Is my 54g Corner Tank a Good Candidate for Seahorses?

forddna

Member
I'm getting really bored with my freshwater planted tank, and I'm thinking of converting it to either a clownfish tank or a seahorse tank. I know absolutely nothing about seahorses, other than they appreciate a tall tank.
My tank is 22" high. The two flat sides are 27" each, and the bowfront is 38" wide.
It has 2.4wpg PC lighting - three AH Supply retrofits.
Not sure what else need to be taken into consideration.
Any advice?
 

teresaq

Active Member
Its a perfect size for one or two pairs of horses. most lrg horses are 6 to 7 inches and require a tank that is 3x thier length.
T
 

pete159

Member
if your into freshwater tanks then first read up on saltwater.
you'll need 50 lbs (or more) of live rock to have a strong bio filter in a 54g tank, though some here will not agree.
live rock makes the best bio filter for a saltwater tank.
After that a good protein skimmer is important in a saltwater tank.
get few pumps, but make sure there is a low flow area for the ponys as ponys do not like lots of flow in there area of intrest.
A seahorse is a fish, just a strange looking one, so all rules for sensitive saltwater fish apply to ponys.
Buy captive bred and not wild caught.
Get some good hitching posts for their long tails to wrap around, fake coral works fine.
feed frozen mysis, not a cheap brand but a good one.
Slow moving peacefull fish can be kept with captive bred ponys. I do not have wild caught so i am not sure how they react with tank mates
just remember the bio filter is the most important part of saltwater tanks, so make sure you have a strong one, which means lots of live rock, as any modern saltwater book will say.

 

teresaq

Active Member
you should have no problems setting up a tank for horses. Just set up as if you were doing a reef, except flow will be a little less. be sure you have a couple of quite spots with really low flow and some with higher. they can take more flow them most people think.
leave more open area in front with hitching posts. try to establish a nice pod population. decrative macros look great in a horse tank and provide areas for pods to hid and breed. corals like shrooms, leathers, kenyas and zoos, xenia and gsp also look great in there.
what is the filteration on the tank. if using a canister, a spray bar works great for nice even flow.
as stated above, buy only captive breed horses. There is a breeding facility near west palm beach that is a great source. what species are you thinking of getting?
Good Luck
T
 

forddna

Member
Yes, Filstar XP3 canister filter with a spray bar, and then some flow will come back from the HOT skimmer. It's very easy to have dead spots in a corner tank, so that's no problem! lol
I'm thinking of the Reidi yellow. I really like any of the yellow horses.
 

teresaq

Active Member
Just remember horses are like camelions, they can change color. To keep them more yellow, you will need to provide yellow hitches and that dosent always hold true. I had yellow and greenish yellow erectus.
 
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