30 gal. Seahorse and mushroom tank

[drewdog82]

I have a cycled 30 gal. tank. I was wondering if it would be possible to convert this into an all mushroom tank with 2 seahorses. I don't know much about the seahorses, but I'm starting to read up on them. If this is possible, I need suggestions on how best 2 accomadate these seahorses. Amount of LR, LS, clean-up crew, is too much lighting bad, anything would be appreciated...
Also, am I ok with just a HOB filter or do I also need a skimmer???

 

[teresaq]

My seahorse tank was a 37 gal cube. It can be done. Mushrooms are a good coral for this tank. Pc lights will be fine for both horses and corals. I didnt have a skimmer, but did have a magnum hang on canister filter (with all the mysis to feed them, you need good filter.) I lost my horses due to a tank malfunction. I'll replace them someday. cleanup should be snails, and very small hermits. try and keep brissle worms out of your tank. you will need some type of micros or plastic plants for horse hitches.
Best of luck, and i'm sure more people will chime in

 

[darthtang aw]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
try and keep brissle worms out of your tank.

Why? I had bristleworms all over in my tanks and they were great for cleaning the sand and eating up the broken down junk left over. Kept my tank real clean and water parameters perfect. The horses never had a problem with them and vie versa...some were almost 4-5 inches long. However I do understand some worms are bot good to have, but bristleworms were fine.

 

[teresaq]

I know a couple of people who had thier horses snike a worm, and die. The brissles in the snout killed it.
so now i play on the side of caution.
TeresaQ

 

[drewdog82]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
My seahorse tank was a 37 gal cube. It can be done. Mushrooms are a good coral for this tank. Pc lights will be fine for both horses and corals. I didnt have a skimmer, but did have a magnum hang on canister filter (with all the mysis to feed them, you need good filter.) I lost my horses due to a tank malfunction. I'll replace them someday. cleanup should be snails, and very small hermits. try and keep brissle worms out of your tank. you will need some type of micros or plastic plants for horse hitches.
Best of luck, and i'm sure more people will chime in
Would a 39x4 T-5 fixture be too much lighting?

 

[darthtang aw]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
I know a couple of people who had thier horses snike a worm, and die. The brissles in the snout killed it.
so now i play on the side of caution.
TeresaQ

I have heard this, but never experienced it...were their seahorses wild caught or captive bred?

 

[teresaq]

One was his wild caught breeder, and not sure of the other.
no sure on the lights, I dont like t5s too much.
I have them on my reef, and hate them

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Darthtang AW
Why? I had bristleworms all over in my tanks and they were great for cleaning the sand and eating up the broken down junk left over. Kept my tank real clean and water parameters perfect. The horses never had a problem with them and vie versa...some were almost 4-5 inches long. However I do understand some worms are bot good to have, but bristleworms were fine.
I'm glad to finally find something like this. I have some pretty sizeable bristle worms in my sh tank that I've posted about on my thread. My worry was also that they would snick a worm by mistake...this will help me to stop worrying about that so much.
I agree, in watching the worms during and after feeding time, they're out and working.
Lisa

 

[darthtang aw]

I have heard of them snicking a bristleworm as Theresa stated, never experienced it myself. However I have only had CB Seahorses. The stories I hear this on are 99% of the time wild caught. In addition I believe they only snick the bristleworms when shrimp aren't present regularly and/or the pod population diminishes considerably. However this is just my observations and thoughts. I have nothing scientific to back this up.

 

[darthtang aw]

And if you want to get rid of them, the easiest way is to get a six-line wrasse (which will house fine with your horses) and the wrasse will eat them up.

 

[monalisa]

My horses are captive bred, so hopefully snicking won't be an issue. I had already figured that some kind of wrasse would be the way to go to get rid of them in case I needed to, however, I'm working very hard at making mine a seahorse dedicated tank. When I know for sure that Apache and Navajo are fine and dandy, my plan is to add another 2 CB horses...I think that's going to pretty much max out my 37gal.
Lisa

 

[cichlidkid]

Hey wait, do seahorses and pipefishes tolerate MH lighting?

 

[darthtang aw]

yes, if you provide enough plant cover for them to hide in.

 

[m0nk]

This is all great info, I'm still considering setting a 37 up this winter for 2 SH, but knowing that a six-line would be good to have in there will help the initial setup. I've seen them housed together at my LFS but wasn't sure if it was for any particular reason.