56 Gallon Seahorse/Reef Tank
- Thread starter llovsbarbie
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llovsbarbie
Active member
dailydriven911
sps addict
Are you going to do sea grass or macro algae for the seahorses? Looks like a good start but their environment is quite a bit different than your typical reef tank.
Krish
RF STAFF
Cool!! How does this setup work? Are you going with corals that don't require much flow because from what I can remember, seahorses don't like a lot of flow, but alot of corals do...
Good luck with the setup! Looking good so far.
Good luck with the setup! Looking good so far.
Somethings Fishy
Well-known member
good start looking forward to seeing your progress,
rayjay
Well-known member
Nice to see you starting slow.
However, I'm curious as to how you are going to keep the mandarin alive long term. There is not enough rock to sustain any population of natural live food for it, and even if it was sufficient as in a much larger tank with a lot more rock, the seahorses when added would decimate the pod population VERY fast. Not many mandarins can be trained to eat frozen foods but the odds are better if it is one of the cultured mandarins.
As to the comment on flow, seahorses like a variety of flow, low, medium and sometimes high flow, but just don't like to be "blasted" where they might get thrown against something causing injury. Hitching in all flow areas allows them to choose the area they want at any given time.
Corals can cause some problems in that a lot of sps need very clean water and seahorse tanks are notorious for excessive nutrient in the water due to their messy eating habits. Also, stinging corals are problematic for the seahorses.
If the corals kept require intensive lighting then you may have to provide for a way to cool the water sufficient for better chance of success in keeping seahorses as the warmer the water, the lower the chance of success due to the exponential growth of bacteria as temperatures rise.
With the rockscaping, one needs to be sure a seahorse cannot get itself trapped in cracks and crevices as they hunt for live food, whether there is any there or not. I've even had them caught in decor.
Hopefully you've already planned on true captive bred seahorses as can be obtained from seahorsesource.com, pekasponies.com, or seahorsecorral.com.
However, I'm curious as to how you are going to keep the mandarin alive long term. There is not enough rock to sustain any population of natural live food for it, and even if it was sufficient as in a much larger tank with a lot more rock, the seahorses when added would decimate the pod population VERY fast. Not many mandarins can be trained to eat frozen foods but the odds are better if it is one of the cultured mandarins.
As to the comment on flow, seahorses like a variety of flow, low, medium and sometimes high flow, but just don't like to be "blasted" where they might get thrown against something causing injury. Hitching in all flow areas allows them to choose the area they want at any given time.
Corals can cause some problems in that a lot of sps need very clean water and seahorse tanks are notorious for excessive nutrient in the water due to their messy eating habits. Also, stinging corals are problematic for the seahorses.
If the corals kept require intensive lighting then you may have to provide for a way to cool the water sufficient for better chance of success in keeping seahorses as the warmer the water, the lower the chance of success due to the exponential growth of bacteria as temperatures rise.
With the rockscaping, one needs to be sure a seahorse cannot get itself trapped in cracks and crevices as they hunt for live food, whether there is any there or not. I've even had them caught in decor.
Hopefully you've already planned on true captive bred seahorses as can be obtained from seahorsesource.com, pekasponies.com, or seahorsecorral.com.
llovsbarbie
Active member
Thanks. Yes, I have been prepping this tank for some time. Like Rayjay was saying, Seahorses do like a variety of flow which I have set up. I actually had Macro algae and even Eal-grass and unfortunately my turbo snails demolished it in no time so I am looking for ways around that, possibly fake decor. I did take into consideration the heat from my MH and have a chiller. I have come across some problems. I dont know if you could tell, but I have tiny micro bubbles in my tank from my protein skimmer, I am looking for ways to fix that. I do not have nearly enough hitching spots and now considering fake plants since my snails wont stop eating them. I am a member with Seahorse.com and will only be purchasing captive bred seahorses. I do have pods, but I dont have them as their main food source. I really look forward to any guidance or advice you have to give me. This is a work in progress and I will not place any seahorses in there until I feel 100%. Thanks.
rayjay
Well-known member
Personally, I prefer membership at seahorse.org over ocean rider membership.
You didn't mention if the mandarin was a captive bred one or not, and what it feeds on.
Normally in a tank that size they don't live out a year unless they can be sustained on frozen foods.
You didn't mention if the mandarin was a captive bred one or not, and what it feeds on.
Normally in a tank that size they don't live out a year unless they can be sustained on frozen foods.
llovsbarbie
Active member
Sorry, No he is not captive bred. We got him on the pods I have been populating. I have a reef pod that I am constantly feeding and keeping an eye on. Taking it day by day and adjusting fire as needed. I have looked into both Seahorse.org and Seahorse.com and stuck with it. For whatever reason, I felt more confident in Ocean rider. I am constantly researching so not a die hard ocean rider, I am just trying to learn all I can and open to all bits of advice, that is why I am here for instance. Actually reconsidering Seahorse all together. Once we get a couple of projects done maybe reconsider going into it. Like I said, I am in no rush and trying to get things done the right way. Maybe just keep this tank a reef and go from there. Who knows.
llovsbarbie
Active member
I know of people who have had just as many success stories with wild caught mandarins as there are the ones who didn't turn out as nice. I am doing all that I can and can at least say I tried my best and have learned my lesson with either ending..
rayjay
Well-known member
Whatever way you choose to go, good luck!!
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