Seahorse Newbie

[Stolireef]

Hi all:

I've been keeping reefs for several years and I'm thinking about starting up a seahorse/pipefish tank. I've read through the stickies and understand the following:
1. Water flow must be gentle
2. Feeding must be regular and specific
3. Must provide 'anchor points'
4. Must be a 'species' tank

Questions as follows:
a. I have a successful (meaning fish and SPS/LPS corals do well) 110. I'd like to add the seahorse tank to the same water system. Is this a problem since I keep the current tank at pretty low nutrients?
b. I would like the flow to be 'up/down' rather than a side to side flow as is common in reefs. Is this OK?
c. From my reading, keeping seahorses and pipefish in a single tank may create problems. Am I reading correctly?
d. Can I plant the tank with live algae to provide some nitrate/phosphate removal for the reef?
e. Can the tank serve as a refugium and include a DSB and off-cycle lighting?

I spend a great deal of time and effort on my reef and want to give this tank the same effort. Any comments/suggestions/criticisms are both appreciated and welcome.

Can't wait for my first pony (btw, I have a Mustang so this is close to the heart).

 

[mtc1966]

the main problem will be temperature as seahorses should be kept around 68-74 degrees to help keep pathogens inline. and on flow they can take a bit more mine like to play in the flow. seahorses are also messy not good for sps tank. i like display macros in my tank but thats a personal choice.
i would recommend a separate tank with a good skimmer and a sump/fuge if possible . my new set up i am doing a sump and hob fuge. about 2.5 inches of sand . only because i like sand others prefer bb tank for easy cleaning. adding pipefish is a risk but is doable . these are just my opinions from 1yr of seahorses i am sure some more experienced keepers will also chime in.

 

[mtc1966]

oh and welcome to seahorses we need more people on this forum.

 

[Stolireef]

MTC:

Thanks for the welcome and advice. I gather there aren't any horses (or not adapted to a reef) that can be kept at around 79 degrees. If that's the case, then clearly I have to go with a separate system (that's OK). I was hoping to add water volume to the overall system hence the desire to add to the existing system.

Your approach sounds interesting. I won't have room for a sump but I'm good about H20 husbandry and could easily do water changes that include the horsey tank. I do them weekly now. Is that OK for horses?

 

[mtc1966]

no problem . its not so much that horses cant live at 79 80 degrees they do in the wild . its just in captivity it keeps the odd of them getting sick low.
weekly water changes is good but i highly recommend a hob skimmer still.

 

[jck16]

a. I have a successful (meaning fish and SPS/LPS corals do well) 110. I'd like to add the seahorse tank to the same water system. Is this a problem since I keep the current tank at pretty low nutrients?

I'd say the general consensus here is that it would be a problem. I'd have adamantly said it would be a problem too a few weeks ago, but there is a great seahorse and SPS tank picture in the seahorse/SPS thread and there are examples of people having success. Plus I recently started keeping acros with my seahorses and they're actually doing pretty well with good PE (only time will tell though). So it's possible...but probably still not recommended.

b. I would like the flow to be 'up/down' rather than a side to side flow as is common in reefs. Is this OK?

As long as you can provide areas of slack flow, you can have the flow going any direction you want I guess? I think side to side, even with a strong laminar flow, is fine though as long as the seahorses have areas where they can rest.

c. From my reading, keeping seahorses and pipefish in a single tank may create problems. Am I reading correctly?

Pipefish are mostly collected from the wild so can introduce pathogens to captive bred seahorses. I think that's the main reason, in addition to anecdotal evidence that one or the other or both don't do well when kept together.

d. Can I plant the tank with live algae to provide some nitrate/phosphate removal for the reef?

Sure, but see the answer to the next question.

e. Can the tank serve as a refugium and include a DSB and off-cycle lighting?

No because the seahorses will eat the pods that you want to grow in a refugium. Plus, they need to be fed frequently, and they're messy eaters. Hence, water quality will suffer so they will end up adding nitrates/phosphates. Now, one possibility is to plumb a refugium before and another one after the seahorse tank with DSB, off-cycle lighting. And plant additional macroalgae in the seahorse tank as well. But then again, it may just be easier to have a separate seahorse tank with dedicated refugium.

 

[Stolireef]

jck and mtc
Looks like a separate system is the e way to go. Well at least the plumbing will be easier. Thanks for all the advice.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[pledosophy]

I feed my seahorse tank the equivalent of 12 cubes of food a day. I could not imagine adding that bioload to my reef and expecting it to be O.K.

JMO

I think seahorses and SPS can live together, I've done it. Most people don't want to take the time to do it right and fail IMO.

 

[mtc1966]

I feed my seahorse tank the equivalent of 12 cubes of food a day. I could not imagine adding that bioload to my reef and expecting it to be O.K.

JMO

I think seahorses and SPS can live together, I've done it. Most people don't want to take the time to do it right and fail IMO.

12 cubes a day :bigeyes: i guess thats for your 120 . how many seahorses are in that tank?

 

[Stolireef]

12 cubes???? Holy thats alot of food batman. How big is the tank? I'd love to see a picture.

 

[kudagirl]

12 Cubes Aday?????

12 Cubes Aday?????

Hi MTC1966,
How many sh have you to feed 12 cubes aday,i have two pairs of sh and they have between 4-6 cubes aday, and thats becouse i have another 3 small fish in with them.Am i not giving them enough food????

Sue

 

[rayjay]

You addressed the wrong person.
Pledosophy is the one who feeds equivalent to 12 cubes a day.
I probably feed the same equivalent though for 17 seahorses.

 

[WeBrokr]

Starting a seahorse tank is no easy feet because of the tank temp and other factors. Good luck I failed with several of my seahorse tanks

 

[amazo]

wow I can't get over the 12 cubes a day I have two pair of kuda (I just added a pair of males last week)with a purple firefish,watchmen goby,and a mandarin that may or may not nibble on frozena(i saw him near it for the 1st time yesterday) and I feed them 2 maybe 3 cubes if they seem to be "franticaly"searching for food.They always seem to finish the food so I don't have to remove any,so I guess my question is am I under feeding(their sizes are 1 larger 6-7 inches,1 med 4-5 inches,and 2 smaller 3-4 inches)? They don't seem overly hungry or skinny but I'm not used to having four yet.

 

[pledosophy]

You guys all seemed shocked. LOL.

I have 8 seahorses and a few fish in the tank. I also have some NPS corals that get target fed which takes up a cube or so in one feeding.

I feed 4 cubes 3 times a day.

The macro keeps my numbers in line pretty well, I do use a skimmer and some GFO as well. I do need to take some pictures of this tank, it's been a long time since I did that.

 

[mtc1966]

yes would love to see some pics

 

[pledosophy]

The tank is nothing special at this point, only up since nov, but I'll get some pics up one of these days.

Here is a teaser, this was right after the cycle.

And this was my 30g which I was feeding 5 cubes a day. Had to take this one down.

 

[mtc1966]

love all the tonga branch rock. i can never find the stuff near me.

 

[pledosophy]

I've had it for ten years or so. It's nice. The seahorses prefer the macro, leathers, and gorgs for me though. One of the branch rocks in there was a fake acro I got back in 01 or so. It's been around and encrusted with coraline and so forth so long it looks real.