tank size/set up recomendations for seahorses

[agreeive?fish]

Please give a detailed recomendation for a seahorse only tank..

would have a small group of aprox 4 seahorses.. specific breed is unknown at this point but no drawfs.

tank size(foot print/hieght/gallons)
filtration (gph ect)
live rock (amount for recomended tank)
lighting(seahorses and live rock and possibly macro algea for pod production)


would one of those bio cubes/aquapods type tanks be suitable for seahorses??????

thanks for the info as i will start buying the equipment in the next week or so.. wife is on my butt to get her seahorse tank started since i got her reef started a couple months ago but its to high a flow for seahorses

ps. i have had seahorses several years ago and had great sucess with them but equipment/husbandry has evolved since them days

 

[ann83]

45 gallons or larger
18" or taller, preferably 24" or taller
At least 6x tank volume turnover. 10 - 20 x turnover preferable if broken up by spraybars/diffusers so that there aren't areas where the current is too strong.
Protein skimmer recommended
A pound per gallon is a good rough estimate for live rock, but it really depends on the type of rock and other filtration.
PC or T-5 lighting for macro algae (seahorses and live rock do not need special lighting).

No on the biocube or aquapod, they run too warm and are too small for 4 seahorses.

Tropical species of seahorses (erectus, reidi, fuscus, comes, kuda, barbouri) should be kept between 70-74 degrees.

 

[agreeive?fish]

Thanks for the reply.. prety much what i expected..although ill go bigger on the tank(probably 90g)

the main thing i was totaly unsure of was the turn over rate since iam used to running a lot more turn over on my FOWLR and reef tanks

 

[David123]

Don't forget a UV.

 

[louie07]

At the LEAST a 30 gallon for 2 pair. The gph should be between 10-20 times the gallons of the tank, and about 1lb of live rock to gallon. that is just a rough estimate though, biocubes can work, but you have to get a 29 gallon, and have cb seahorses because the biocubes run a little hot and wild seahorses will probably die. captive bred seahorses can withsatnd more than wild ones.

 

[Lightsluvr]

What Ann83 said...

What Ann83 said...

Trust ann83 (above)... she knows what she is doing with seahorses... experience is worth a bunch~

JMHO.

LL

 

[Mikeeee]

I went with a 90g, drilled with 15g sump, use a eheim 1260 for return/flow, threw a bunch of LR in the sump along with a bunch of chaeto, this was i can create more open look in the tank and have a nice area for grass. I use T5's 4x54w for mine but mostly only 2 of them are on. I chose to use more bluer bulbs for the first few months till the algae disappears. I plan to switch to 6500k later on which i think will be better for the plants. I just added 2 Kuda's to the tank a week ago and they are already doing the mating dance! its really interesting to watch them because they turn all white.

 

[Mikeeee]

Also just wanted to add i think the flow depends on how much LR you have in the main DP because if you are like me and like the open look you wont need that much otherwise you will soon find yourself turning it down. Best to get something that is controllable IMO..