New project: Seagrass/Seahorse tank

[mogurnda]

It's been a while since I updated. A flooded basement and work have been in the way dealing with photos lately.

The shipment came in from Florida Pets, and the service was great. Packed well. all was there as promised. Received:
12 shoal grass
12 manatee grass
10 ceriths
6 nerites
5 porcelain crabs.
gracilaria
pods

I also ordered what I thought would be a small photosynthetic gorgonian for the reef, but that thing was huge!

After Slipknottin's comment, I did some thinking, and re-read some threads and Walstead's book, and decided that it would really help to have a richer subsoil. Added about 15 lbs of Flourite under the existing aragonite. It was interesting trying to get soil under the sand.

Here it is a few days after planting. I gave away a few of the mushrooms, and the diatoms have already started.


I was pleased to see the porcelain crabs sifting the sand. Keeps the diatoms down near their rocks.

I expect the tank to be ugly for a while until the diatoms die down and I get nutrient dosing under control.

I'll probably order the turtle grass in a few weeks, and maybe start building a canopy for the halides I'm talking myself into.

 

[reiverix]

Any updates to report?

 

[mogurnda]

Funny you should ask. There have actually been a bunch of changes, but I haven't had much time to get photos up.

I found a great deal on a 250 watt electronic halide ballast, so I slapped together a canopy and used an iwasaki lamp that I had lying around. My understanding is that more light is better, and the 6500 K Iwasakis are just the right spectrum. Because I don't want the temp to go up, the canopy is highly ventilated and has a powerful fan.

Because the horsies will prefer cooler temps, I have dropped the tank temp to 74, which the mushrooms don't seem to like too much.

I have also added a bunch more plants, including turtle grass, widgeon grass and star grass, hoping to sop up the extra nutrients. The sandbed is now packed with plants. I expect there will be a little natural selection before things calm down.

As I expected with a new, brightly lit tank, it is going through some growing pains. I have some great growths of diatoms, and cyano. Since the tank has been consuming nitrate, phosphate and carbonate, I am supplementing KNO3 and PH2PO4 to give the plants a leg up. I'm dealing with carbon needs by dosing vinegar in the topoff, with just a dask of kalk for Ca.

I am hoping my strategy will favor the plants. We'll see.

 

[mogurnda]

Allright, I have a little more time tonight, so here's a progress report.

I slapped together a canopy from some 1X6s, 1X4s and 1X2s I had lying around. Even though the wood was cheap and the assembly hasty, I think the concept is a good one: mostly open to get rid of heat, with a hinge in the front.
Bottom view. The front is away from the camera, and the canopy will rest on the vertical 1X2s (black).


Front view. Two 1X6s make up the front. The boards across the back will be for stability and the dosing reservoir.


Painted, hinges added.


Reflector and socket for the halide installed. Premium Aquatics was selling a great electronic ballast for $50, so I couldn't pass it up.


Also added 120V 4" fan. A little loud, but boy does it move air. Since seahorses like cooler temps, I want to keep as much of the heat from the lamp out of the tank as possible.


Here's the result. A lot more light. At this point, the algae are really enjoying it, but some of the plants seem to be making progress.


You can also see the aquadose on the top, with RO water, vinegar (as a carbon source) and a little kalk. The ugly dark thing in the middle is a hydor powerhead/heater that I'm trying. Seems like a good idea for a little flow, plus a heater that the horses can't burn themselves on.

Although there is more algae than I'd like, the conditions are actually pretty good.
pH 8.3
temp 74
alkalinity 3.5 mEq/L (thanks to the vinegar)
Ca 390 and climbing
PO4 undetectable, but adding small doses for plants
NO3 1 ppm, but trying to have it stable around 5.

Boy, that's a long post. I should do this more often.

 

[Swimfins]

New picture would be nice.....nice...nice... nice!

 

[mogurnda]

New picture would be nice.....nice...nice... nice!

I am actually going to be doing a bit of work tonight. Adding a skimmer, cleaning out the remains of the chaeto, exchanging a 12" fuge for the 24" model that's on there now. Pictures will get taken, but I have no idea if I will be able to upload them.

Gateway used to make good computers.

 

[Riso-chan]

Good luck with your venture here. Actually, I myself have been researching what it takes to keep seahorses. Though I am a freshwater planted tank keeper of only a year, I still like to do research ahead of time. It wont be that soon either, I'd have to have more money, more space, preferably my own apartment by then. Anyway, I can at least marvel at someone else's experiences right here.~Angela

 

[Swimfins]

I noticed you mixed in a little flourite. I'm wondering in an all 'Miracle Mud' refugium substrate could work. What do you think?

Here is what I'm considering and might use my 25g long since they are only 4 inches long.

Hippocampus Whitei / Syndey Seahorse
The Sydney seahorse is one of the smaller seahorses, reaching only 4" in length. They range in colour from brown to grey, yellow and black and develop a beautiful coronet on their heads. The Sydney seahorse is a active species which enjoys water temperatures between 72-77 degrees F. They become sexually active at about 6 months of age. We recommend stocking them at one pair per 30L of water.

 

[mogurnda]

Not sure about miracle mud. I picked flourite because it has a lot of iron. There is a belief, possibly true, that marine plants need iron supplementation, and giving it through the roots keeps it out of the water column where algae can also use it. I really have no idea how valid the assumption is.

The little SHs sound cool. Are they captive-bred? I keep hearing horror stories about disease in WC horsies. I will probably go with erectus because they are supposedly the hardiest, and I can get them CB here. Reidi and kuda are also avaliable, so who knows what I'll settle on.

I did a lot of stuff last night, pics to follow.

 

[mogurnda]

Okey-doke, time for a progress report and some new photos.

After installing the halides, and then getting busy with work, thanksgiving and stuff, the tank got pretty bad. Fast-growing cyano covered everything, including the plants, and the chaeto and gracilaria in the fuge melted down.

Made me rethink my strategy. Did I really want to have a refugium as the main nutrient export, when I had a tank full of plants? The other flawed assumption, I think, was that low flow and no skimmer wouold be good for the plants. It's true in a FW planted tank where the plants use CO2 as a carbon source, but SW plants apparently use carbonate. All one needs to do is maintain alkalinity, and there are lots of ways of doing that (see below).

The first change was to add a 300 gph powerhead. Soon after, the cyano started to crash, and things started looking up.



The next step was to add a skimmer and use a smaller fuge I had lying around. I still wanted a fuge for pods, and maybe for a reverse photoperiod. Because it was fairly cheap, and gets decent reviews I decided to try a Coralife SuperSkimmer.



The 24" fuge fuge was pretty foul. Low flow, dying macroalgae and collected debris made for some anaerobic, stinky pockets.


Nonetheless, the amphipod population was amazing. I wish I could have saved them all.

[posts in case of crash]