My Sea Horse adventure:)

First topic message reminder :

I have been wanting to setup a tank dedicated to sea horses and pipe fish for the last couple of years so I decided to just do it! I researched them a couple of years ago but I will need to take a refresher course:) but I am getting the tank its a Red Sea Max 130 plug and play. I plan to do the usual and have black and white CaribSea Ocean direct sand and 35 odd pounds of Tonga Branch live rock I will pick rock that doesn't have sharp edges to keep the ponies safe. I plan to have 2 pairs 2 female and 2 males. I am also going to pay more and buy captive bred sea horses that have already been raised on frozen foods so there wont be an issue with them not eating. I am getting tropical sea horses so I won't need an expensive chiller. so let the fun begin. I will update this thread with pics as things come together. I thought you all might be interested in ponies too:) wish me luck!
heres the tank. I am getting it off craigslist but its a 3 hour drive for me but the guy said he will hang onto it till I can make it down to pick it up. p.s I will paint the tank black and the Sea horses will be Hippocampus erectus I find them fascinating creatures they change color with their moods and environment.



pipefish a close relative of the sea horse.

a DIY kreaisel tank for the seahorse babies.
http://www.ventralfins.com/diy_kreisel.html

I have bad news. I found a spiney urchin HH in the pony tank they are a level 4 threat to seahorses and I have 0 experience with urchins, I am not sure how to remove him
without damaging him I wish him no harm but he cannot reside in this tank.... google here I come.

Ohhhh.... he's pretty cool lookin, but no good for the horsies.

wildbeanerz wrote:

Ohhhh.... he's pretty cool lookin, but no good for the horsies.

I took him out and put in the sump under the 180 he'll live happily in there.
they eat algae including coralline so he can have at it down there:)

Everything is coming together for you! Imagine all the problems if you had not done your research so well! (I guess you DID imagine them and that's why you did so much work up front! :lol:)

Now, even the spiny urchin will have a good home because you took the trouble to study up on his needs. Way to go, Cindy!

I just took a look at the DIY Kreisel water jug project.
Are you going to build one of your own?

For coralline algae have you ever tried the product called Purple-Up?

D'Claro wrote:

Everything is coming together for you! Imagine all the problems if you had not done your research so well! (I guess you DID imagine them and that's why you did so much work up front! :lol:)

Now, even the spiny urchin will have a good home because you took the trouble to study up on his needs. Way to go, Cindy!

I just took a look at the DIY Kreisel water jug project.
Are you going to build one of your own?

For coralline algae have you ever tried the product called Purple-Up?

Thank you for the kind words:)
yes I am planning on a DIY kreisel tank to house the seahorse fry.
yes I have used purple up in the past but I have found testing my calcium levels and keeping it at 480 the coralline grows just as well and the SPSs also benefit.
purple up is essentially calcium.
I am planning a hypersaline bath for my live rock this weekend to make sure I rid it of any HH
that maybe detrimental to seahorses.

just a lil update, I have diatoms so I bought Dwarf ceriths to eat the diatoms
and the cyano if I get it. I will do a water change this weekend using
water change water from the nem/softy tank to add more good bacteria.
I got a few more rocks so it totals 35 odd pounds so thats where I'll stop
the rest will be marine plants and pony safe corals. I had to rehome the mollies
they did a number on the orange sponge they really pigged out thats only 3 days of damage you can see it in the picture. those molly are horn dogs they were happy as h3ll in there breeding away I will frag whats left and let it start over. I have a tiny cuc and a pepermint shrimp with 3 Bangaii,3 feather dusters. the bangaii will stay they are good tank mates for seahorses. the tank will be a week old this Saturday
heres pics

I love the bangais! They are very pretty. The tank looks great. I love the corals that you are choosing for in there as well. The RSM tanks are nice because the veiwing area is about the same whether you view from the front or a side giving you more to enjoy of your tank. At least that is how they are at my LFS.

thanks:)
I like them too, really sweet fish!
I love the RSM all in one and no hassles. they are coming out with an RSM 500
I believe its 110 gallons really super nice. its tempting to sell off the 180 and get
that because these are so easy to take care of the only problem is I'm attached
to my Tangs and other fish and I couldn't have that many in a 110 so I'll probably just stay with these 3 tanks lol I wish I was taller they 180 is hard to maintain.

Bad news for the pony tank:( it got into the 80's here yesterday
and the tank heated up to 82 degrees. I figured that might be an issue being
and enclosed system. needless to say the pony tank is too HOT so it looks like I'm in the market for a chiller.. no chiller no Seahorses lol or I could freeze RO/DI water
and float them in the back of the tank as my daily top offs.

What temp should you keep it down to for the seahorses?

72-76 I'd like it kept right in the middle, the warmer the water the more prone they are to disease..
my Husband just called he said he has a surprise for me and it will be here in 3-4 days so it may change everything with this pony tank.
I'll keep ya posted :)

Ohhhh...I like surprises!!!

wildbeanerz wrote:

Ohhhh...I like surprises!!!

yes and I know what it is too, lets just say it will make a nicer pony tank:)

I am jealous....but in secret I may have something coming up in the works soon too!

wildbeanerz wrote:

I am jealous....but in secret I may have something coming up in the works soon too!

whooooo hooo you have to post your tank build!
I love watching all the twists and turns that happen:)
you just never really know even when you plan every detail there's
still surprises. I can't believe he bought it for me now thats a huge surprise..

I love when the hubby's know us well enough to know what we would really really want....and then surprise us with it!!!

The RSM 250 was just delivered.:)

I added 70lbs of rock and decided to go with a shallow sandbed for easy cleaning.
it still needs to clear and the skimmer needs to break in, I will be adjusting the rock work in the next few days.

Love it Cindy! It's coming together nicely. Can't wait to see it with some corals & ponies in there!!

I know me too:) I plan to add another 20# of super rock to the top but I also need to make sure I leave enough swimming space. I had Todd treat this rock with seltzer water before he brought it over, I need to find a store that sell lots of nice algaes and marine plants for the ponies to hitch to but I think thats gonna be a challenge and it gets pricey buying online all the time.

Yeah, the place I just got my base rock from sells lots of different algaes with free shipping over $50 I think.

My LFS has a pretty nice selection too. Other than the flame algae!

Super rock will be sweet on top so you can watch what all develops on it!

update... I need a chiller and was able to find one on WAMAS for 220.00 so I will be picking it up next weekend. here is where this adventure is now the tank is 6 days old today my params are as follows.
ammo 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 8.2
cal 450
phos 0
alk 9dkh
temp 76 even today and its cool the other day when it was HOT it went up to 80
optimum temp for seahorse is 75 I am aiming at no higher than 75...

new lil dude "watchman goby"

That goby is a cool lil dude. What is the orange in pic 4 called?