Large Tank or Small Tank

rykna

Active Member
Which size tank do you think would be easiest maintain, most cost efficient, and have the most long term success. Please include all seahorses and pipe fish when making your decision.
38g V.S. 90g
Please include your thoughts on your decision.
~Rykna
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I would think it depends on the species of horse you're going to keep! I wouldn't want to keep dwarf ponies in a 55g aquarium, for instance -- you'd lose track of them in such a large tank.
That said, I'm a big fan of "bigger is better." You get more stability in the system in terms of chemical fluctuation. I have a 37g tank, and while I think it's great, it may not be for everyone. It requires weekly water changes to keep it in check, chemical testing every couple days, etc. If I was to do it over again I would start with an aqueon 65 gallon tank (36x18x24"). That would give me almost double the water volume, and allow me to keep an extra horse safely. Believe me, my 110g tank is a lot less work on a weekly basis than my 37g horse tank!
 

teresaq

Active Member
I have had a 37 gal and and 54 for my horses, I like the 54 better since I have more room in the tank and under.
The 90 would be nice for several pairs of horses and the 38 for a sump.
TeresaQ
 

rykna

Active Member
The main thing I am trying to iron out is expenses and maintenance. I like my 90g better, however, the light I have for it is and outer orbit which sucks electricity. And I think the Outer Orbit may be a bit bright for seahorses.
 

teresaq

Active Member
I have them in a 20 gal with a sunpod right now, they dont seem to mind too much, but then I only have the light on for a few hours.
I have a 36 inch fixture I would give ya, but it would be too small for your tank and its only like 110 wtts
T
 

dingus890

Member
I personally feel more comfortable with smaller tanks(as the 3 tanks I have are 20,20 and 10 gallon)I do a 15% water change ever week - 2 weeks on all the tanks.have to top off with fresh water every 2-3 days to keep the salinity stable.
It depends on what you can afford and bigger it gets the more exspensive it gets. The filters get bigger, more LR is needed, many powerheads for movement,the water changes get bigger.
I would love to have a big tank one day with bigger fish like an angel and tangs but for horses I would think a 38 to 50 gallon would be good. I think a 90 actually would be to big unless you had many pairs in the tank.That would be so cool to have a 90 gallon with 6 pairs of horses flitting around the tank...hehe
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Dingus, I actually agree with you about a 90 being pretty big for seahorses only. Like I said, I *really* like the dimentions of that 65g tank....3ft long, 2 ft tall, foot and a half deep....sounds like the perfect amt of water for a couple mated pairs, and I don't think you'd have to spend huge amts of money to start it up.
 

rykna

Active Member
The 90g won! Starting at 9am today, I tore down the 38, boiled all the rock~every rock was boiled for at least 45 minutes(Abby and Dan gave me this recommendation to kill the majority of the mycobacterium), washed all filters with bleach, and moved all the corals to a 5.5g.
Then I brought in the 90g and started transferring sand from the 38, I add 40lbs more of sand from storage which totaled about 200 lbs in the 90g. The came the fun part of filling the 90g. After that I reassembled the filters, and now I am waiting for the water to clear.

Now I have to decide how to recycle it and keep it as fallow as possible, and figure out where I am going to keep the coral.
~Rykna
 
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