses need a mature sand bed is that, like all true plants, their source of nutrients is primarily their roots, so the sand they are rooted in must have a high nutrient content built up to meet their needs. The way around this is to have 2-4" of refugium mud (miracle mud, Fiji mud, etc.) in the sand bed. If you don't like how the mud looks and want a sandy look, simply put the mud 3" below the surface of the sand bed (the depth the turtle grass should initially be planted at), have live sand on top of it, and put trim on you stand to cover up the side view of the mud. You should however, get live sand in addition to mud because bacteria aren't the only thing in live sand. Beneficial creatures like worms come in the live sand, and they will help maintain your sand bed and (in some cases) eat detritus on the surface of the sand bed.
As for shading the tank... I am not sure whether or not this is actually necessary. I have heard conflicting opinions on this. It is true that the species of seahorses currently available to us live in shallow waters and should be used to the bright lighting required by seagrasses, but you are buying captive bred seahorses (or at least, you should be), which will likely have never experienced such intense lighting. Biologically, at least, I see no reason why shading should be required. If you want to have shading, I suggest doing it in the corner and having a live rock structure there (since the grass won't grow there anyways) with some fake decorations or macros which don't need quite so much light. One option for shading is to make a little live rock "cave" in the corner, and have either fake corals or an NPS or two inside it as a hitching post.
Seahorse source seahorses do indeed always eat frozen. No worries about that. To the best of my knowledge, all truly captive bred seahorses do. While the technical volume of your tank should allow you to keep two, the sand bed will take up a lot of that volume, so in reality, you can only have a pair. It would be overstocking a bit, but you may be able to keep 3. Your decision. All in all, your plan sounds fine, apart from the little things I pointed out in the first paragraph. One other thing to consider is the algae which grows on the seagrass blades and inhibits photosynthesis. It needs to be removed, so be sure that part of your clean up crew is devoted to cleaning up the seagrass itself. Certain species of snails and those little asterina do this job in the wild, and I would suggest investing in a sizable amount once the grass grows in. When there are only a few blades, when you first plant it, you can remove this yourself with a soft toothbrush. Lastly, a little warning: turtle grass goes through a die off when it is transplanted. Because the roots are inevitably damaged when it is collected, and because shipping and handling are often rough, the root system it has when you receive it is insufficient to support the blades of grass, so some blades will die off before the roots have a chance to recover, at which point slow growth will begin again. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time so you don't freak out and over correct to fix a non-existent problem. .

Seahorsesource is the best in the business, bar none.

 

[asid61]

Sorry for responding so late. This is on hold while I invest in an electrical project, but in that case I will go with shoal grass, seeing as how the turtle grass has so many complications.