Starting new 24g Seahorse Nano- Lots o' pics

[eederise]

Hi all,

Got my wife a 24g Nanocube for Christmas and just set it up. We were looking at a 14g Biocube, but found the Nanocube and stand on special. So I thought that Since we were a little more organized this round that I would take some pictures along the way and keep everyone in the loop as things progress. I don't know what species horse she'll want to keep just yet as she has a lot of research to do over the next few months while the tank matures.

We plan to keep the following as tank mates:

zoa polyps
gorgonia
firefish
mandarin
Shrimp Goby and Pistol
Xenia
A few cleaner snails and small hermits
A cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp
Maybe some macro algae as well

Here we go...



These are all pending seahorse compatability, of course.

We used 20lbs of Caribsea live sand. 10lbs of Fiji Pink, 10lbs of Bimini Pink

26lbs of Tongo Live Rock

We used our two bigest pieces to make an elevated cave

Completed Rockwork

More to Come...

 

[eederise]

Fill er' up!

After about 2 hours of settling, we have pretty clear water.

I'd be interested in any advice thus far. Also, I'm looking for personal feedback from anyone whose done nanocube mods/upgrades. I'm most interested in protein skimmers(especially Sapphire Nanoskimmers), lighting upgrades(including HQI), and Chillers(especially the ICA)

Thanks for looking
Shaun

 

[Fredfish]

Thats a nice looking tank, but its a little small to be putting all those fish into.

The mandarin will probably starve in that size tank unless you are lucky and get one that eats frozen or prepared foods.

Some people have had issues with cleaner shrimp bothering seahorses, but other than that I see no compatability issues.

Were you planning on running a skimmer on this tank?

Fred

 

[Nano-Nag]

eederise,

Keep on eye on the tank's temp. - the nanocubes tend to run warm. You may need to modify it (ie chiller, fans, etc.) to make the temperature suitable for the seahorses.

Shay

 

[mavl666]

Go to TFH.COM and access the web extras page. There is section about seahorse compatibiity regarding corals and other fish.

 

[eederise]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Don't see the tfh.com web extra page, though.

Has anyone dealt with the upgrades I mentioned in my original message? I'm interested in finding out how this equipment performs? May have to ask in the Equipment area, I suppose.

 

[scapes]

eederise...
get rid of the fish and just keep SH's. SH's are so slow, fishes will probably eat their food.

I don't have mine in a nano, so I can't help on nano equipment.
macro-my SH's love it!! get caulerpa prolifera from www.floridapets.com. plant it in your sand.

SH"S need only enough light to see their food. so it doesn't have to be bright. if you get macro you will need more light.

 

[scapes]

oh, forgot to mention....
you'll need some kind of hitching post. they can't hitch on your rock alone. you can buy a fake post from your LFS if you choose not to use macro

 

[eederise]

Thanks for the info! The two 36W PC's it came with give me 3W/gal. What should I shoot for if I want to keep some macro? Also, what do you keep your temp at?

Thanx, Shaun

 

[Fredfish]

You could quite easily go down to one 36w for macro.

THe non-aggressive fish you listed will not compete with your horses that much for food. Bioload is a much larger issue.

If you do decide to add other fish, start with the horses fisrt and make sure your tank is running well before adding tankmates.

Fred

 

[TamiW]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8670416#post8670416 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eederise
Thanks for the tips, guys. Don't see the tfh.com web extra page, though.

I was curious, so I found the TFH article:
http://www.tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/WE_seahorse_chart.php

 

[eederise]

Cool....thanks!

 

[Fredfish]

Two items on that list are not a good idea. Rhodactus and Cataphylia are known piscovours. They can eat small fish.

Fred

 

[seahorsedreams]

I just received the chiller mod from nanotuners.com. Haven't plugged it in yet because the tank just cycled and I'm recording how hot these things get for comparison. This tank right now is too hot for my Volitan (who will go in there as soon as I install the chiller) let alone seahorses (which require a lower temp).

Mine right now is 80.1 and the room temp is 71.4...... that's just a crazy difference. You really need to get the chiller if you want seahorses in there.

 

[eederise]

I've been watching mine all week and it's been staying between 73 and 76, so I may not need the chiller. We're going to upgrade the lighting to one of the sunpod type units, so we'll see what that does to the temp. I'm very interested in seeing how your chiller does.

 

[seahorsedreams]

Do you have AC for the summer months at your place?

 

[Angeline]

I want to add that you really should get some macroalgae, my horses love it.

 

[truthdesigns]

wow I really like that rock work great start keep up the photos!

 

[eederise]

Thanks Justin. Took us a little while to get the rock the way we wanted. Can't wait to set up my 120g. Take all day just to get the rock right.

Seahorse dreams: Yes we have A/C. Normally keep the house at 70F. For some reason the room we have the nano in(office) stays colder than the rest of the house. My 40g is near the kitchen and stays at 79-82F. Go figure...

Added a ECO Aqualizer (ionizer) and small cleaning crew today (10 snails/10 hermits). And we're going to order these lights this week. Click I'll put pics of an exciting Diatom bloom and the ionizer soon.

Angeline: Do you have some of the red macro algae (don't know the proper name...) I'm looking for a good place to get some. Also, how long should we wait to add the macro? My initial cycle seems to be complete. Is it ok to add some now??