29 gal. Sea Horse Tank

F

funfactor

Registered Member
Feb 23, 2006
3
0
0
46
Pennslyvannia
Helllo eveyone i just wanted to see what ideas you would have on helping me make a sea horse tank. I'm not new to the marine tanks but don't have much general knowledge on sea horses. Ideas for tank so far:

3" Reef sand bed, Aqua C Remora Skimmer, Fluval 204 Canister filter.

I need help on the lighting. If the floresent bulbs that come with tanks are good enough i will not upgrade or do you think i should get some T5 or PC?

How much live rock? Any particular type better than the other for seahorses?

What type of Plant Life? Eating habits of Captive Bred seahorses.

I know i didn't give you much information as to what type of seahorses i'm looking at because i have not made that decision yet.

Do you think the Fluval canister might be to much circulation?
 
Last edited:
Welcome to AC!

Lots of good questions. With a few important differences, keeping seahorses is like keeping any other fish. If you set the tank up to optimize water quality, they should do well. The specific issues for seahorses include the need for excellent biological filtration and nutrient export (they are messy eaters), and lots of places for them to hitch in the tank.

Lighting is not critical unless you plan on keeping live plants or corals. A standard strip light will be plenty to keep the SHs themselves happy.

Macroalgae, like caulerpa, sargassum, gracilaria, botryocladia etc, provide good hitching posts as well as nutrient export, and are pretty easy to keep. You could probably get by with 55+ watts of PC or T5 lighting, although more light gives faster growth. With your 3" sandbed, you might even try true plants like stargrass.

Corals, especially photosynthetic gorgonians, work very well in SH tanks, but will require somewhat more light.

Food. That's an interesting topic. One thing that you'll find about these guys is that they are individuals. My female is happy with both Piscine Energetics frozen mysis and Hikari, which is smaller, but the male really prefers Hikari. All CB horses should go for frozen mysis, but you may have to experiment to find what makes them happiest. Setting up a feeding station will simplify your life, keeping the mysis in one place and reducing waste. I use a shell, some use little bowls. I keep wanting to try the cheap plastic champagne glasses, sticking the stem into the sand.

I also use a refugium to culture amphipods and mysis to supplement their diet. It's also a good place to grow macroalgae to help export nutrients.

If you are interested in what I did for my tank, the thread is here
 
Thanks for the information dave. Beautiful tank also. How much live rock do u think i should go with? 30 lbs sound good? And about the canister filter do u think it will have to much circulation or does that sound about right for that size tank?
 
Ooops, lost the filter and live rock comments when editing. The filter and circulation sound good to me. A canister will have a tendency to trap debris, especially the uneaten food for the SHs. Make sure you keep it clean.

I'd say 30 or more lbs live rock, but it doesn't really matter what kind.

Thanks for the nice words. Keep the questions coming, and post on your progress.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom