Starting up! Questions.

[Franco724]

Hello everyone, after many years of keeping saltwater and researching seahorses i think i am finally ready to take the plunge.

I already have the tank i plan to use, i believe it is a 30 gallon, with the dimensions of 20" tall, 12" wide, and 30" long. I plan to keep a pair either H. Erectus or H. Keloggi or even possibly H. Reidi - if i can find them locally.

I plan to set up the tank within the next month or so , and i don't plan on adding any of the horses and such until about June so the tank has a nice chance to cycle. Though i have some more questions:

Live rock or base rock? I was leaning toward base rock so i could avoid all hitchhikers. Perhaps i could do about a pound or two live rock and about 10lbs of base rock.

I know of course to go toward the "branchier" pieces of rock to provide hitching posts and whatnot but i would also plan to add artificial sea fans and such until i think im ready to take a chance with gorgs and other seahorse safe corals. I will also include the various marine plants such as halimeda, shaving brush, mermaids fan, along with all the various algaes and such.

Live Sand? Crushed Coral? or something else as substrate? What do all you seahorse keepers recommend. Is it true that the crushed coral could injure the horses?

... that's about all, I think. If something more pops into mind ill post back

Thanks in advance.
-Franco

 

[Franco724]

While browsing the plethora of tanks down in my basement i've unearthed a 42 gallon hexagon tank. Perhaps this would work better? Though im not sure how i would run filtartion on this, unless i found a nice calm hang-on filter and covered the intake with sponge .... Any suggestions?

 

[namxas]

i think you'll have an easier time ridding yourself of dead spots in the rectangular tank than in a hex. don't go too overboard with low flow. SH can handle a lot more flow than the "old school" info suggests. the key is to do it creatively, so you don't have constant strong laminar flow, and that there are places the SH can rest.

i have a good friend who has something like 60x turnover in his SH setup, but he has spent lots of time and a few iterations to get it "just right". my bigger SH setup is running about 15x turnover.

i use 1"-2" of #3 aragonite as substrate. i don't recommend CC at all.

as for LR, any amount of LR will bring in HH's, and frankly, unless you're keeping zots, i wouldn't worry about them. in 20 years of SW, the worst HH i've had were Aiptasia. that's just my personal opinion.

if you run a HOB, get one that's rated for double your volume, as SH are pretty hard on water quality.

HTH

 

[mattkd5]

you should also have a deticated chiller to keep temps below 74 degrees

 

[Elysia]

Depends on where he lives -- he may not need a chiller. Also, unless you are getting better kelloggi than we are seeing in the States, I wouldn't suggest them for your first horses (or any time.)

 

[Franco724]

Thanks for all the info namxas, I'll probably end up running the 30 gallon instead of the hex, looks nicer and more efficient (space wise) for me. And im looking to set the tank itself up in mid febuary and then letting it run till June - so i'll have plenty of time to mess around with the flow and filtration.

I'm in New Jersey, and to be honest I don't have the money to spend on a chiller. I currently am out of work and they're just too expensive. I'm hoping to get everything going for under 250$ (I have most of the major supplies so it should be easy). As for temperature our 120 gallon maxes out at about 75-76 in the summers and cooler in the winters as we keep the house cool. With the SH tank i won't be running any halides or such so i should be able to keep the temps down. And if need i can position a fan near the tank.

As for seahorses, the erectus or kelloggi would be ordered from DFS at Liveaquaria. Unless of course i find something nice locally that i can trust to be captive bred and healthy.

 

[namxas]

if you're going to order anyhow, i suggest you get your SH directly from a reputable breeder or hobbyist/breeder such as www.seahorsesource.com.

if you want erectus, Beth (Peka here on RC) usually has some really sweet SH.

if i were to get more SH, those are pretty much my first choices. i do order from DD (DFS) fairly often, but i wouldn't use them for SH personally.

 

[Franco724]

Erectus is probably the way i'll end up going, so i will have to remember Beth when im ready to get the horses (late spring- early summer). Thanks for the tip.