krisfal
Well-known member
It seems I have finally found the patience for this hobby, my latest tank build took over 2 years from conception to stocking with the targeted livestock.
Since I was a child I have always been fascinated with seahorses, but even as I got into keeping saltwater tanks I stayed away from seahorses, as I was told they required live food. But the last 5 years or so has seen an increase in tank bred and raised seahorses that eat frozen mysis! So a couple of years ago I decided I finally would try to care for some of these magnificent creatures.
So began my hunt for a tank, I knew sea horses did best in tall tanks and I always liked the looks of a hex tank so when I saw a 29g hex for sale I haggled a good price and purchased. The tank being acrylic had a lot of scratches but came with a nice oak stand and hood. It took me several months to get around to buffing the tank and even with a friend (DBMreefer) lending me a small buffer it was a lot of work, the openings in the top of hex are small and there is not a lot of room side to side.
I had decided I wanted the seahorse tank in the office which is also the fish room on the back side of my in wall display tank. In hind sight I wish I had not put a black back on the display as I sit on the back side but can not see anything. Having the new setup in there would allow me to have a tank to look at!
Once the tank was cleaned up I brought it inside and then decided the stand was not big enough for any size sump that would hold a skimmer and the tank openings would not really work for a hang on back skimmer. So I asked my husband to build a stand (which is actually an extension of the L shaped desk we have in the room)
One idea I had for this setup was to have a separate refugium that was located above the tank so that the return would be gravity fed, that way if I was to leave overnight I hoped I could dump some pods into refugium and they would get down to the tank without being ground up by the pump. I also found myself needing a custom sized sump to maximize the usage of the area under the stand.
After getting frustrated with the process of trying to get the refugium and sump built for me, I decided to give it a try myself. After all I had learned to weld acrylic thorough the PSAS workshop a couple of years ago and these were not large projects. I started with the sump as it would be more hidden and then moved onto the refugium which I had designed similar to a CPR HOB refugium. By the end my welds started looking pretty darn good.
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Then came the part I hate . . . plumbing. I drilled a couple holes in the tank for bulk heads and, although there was no overflow box, I just plumbed two standpipes using the herbie theory (one acts as a back up should the original clog or slow the flow). My return Ts and goes both to the refugium and the display (to keep the flow through the refugium slow).
For the other equipment I had a little giant pump that was given to me by Matt125 when I bought the last of his live rock (I have since replaced it with a Mag3 as it quit running after about 4 months-it was just plain worn out- the hole where the shaft goes had worn out so big I was surprised it lasted as long as it did). I also had won a nice vertex skimmer at one of the Barrier Reef sales, so I had an awesome new skimmer for this tank :first:.
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
The tank had come with PC lighting in the canopy, but after ditching the stand, the oak canopy did not look right with the tank on the extension on my desk. Also with having switched to LED lighting on my display I have become quite fond of it so I started looking for an economical LED setup. I knew I did not need bright lighting as this was a FOWLR and in the end decided to buy the Eco-exotic LED arm light, I ended up ordering 2 arms with an extra LED strip from Barrier Reef Aquariums. I am using one arm on the tank (I welded a piece of acrylic to the top of the tank to attach it to) with two LED strips that each have 2 white LEDs and 1 blue LED. The other arm is on the refugium and has all white LEDs. In addition I have a plant fluorescent bulb on the ceiling above the refugium to help support the mangroves and the house plants we have in that area.
I finally had the tank up and running by May of 2011, I figured I would cycle it for a couple months-even though I was using live rock from my main display sump that was well cured, and I would buy the ponies in late July after returning from a planned trip to Hawaii.
For livestock I started with a single cantalina goby, since this tank is in the 72-75 degree range I hope they will survive (I added a second one a couple of moths ago). With camping in the summer I kept putting off the purchase of the ponies as I wanted to be able to get them well settled prior to leaving them in the care of my tank sitters. The tank acquired a couple stomettella snails with the live rock and I took a couple small hermits from the display for a clean up crew.
Finally, late last year I saw an ad on Reef Frontiers for some tank raised H. erectus seahorse babies from StacyS in Spokane. Stacy patiently answered all my inquiries and helped me arrange the transportation with Michael (returnofsid) and I finally got my ponies a couple of weeks ago. They are growing rapidly and eating well and I am really enjoying them.
I hope to add another pair of ponies down the line, and maybe a jawfish (I had one in the past but cannot keep bottom fish in my main display as my carpet anemone seem to consume them all).
Well for all of you that have hung through my long winded build essay here is the pay off, some pictures and video. Enjoy!
Seahorse tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
And some video of them eating
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisfal/6932247653/
Since I was a child I have always been fascinated with seahorses, but even as I got into keeping saltwater tanks I stayed away from seahorses, as I was told they required live food. But the last 5 years or so has seen an increase in tank bred and raised seahorses that eat frozen mysis! So a couple of years ago I decided I finally would try to care for some of these magnificent creatures.
So began my hunt for a tank, I knew sea horses did best in tall tanks and I always liked the looks of a hex tank so when I saw a 29g hex for sale I haggled a good price and purchased. The tank being acrylic had a lot of scratches but came with a nice oak stand and hood. It took me several months to get around to buffing the tank and even with a friend (DBMreefer) lending me a small buffer it was a lot of work, the openings in the top of hex are small and there is not a lot of room side to side.
I had decided I wanted the seahorse tank in the office which is also the fish room on the back side of my in wall display tank. In hind sight I wish I had not put a black back on the display as I sit on the back side but can not see anything. Having the new setup in there would allow me to have a tank to look at!
Once the tank was cleaned up I brought it inside and then decided the stand was not big enough for any size sump that would hold a skimmer and the tank openings would not really work for a hang on back skimmer. So I asked my husband to build a stand (which is actually an extension of the L shaped desk we have in the room)
One idea I had for this setup was to have a separate refugium that was located above the tank so that the return would be gravity fed, that way if I was to leave overnight I hoped I could dump some pods into refugium and they would get down to the tank without being ground up by the pump. I also found myself needing a custom sized sump to maximize the usage of the area under the stand.
After getting frustrated with the process of trying to get the refugium and sump built for me, I decided to give it a try myself. After all I had learned to weld acrylic thorough the PSAS workshop a couple of years ago and these were not large projects. I started with the sump as it would be more hidden and then moved onto the refugium which I had designed similar to a CPR HOB refugium. By the end my welds started looking pretty darn good.
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Then came the part I hate . . . plumbing. I drilled a couple holes in the tank for bulk heads and, although there was no overflow box, I just plumbed two standpipes using the herbie theory (one acts as a back up should the original clog or slow the flow). My return Ts and goes both to the refugium and the display (to keep the flow through the refugium slow).
For the other equipment I had a little giant pump that was given to me by Matt125 when I bought the last of his live rock (I have since replaced it with a Mag3 as it quit running after about 4 months-it was just plain worn out- the hole where the shaft goes had worn out so big I was surprised it lasted as long as it did). I also had won a nice vertex skimmer at one of the Barrier Reef sales, so I had an awesome new skimmer for this tank :first:.
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
The tank had come with PC lighting in the canopy, but after ditching the stand, the oak canopy did not look right with the tank on the extension on my desk. Also with having switched to LED lighting on my display I have become quite fond of it so I started looking for an economical LED setup. I knew I did not need bright lighting as this was a FOWLR and in the end decided to buy the Eco-exotic LED arm light, I ended up ordering 2 arms with an extra LED strip from Barrier Reef Aquariums. I am using one arm on the tank (I welded a piece of acrylic to the top of the tank to attach it to) with two LED strips that each have 2 white LEDs and 1 blue LED. The other arm is on the refugium and has all white LEDs. In addition I have a plant fluorescent bulb on the ceiling above the refugium to help support the mangroves and the house plants we have in that area.
I finally had the tank up and running by May of 2011, I figured I would cycle it for a couple months-even though I was using live rock from my main display sump that was well cured, and I would buy the ponies in late July after returning from a planned trip to Hawaii.
For livestock I started with a single cantalina goby, since this tank is in the 72-75 degree range I hope they will survive (I added a second one a couple of moths ago). With camping in the summer I kept putting off the purchase of the ponies as I wanted to be able to get them well settled prior to leaving them in the care of my tank sitters. The tank acquired a couple stomettella snails with the live rock and I took a couple small hermits from the display for a clean up crew.
Finally, late last year I saw an ad on Reef Frontiers for some tank raised H. erectus seahorse babies from StacyS in Spokane. Stacy patiently answered all my inquiries and helped me arrange the transportation with Michael (returnofsid) and I finally got my ponies a couple of weeks ago. They are growing rapidly and eating well and I am really enjoying them.
I hope to add another pair of ponies down the line, and maybe a jawfish (I had one in the past but cannot keep bottom fish in my main display as my carpet anemone seem to consume them all).
Well for all of you that have hung through my long winded build essay here is the pay off, some pictures and video. Enjoy!
Seahorse tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
Seahorse Tank by krisfal68, on Flickr
And some video of them eating
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisfal/6932247653/
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