I was thinking the other day about the possible options for making a seahorse tank as lush and interesting as possible. I invite everyone who has an interesting thought on the subject to post it, as well as seahorse tank pictures. That way, people interested in setting up a seahorse tank can get an idea of their options while they're still in the planning stage.
The tough things about generating an interesting seahorse tank include:
1-low temperature (72-75 or so) is generally optimal for seahorses, but this limits the growth of corals to some extent.
2-Few (if any) tankmates - captive-bred seahorses are expensive and delicate little things, and I don't like adding wild-caught or even store-bought fish that might carry parasites. This can be a limiting factor to the tank's potential.
3- Rock structures - If you want to be able to easily keep the sandbed as free as possible as detritus, it's not a bad idea to use as small a live-rock footprint as possible. On the other hand, live rock is a prime filter medium. I moved all my rock to my sump, along with a ball of chaeto to faciliate filtration and microfauna without needing a great deal of LR in the DT.
In terms of livestock, here's my thoughts on some common options. Some of these may need relatively higher light, but none need metal halides (which would heat the water too much anyway)
1-Gorgonians - Some are more difficult to keep healthy than others. I personally like photosynthetic ones the most, provided a tank as mildly strong LED lighting. (I use a Kessil 150a 10k). Non-photosynthetic ones can be tough to keep properly fed. At MACNA I bought a few photosynthetic ones from a place called "eco-gorg". So far they look happy, but the ones in my reef tank look the best. Perhaps 74 degrees is too cold?
2- Macroalgae- Some beautiful options are available, but I personally have a hard time laying my hands on some of the prettier red variants without having to buy online and pay for shipping.
3- Zoanthids- They do ok but I see much more growth from them in my reef tank, which has a higher temperature and stronger light.
4-Xenia- Believe it or not, I have a thriving Xenia that's about to split into a couple of daughter colonies. I also like the waving arms since a SH tank pretty much just has serene, low-movement seahorses.
5-Clams- I've had a Tridacna clam in my SH tank for 9 months or so; Rayjay mentioned that SH tails and clams don't always get along. It's a good point, I may move the clam out.
6-SPS corals- At a low temperature, you won't see much hyper growth, but I keep a couple of Monti Digitatas, a couple encrusting montis, and I'm testing out a (deep-water?) acropora which has gradually (very slowly) seemed to adjust to its situation and now has little polyps budding out, especially when I feed phyto. I'd love to see a seahorse tank which has SPS corals that are intensely colored. Not sure if this is possible. Mine aren't as colorful as they are in the reef.
7-Mushrooms- Always a crowd pleaser, and they thrive in slightly dirty water. Mine reproduce more in my SH tank than in my reef.
LPS- Have to be careful not to add anything with dangerous sweeper tentacles. I'm testing an Acan right now; if it doesn't thrive I'll move it to the reef. A candy cane looks extremely happy and extends its feeding tentacles whenever I feed Cyclopeeze for my pipefishes.
Anyway, those are some thoughts. If anyone has any neat ideas to share, or pics to show off, here is a good thread to do so with.
Thanks,
Lee
The tough things about generating an interesting seahorse tank include:
1-low temperature (72-75 or so) is generally optimal for seahorses, but this limits the growth of corals to some extent.
2-Few (if any) tankmates - captive-bred seahorses are expensive and delicate little things, and I don't like adding wild-caught or even store-bought fish that might carry parasites. This can be a limiting factor to the tank's potential.
3- Rock structures - If you want to be able to easily keep the sandbed as free as possible as detritus, it's not a bad idea to use as small a live-rock footprint as possible. On the other hand, live rock is a prime filter medium. I moved all my rock to my sump, along with a ball of chaeto to faciliate filtration and microfauna without needing a great deal of LR in the DT.
In terms of livestock, here's my thoughts on some common options. Some of these may need relatively higher light, but none need metal halides (which would heat the water too much anyway)
1-Gorgonians - Some are more difficult to keep healthy than others. I personally like photosynthetic ones the most, provided a tank as mildly strong LED lighting. (I use a Kessil 150a 10k). Non-photosynthetic ones can be tough to keep properly fed. At MACNA I bought a few photosynthetic ones from a place called "eco-gorg". So far they look happy, but the ones in my reef tank look the best. Perhaps 74 degrees is too cold?
2- Macroalgae- Some beautiful options are available, but I personally have a hard time laying my hands on some of the prettier red variants without having to buy online and pay for shipping.
3- Zoanthids- They do ok but I see much more growth from them in my reef tank, which has a higher temperature and stronger light.
4-Xenia- Believe it or not, I have a thriving Xenia that's about to split into a couple of daughter colonies. I also like the waving arms since a SH tank pretty much just has serene, low-movement seahorses.
5-Clams- I've had a Tridacna clam in my SH tank for 9 months or so; Rayjay mentioned that SH tails and clams don't always get along. It's a good point, I may move the clam out.
6-SPS corals- At a low temperature, you won't see much hyper growth, but I keep a couple of Monti Digitatas, a couple encrusting montis, and I'm testing out a (deep-water?) acropora which has gradually (very slowly) seemed to adjust to its situation and now has little polyps budding out, especially when I feed phyto. I'd love to see a seahorse tank which has SPS corals that are intensely colored. Not sure if this is possible. Mine aren't as colorful as they are in the reef.
7-Mushrooms- Always a crowd pleaser, and they thrive in slightly dirty water. Mine reproduce more in my SH tank than in my reef.
LPS- Have to be careful not to add anything with dangerous sweeper tentacles. I'm testing an Acan right now; if it doesn't thrive I'll move it to the reef. A candy cane looks extremely happy and extends its feeding tentacles whenever I feed Cyclopeeze for my pipefishes.
Anyway, those are some thoughts. If anyone has any neat ideas to share, or pics to show off, here is a good thread to do so with.
Thanks,
Lee
