Tank too big?

[Limbo]

I have a 125G(?) FOWLR tank with some inverts as a cleanup crew. It's not drilled and I'm wanting to convert the tank into something else; something different without too much cost. The tank has been running ~2 years.

Having looked around on this forum I like the heavily planted tanks with SH and thought that it might be nice to try my hand at that.

My lighting is PC 4x96w which I hope is enough for the plants. What do you think? Guess it depends on the plants

It's 72"Lx18"Wx20"H. Is this too long? Not high enough?

Wasn't planning to stock it heavily and instead run it skimmerless and as one big fuge. I'm planning to sell the fish and incompatible inverts currently in there. The LR quantity isn't very much and I have a canister filter. Considering just using the canister for carbon and the LR as pod protection. My sandbed is live(ish) and ~2" deep.

It runs at about 79F, which I know is high and I'm thinking of removing the glass lid off the top, installing a hood and connecting up some fans. It's an AC house and I hope some fans would be able to drop the temp by the required 5F. Obviously to be tested before stocking.

Not decided which species of SH to go with. Probably the easiest if there is such a thing

Oh and one last question. Can you mix SH's in a tank?

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

 

[nickterp]

Don't know much about sea horses, but your lights should definitely be enough to grow plants. I think the tank should be high enough for sh's.

If you are running skimmerless and using the canister just for carbon, any ideas on other filtration?

Good luck!

 

[Fishfirst]

sounds like a good plan... as long as temp doesn't get too hot. Some species of seahorses can be mixed, such as reidi and erectus and kuda. How many horses were you planning?

 

[Limbo]

any ideas on other filtration?

Lots of plants and the existing LR.

How many horses were you planning?

Just one or two pairs to start, build up slowly to maybe herd of 16-24. Got this number from another site.

 

[snowlancer2720]

supposedly a pair of horses per 10 gallons is a good number..so you are looking at about 25 horses...wooo! good luck with it!

 

[hydroid]

Sounds like you've done your reasearch and picked a fun project.

A few thoughts:

Your tank is plenty big and tall enough. SH need height to breed and 20" is enough for most commonly avaialble seahorses. Seahorses will use the space of a 125G and will love lots of LR and macro. A downside to a large tank is the horses can hide ... it might be less obvious if one becomes sick or hurt.

3 watts/gallon is plenty for many, many types of decorative macro algaes. Some plants like seagrasses do better in the 6+ wpg range. Find Samala on this board ... she's a plant person, who also cultures and sells some macros/grasses.

In general, seahorses are messy eaters, so take that into consideration when planning your filtration. The plants will help alot.

I strongly disagree with FishFirst on mixing species. This is a big no-no in my book. erectus are notorious for being carriers of diseases to which they immuned, that will make other species ill. This is true to a lesser degree in all species. In fact, I had problems when I mixed the same species from different breeders. Go with one species from one breeder - it will save you many headaches (talking from experience here). Also, don't house with other syngnathids like pipefish, for the same reason. IMO, this is the number one most important rule after learning their care requirements ... one species ... one breeder ... unless you like tube feeding horses. DracoMarine, SeahorseSource, and Oceanrider are the most consciencious breeders IMO.

Plan to enrich their food. frozen mysis shrimp is the best available food, but it lacks necessary vitamins. I use Vitachem, some use vibrance (from oceanrider), others make their own.

Get diamox - it is not usually easy to obtain quickly. If your horses get GBD you will need it immediately ... best to have it on hand up front.

HTH