Please help me setup seahorse tank

[cajundolphin7]

Hello seahorse lovers! I have dreamed of having seahorses since I was a little girl. I have a 2yr old 55gal fowlr setup now but recently had a major disaster since my 3yr old dumped a bag of dried shrimp in it and killed all of my fish except my clown. I am wanting to take this opportunity to turn it into a seahorse tank now. I am so excited but do not know where to start. I have been doing large water changes for several days now. I had lots of dead worms floating about so I vacuumed the bottom a few times and have gotten most out. I guess now my tank needs to start recycling again but once thats over I want to get a pair of sunbursts seahorses. I need help! I am not sure if what I have done to repair my tank now is even good enough to keep seahorses in it or if my equipment is ok for them either. Do I have to have sand or will cc work? Here is my setup now:
60 lbs live rock
about 8 inches deep crushed coral
Canister Filter: cascade 700
coralife super skimmer
maxijet 1200 pump and powerhead
lighting: 2 fixtures: reef sun 50/50 15w T-8
heater

 

[teresaq]

I would get sand instead of crushed coral, you will like it better in the end. Horses can be messy eaters.
filteration sounds ok, you may try to add a spray bar to your canister. the more your flow is spread out the better. make sure you have some open areas with plenty of hitches. you can add some nice macros for pods to breed in and you should be set. I would let the tank run several months and keep a close eye on your water before adding any horses. only buy captive bred horses also, you will have a lot less problems that way.
T

 

[cajundolphin7]

Thanks for your advice! If I take out all of the cc to replace it with sand, will that throw my tank off even more and kill my liverock?

 

[teresaq]

I have seen several threads where people have done it with no problems. Just be sure to keep an eye on your water and have a water change ready. It wont hurt your rock, but I would take any fish or inverts out and keep them in temp holding area.

 

[pete159]

dont forget a chiller to keep temps low