Seahorse Tank/ Fuge

[alexwolf]

Well, all this talk about seahorseshas me convinced. I am adding on a 50 gallon cube next to my existing system as a fuge/seahorse tank. My question is, what do I put in there, besides seahorses? I have 150lbs of southdown and some live sand for a DSB. Its going to be drilled to gravity feed back into my 135, and water be punped up from the sump through a spraybar with probably a mag 5. As far as lighting, I think the JBJ 65w PC with the moveable feet will work well. Should I keep mushrooms, or anything in there? I know there can probably be no fish, but i am just curious.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2368217561&category=32 12&rd=1

[Inno]

Actually, you can keep fish and corals. The fish of course cannot be aggressive, somewhere along the lines of gobies, cards, etc. Corals can be kept as well (you'd need to upgrade the lighting), but be aware some can sting your horses so I would stick with corals such as Xenias, shrooms, and perhaps even gorgonians, frogspawn, and hammer types (less agressive the better).

Oh yes, macro algaes are consistantly used in horse setups as the long stems make great hitching posts:)

[alexwolf]

im putting i think 1x65w PC on it. I was think of gorgonians and mushrooms. Its also going to bea fuge too, to help my large tank rwith the supply of pods for a mandarin

[Inno]

That is fine. Do realize your horses will be hunting those pods as well ;) Make sure the water flow is low as they are not good swimmers. They do prefer vertical tanks as well, unless you're getting dwarfs.

[alexwolf]

lol its a 24x24x24, with warter being pumped from my sump probably with a mag 5, then gravity feeding back to the main tank. I cant imagine those seahorses catching enough pods as slow as they are hehe

[Inno]

I won't say they'll decimate your tank of pods, but they will still compete. As long as you can restrict the water flow you'll be fine.

[alexwolf]

yeah, i was going to pump the ater up from my sump and run it through some PVC as a sort of spray bar over the top. MAYBE one small powerhead for flow. I will also have macroalgae in there, what about pipefish? Theyre pretty cool.

[Inno]

Pipefish are yet another pod competitor plus they are considered difficult to keep. I would recommend them to a specie-only tank by dedicated aquarists...they are not something I would start out with. I would also look into horses that are captive bred ;)

[alexwolf]

where can i get those?

[Inno]

oceanrider.com is famous for theirs, although they are overpriced imo. You can try places like inlandaquatics.com, marinedepotlive.com, or check different lfs' to see if they carry Ora raised horses :)

[GaryP]

Alex,

You can supplement the feeding of horses with live brine shrimp. I think the only place to get them in SA is Fintique, at least until I get my plankton farm up and running.

Gary

[alexwolf]

http://www.championlighting.com/e/env/0001HfpDkoOElt45R82S3D4/Products/Lighting/lighting.html?link=/Products/Lighting/pcsmart.html

[GaryP]

Alex,

I know that Aquarium Sales and Service used to carry them fairly frequently years ago. I'm not
sure what their source was. Maybe one of the folks that used to work their knows.

Gary

[alexwolf]

i am going to get a pair if captive bred erectus (lovely name) from marinedepotlive.com. They have a great reputation.

[alexwolf]

hey gray the link above was more to get a response on the lighting choice. I dont think i would need any more than this fixture. If I am correct, doesnt it sit right on top of the tank?

[GaryP]

Alex,

Yea, I think you can get little feet, as an option, to raise it up over the tank to help with cooling.

[alexwolf]

theres not going to be a top on it, so im not so worried about the heat on this one. 65w over 50 gal ?????