Thinking of starting a seahorse tank

[sfboarders]

I have this 29 gallon tank that I was going to use as a nano reef but I ended up changing my 100 gallon FOWLR to a reef tank so it's just sitting as a coral QT/frag tank now.

I'm thinking of setting up a seahorse tank for my son's room. I have a HOB protein skimmer and 4 x24 T5. I have a bunch of pukani and shelf rock and left over sand I can use. Are the lights only used for viewing pleasure or do seahorses need light? I doubt I'd need a chiller cause without a heater the water will be in the 60's. It doesn't get too hot where I live during the spring/summer.

I have some extra coral laying around like kenya trees, zoas, and xenia. Would that be ok to go in a seahorse tank? What macro algae do you guys recommend?

TIA for answering my questions.

 

[rayjay]

A 29g tank is ideal for a pair of normal sized seahorses.
Lighting required is only what you need for other tank inhabitants if you wish to go that way, as seahorses don't have a specific need.
SEAHORSE TANKMATES
As for your rock and sand, many, myself included, would boil the rock and sand or sterilize with peroxide before using to minimize the chances of failure due to transfered pathogens.
Some use sand beds while others prefer to go bare bottom.
Use an ammonia source to cycle the tank completely before adding your horses. Of course, you have to remove any corals or other life forms before doing this.
Some dip corals before placing them in the cycled tank, again, to minimize problems.
Temperature recommended is between 68° and 74°F.
One big factor in better odds of success in seahorse keeping is to buy TRUE captive bred seahorses like those you can buy from other hobbyists raising them, or from a place like seahorsesource.com.
MOST other seahorses are known as tank raised, pen raised, or wild caught and do not have near the same success rate that the true captive bred seahorses have.
The opinions on how to set up your tank is diverse so do a lot of homework before you really decide.
Others will chime in with their thoughts for more variety but if you google "seahorse keeping" you will get a lot of places to do all your research.
Until you gain experience, it's best to go with the recommendations of the majority of experienced keepers.