Quote:
Originally Posted by
TriciaG http:///t/396645/help-please-want-to-start-a-seahorse-tank#post_3534228
Thank You for the help. I have started searching for the products that you suggested. I do have a question about the sand. I had already read something about the "hitchhikers that you have to be very careful about, but a lot of people have suggested getting Live sand and a live rock to help the tank get established. You say "No", this is where I am getting so confused, if I don't use the live products how does the tank get what it needs?
Hi,
The reason you are confused is that there is no set in rock perfect method. The best we can do, is offer you what has worked for us. So every time you ask for help from a different person, you will get a different method. This why, when it comes to setting up, or caring for sick critters, that you follow that advice you set your mind to, and not mix several peoples methods.
IMO...Because seahorses are so delicate, it's best to control what is in the tank with them. I purchased macroalgae, the tiny copepods and amphipods are all over that stuff. I also go to an on-line site to purchase tiny brittle stars, and have even seeded my tank with amphipods because the horses love to hunt and eat them for snacks. I purchased peppermint shrimp to help curb the wasted food nutrients, and they eat aptasia a huge helper plus, since they sting seahorses.
To kick start the cycle, I put a chunk of raw shrimp in the tank once it's set up, then let the natural cycle begin. The tank must be fully cycled before you add any horses, and it's best to add all of your seahorses at one time. In a regular tank we add one fish at a time and wait weeks in between additions. I also put some extra cycle in the tank when I add the horses because it's a sudden jump for the good bacteria to handle. Bacteria infections and disease are the greatest enemy, and we need to limit the exposure of different pathogens. This is why we select a certain breed of seahorse, and not mix with another in the same tank.
I keep Kuda horses in a tall 56g, and Potbelly seahorses in my 90g. I kept CAPTIVE bred pipefish in a quarantine for months, adding a little water from that tank into the kuda tank, in hopes of getting the horses "exposed" slowly, so they could dwell together, it was very nervous going for me, but I really wanted the both in the same tank. They have lived in happy harmony for over a year now, and I'm delighted to say the pipefish and horses are doing fine.
The live sand that is only bacteria packed sand in bags at the LFS, is okay to use, true reef sand however, is loaded with all kinds of living things in it. The live rock is LIVE because it loaded with all kinds of living tiny things, some are good and needed, but some are very bad for seahorses, corals and fish alike. I choose to select what I add to the tank, and let the selected critters seed and breed in the dead dry rock,
making it live, but controlled. It's a little more expensive to do it that way, but the horses cost much more to replace. The money kind of evens out since dry rock is much, much cheaper then live rock.
For the CUC (Clean Up Crew) I keep a variety of snails, each feeds on different types of algae, or uneaten food...no hermits or other type of crab, no large serpent or brittle stars, just the tiny micro stars.
As for establishing the tank, the macroalgae will do wonders. Oh and I nearly forgot....you need an air line, no stone. The bubbles help move the surface water instead of the powerheads, that blow too hard for delicate swimmers like a seahorse. They like to play in the bubbles too, so I have two lines running in both of my tanks. I do use a powerhead in the 90g, but it's a weak one to keep the rocks clear of detritus and nothing the horses can wrap their tails on...most of the water movement are the bubble lines.
I like decorations besides the rock, so in the Kuda tank I put columns, and in the 90g potbelly tank, I put a ships wheel and an anchor with plastic chain. I also have striped green metallic mushroom corals in the Kuda tank, the mushroom corals are super hardy, and I like them. Most of my macros are red, and the green color helps break it up a bit.