What Kind of Tank to Choose

[rykna]

Hi All!
Hope everyone had a awesome Christmas. Over the 12 hours it takes to drive to my Grandma's my hubby Brian and I discussed what to due with my 45 gallon tank. Snow Falke Eel VS. Blue Mustang Sea Horses.
Sea Horses won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what have I gotten myself into........... :thinking:
I spent the majority of my christmas vacation pouring over books about seahorses. I have come to the conclusion, thus far, that the most intesnse commitment to seahorses is the feeding....thoughts on this???
The other thing I am still pondering is what type of coral to introduce to the tank for the seahorse to hang onto. So far most information leans toward SPS corals.....thoughts on this?????
I am still not convinced of SPS corals due to the fact that most seahorses live in shallows areas where various types of sea grasses and mangroves roots grow proving "hitching posts".
I am still waiting for my 45 gallon to cycle so the seahorse won't be arriving for at least another month.
SPS or Sea Grasses, I also have to upgrade the light to a MH(imho).
thoughts on this?????
I was also reading about the mating habits of the seahorses......when in the right habitat the couple is more than happy to commense. So I I am guessing that I will be looking for future homes for the offspring....anyone interested????

The babies sure are cute, but even harder to feed than the adults. I am going(I will turn my 15 gallon into a brine shrimp factory) to have fun harvesting baby brine shrimp and other small critters. So if anyone is interested in live "sea monkeys" I should have slew of them by April.

Thanks,
Rykna

 

[fishgeek01]

Feeding is in fact the most important and time consuming effort when it comes to horses. Also perfect water quality, which i know you won't have any problems with... I would suggest instead of your thoughts on sps versus sea grass to do a mixture of non photosynthetic gorgonians or photosynthetic with maybe pc lighting, as well as some marco algae such as red gracillus (sp) The reason being, lighting upgrades are expensive, the gorgonians will consume the live phyto that you will be enriching your baby brine with, and you can get them in an assortment of colors. Obviously live phyto is not the only thing used to enrich baby brine, but its a start. As far as the mating is concerned depending on the species they need a taller tank to do their mating rituals or dances. Apparently they rise as a pair and the mating occurs on the decent. This is all info I read about a while ago, so i may be mixed up on some of it but in general i think i have it right. I know the male carries the young, and that they are suseptable to various diseases both young and old. Bubbles in the pouch, ich, as well as other external parasites. Tail fungus, and some other stuff. I would recommend having all available resources on hand in case of any of these emergencies, and having a 10 gal set up for hospital and nursery use.
Just my 2 cents

 

[rykna]

Feeding is in fact the most important and time consuming effort when it comes to horses. Also perfect water quality, which i know you won't have any problems with... :happyfish thank you!
~ I would suggest instead of your thoughts on sps versus sea grass to do a mixture of non photosynthetic gorgonians or photosynthetic.
Any non-phtosynthetic gorgonians that you would suggest? The photsynthetic ones are suppose to be easier to keep, so I have read. I had an non-photo orange tree Gorgonian in the earlier stages of my 90 gallon, unfortunately, do to my lack of knowledge and my over confidence of so called saltwater specialists, the poor gorgorian starved to death.

That was almost a year ago.After much reasearch their prefered choice of food would be the live phyto or DT.
I'm sure in the books that I have there are many supplements suggested to feed the brine shrimp, but what are the major ones you would suggest?
~ with maybe pc lighting,
The only lighting that I have used is the Outer orbit, which is awesome(imho). But this being a 45 gallon I think mh lights would cook the tank in time for dinner.

I am not as familar with the pc and other types of lighting....still need to do my homework on that

Fortunately I have a LOT of store credit coming my way from my LS.

a LOT!!!!!!!! So what type/brand name would you suggest?
Thanks :happyfish
Oh- what type of filtration system can I use on the Brine Shrimp tank that won't suck them up and shred the tiny critters? :thinking:

 

[rykna]

Today 03:46 PM
fender Regarding SPS and seahorses - SPS require lots of water flow, something that isn't recommended for seahorses.
Today 03:38 PM
PonieGirl Hi Rykna! Happy to hear you have decided to saddle up!
In a species only tank and if the horses are captive bred (a MUST IMO), feeding is not a great ordeal. They should come to you feeding on frozen mysis shrimp and this is a good food for them. If you can supply live copepods for them to hunt and snack on, so much the better!
They should be fed a minimum of twice daily, small amounts. More, if there is no 'pod population. Some keepers have a day of fasting scheduled in the week, but I never was able to do that.
Corals are NOT needed, but a few can be kept. I have xenia, zoas and a clove polyp. Seagrass and hitching rocks are best. Again, 'pods thrive in these mediums and you want to do all you can to encourage them to multiply. Mangrove is nice, but VERY slow to grow and the leaves have to be kept above the water-line.
You will not need MH lighting and I would advise against it because of temperature issues. Seahorses prefer a lower temp range, 72 to 76 is great, and MH on a 45 gallon is asking for trouble, just my opinion.
This is un-requested advice, please forgive me: For first horses, I would very strongly suggest two of the same gender, females are easier in my experience. If you keep two females for a time to get the groove going, then add two males down the road, I think your experience will be that much smoother.
Also, order meds now to have on hand. Diamox and a topical antibiotic at the very least.

 

[rykna]

These are all the photsynthetic gorgonians that I have found so far. Any others???? :happyfish

 

[fishgeek01]

i agree with everything that ponygirl said. The fact that live food may not be needed is a big plus. I think that you have about covered the gorgonians that i am aware of. I have always seen sea horses attached to these. I would stick with low light corals instead of the gorgonians however due to eas of care. a few tough leathers would probably work well for hitching posts, i recomend spaghetti, finger, and devils hand leathers. I think they will suit your needs well and are easy to keep, along with any other similar coral, i know you know your stuff so i wont go into to much detail on that. As far as the PC lighting, i have used and like the coralife light fixtures and bulbs. I would however recommend that if you can do a retro fit into a canopy, you will save a lot of money if you can do that. From the sounds of it you may also benefit from a refugium so that you have a good constant supply of live pods. I figured some one else would suggest the emergency supplies and qt/hospital tank. You mentioned using the current outer orbit, i have the current 48" fixture with 2 MH and 2 130 watt PC's i love it as well, good product, anyways back on topic... I am sure that pniegirl knows what she is talking about when it comes to sea ponies, but i am not sure about the 2 females thing. I have read that sea horses mate for life. I figure if you order 2 females they may not be as "happy" not in the human sense of the word but the natural sense of the word. I am sure it is good advice so that you can get to know how to do this then think about breeding, but i am sure that little will change when you do start breeding them. As for the brine shrimp, you can use rotirich, zelcon?, and phyto to feed them. I now the rotirich is probably the best enriching supplement available. It is used to raise rotifers and brine for fish larvae. Not sure how much help i have been but hopefully some.

 

[rykna]

WOW!!! Thanks Fishgeek01

You input has been very hepful!
And thankyou everyone! Best advice I've gotten anywhere is from everybody online here.

:happyfish
I look forward to posting pics of the blue mustangs by my birthday in may

As soon as I get unpack an the house back to normal after returning from christmas I am going to start posting pictures as the tank develops.
Oh one more question: what type of filtration system can I use on the Brine Shrimp tank that won't suck them up and shred the tiny critters? :thinking:
Thanks all,
Rykna

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
I have read that sea horses mate for life. I figure if you order 2 females they may not be as "happy" not in the human sense of the word but the natural sense of the word.
They do, for the most part, mate for life. Bear with me here, fellas..they don't have to be paired to be happy :thinking: and healthy. They do need companionship; I would not keep one alone. That would be cruel. Very social creatures..You are in for such a treat, Rykna!! :cheer:
I don't have statistics, just my experience behind my thinking: I have owned both genders and have had less trouble (maladies) with the females.
I have yet to be able to support a male for over a year. Females, I have had for 4 years, at the longest. Quite honestly, since I would never have the time to devote to fry, I probably never will own another male seahorse.
These were my girls. Very much buddies.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by Rykna
WOW!!! Thanks Fishgeek01

You input has been very hepful!
And thankyou everyone! Best advice I've gotten anywhere is from everybody online here.

:happyfish
I look forward to posting pics of the blue mustangs by my birthday in may

As soon as I get unpack an the house back to normal after returning from christmas I am going to start posting pictures as the tank develops.
Oh one more question: what type of filtration system can I use on the Brine Shrimp tank that won't suck them up and shred the tiny critters? :thinking:
Thanks all,
Rykna
Most BS (!) tanks I have seen use only airation, no filtration. I'll look around a bit. It's been a while since I have kept wild caught and needed live brine.
I can't wait to see your diary!

 

[rykna]

Most BS (!) tanks .........

:hilarious

I have seen use only airation, no filtration.

Giggle! Just you wait until I get posting jokes from an awesome ocean book with things such as dating tips for octopi, How do tube worms communicate with out mouths, and many other things that had me

. My cousin Emily is studying marine environments in college, she got the book for me. We were the only two cackling over the book, but we never noticed. :happyfish It was great to have a family member that actually loves to talk at length about tank set ups, actually laughs when you tall her about your clown fish pouting, and loves the ocean as much as I do!

 

[psusocr1]

dont put SPS in the tankw ith horses.. 1. sps require way too much flow that horses wouldnt liek and 2. they will kill the sps, kinf of like a clown goby nesting in the sps they eventually kill it..
good luck with the horses,, always wanted them but i have wayy too many tanks the way it is

 

[poniegirl]

Water flow is another good discussion.
In a larger tank, like a 45 gal, water flow will still be important to the cleanliness of your tank. You have to have it.
Again, contrary to popular belief, SH are strong swimmers, though not fast. They only lack the good strong tail fin for those dashing starts that their cousin fish can pull off.
Additionally, if you lack water flow, your seahorse can grow as much algae as your tank glass.
In a 55 gal I have a 660 powerhead, a skimmer and a canister filter providing the flow. Canister and skimmer at one end, PH at the other. All tanks have "dead spots" and you can create some nice low flow areas yourself using your aquascaping rock and plants. The SH will naturally spend a lot of time in these areas.
If you visit some species specific sites, you will find many differing opinions, but I believe a majority will agree that the seahorses not only are okay, but have been known to play a bit in the flows.
With SH, though, micro bubbles are an absolute no-no.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by PonieGirl
Water flow is another good discussion.
In a larger tank, like a 45 gal, water flow will still be important to the cleanliness of your tank. You have to have it.
Again, contrary to popular belief, SH are strong swimmers, though not fast. They only lack the good strong tail fin for those dashing starts that their cousin fish can pull off.
Additionally, if you lack water flow, your seahorse can grow as much algae as your tank glass.
In a 55 gal I have a 660 powerhead, a skimmer and a canister filter providing the flow. Canister and skimmer at one end, PH at the other. All tanks have "dead spots" and you can create some nice low flow areas yourself using your aquascaping rock and plants. The SH will naturally spend a lot of time in these areas.
If you visit some species specific sites, you will find many differing opinions, but I believe a majority will agree that the seahorses not only are okay, but have been known to play a bit in the flows.
With SH, though, micro bubbles are an absolute no-no.
I agree, seahorses, though not usually prone to staying in high flow spots for extreme durations do quite well in high flow tanks as long as there are resting areas, the key is to avoid things like wave makers that create sudden high flow catching the hippocampus offgaurd, they will learn to avoid areas of flow too high for them to manage, divers are often suprised to find seahorses out and about in strong currents.

 

[rykna]

Awesome!!!
I got my work cut out for me now.
Need new lighting.
new canister
and possibly a small wave 2k
and 4 to 6 of the above gorgonians.
and finally the sea horses
I will probably set up the brine shrimp tank within the week. My daughter Aria will love that! I have bought "sea monkeys" from target from time to time, she loved them. I am thinking of deviding up the BrSh tank into 2-3 sections for size purposes.
Other than that I have to play the wait game. I am still waiting to hear back about the store credit that I get from the 90 gallon contents.
Thanks again for all the input!