My Fishless Tank

[Larissa]

So, I'm married to beerfish, which means I've got an experienced reefer in the house. And I've been helping somewhat with our 75 gallon tank that he mostly takes care of.

But now I've got a 24 gallon aquapod that we're getting ready to house seahorses! I adore seahorses, always have, and the more I learn about them, the more I love the idea of them. I'm in the midst of reading up on them while the tank cycles.

Right now, it's just a bunch of rock, some zoas, a leather, and a chalice. My tank is so clean (except for the diatom bloom portion of the cycle that's happening now) that we took the leather and chalice from the big tank, where they were having issues, and put 'em in mine. Anyway, here's my as-of-yet boring tank:

 

[aznt1217]

sweer rock. For Seahorses pick up some gorgonions!

 

[Larissa]

Oh, yes! Planning those, a bunch of macro algae, and some more corals besides, just for color. Lots of holding places.

And thanks!

 

[motortrendz]

im setting up a 125 gallon reef display dank and i also have a 40 gallon tank below it in the stand i built, i plan on using it for seahorses and pipefish.. anysugjestions about water flow, quality and can i use it at part of the water system of the reef tsnk which will have a 40 gallon refuge and a 40 gallon rock only tank for extra filtration...

 

[Larissa]

I'm confused. You want to use the 40 gallon sump from your display tank as a seahorse/pipefish tank? Or are we talking about several different tanks here?

 

[Larissa]

Seahorses are delicate... sounds terribly unhealthy to me to use the sump as the tank for them, if I'm reading you right.

 

[beerfish]

Because of flow and feeding requirements, it's not a good idea to house seahorses as part of a larger system. I know of at least one person that tried this and it didn't go so well.

They should really have a dedicated tank.

 

[Larissa]

Wow, yeah, I wasn't even thinking about flow. I was thinking about light, contaminants, and food. The flow would have 'em all smacked up against a wall, the poor things.

 

[motortrendz]

several different tanks, i have a 125 display and a 40 gal display under it.. im using a seperate 40 gal refugium behind the seup in my closet

 

[Larissa]

Ooooooooooh, OK, that's better. You made me nervous! LOL

 

[motortrendz]

i will have them seperate from the main display so they wont have to worry about competing for food but what abt sharing the water as a total system?

 

[motortrendz]

lol im new but not that new, had my last setup for several years, and a ton of large display FW stuff

 

[Larissa]

Well, for Pete's sake, "several years" isn't new! Sheesh. I don't know about the water. Beerfish? Oh, beerfish?

One thing I might worry about is the pH. I've been reading up on seahorse pH, but don't know regular reef pH needs, so I don't know if it's the same.

 

[motortrendz]

i meant new to this sight, i was at a lumber yard in brooklyn the other day and got into a long discussion about reef tanks while waiting for suplies, he told me about this sight and how much great info you guys had to offer, so here i am, instead of figuring it out for myself..it gets too expensive for trial and error on a setup this big!

 

[motortrendz]

whats the ph parameters for them?

 

[Larissa]

Ooooooooooooooooooh! Gotcha. Yeah, I'd never have tried this on my own. It'd have just been one of those things in the back of my head, "Gee, I wish I could have seahorses, they're so cool."

 

[Larissa]

whats the ph parameters for them?

8 - 8.3

 

[motortrendz]

pretty much this is for the wife and kids...lol i think theyre cool but im bigger into a beautiful functional reef

 

[motortrendz]

reefs are colse to the same.. but with the calcium and other chemicals needed for the reef i wonder if it will have adverse effects on them

 

[Larissa]

reefs are colse to the same.. but with the calcium and other chemicals needed for the reef i wonder if it will have adverse effects on them

Yeah, when he has a free minute, I'll make beerfish answer that. You're more like him - the 75 gallon is his baby, and he wants to keep upgrading (despite the fact that it's not anywhere near full yet). Me, I want seahorses & pipefish.

Don't get me wrong, I love the tang & blennie & all that... and the cardinals we just got were fish that *I* wanted more than he did. But seahorses are just so... wrong. How can I not love them?