New to planted tanks and have some questions

[Mikey Donuts]

Hello, I'm relatively new to SW planted tanks and I have a few questions about a tank I'm going to setup in a week or so. The tank is a 34 gallon that is full of cured live rock and no livestock (used to be a mixed reef). I'd like to set it up as planted tank with a pair of Erectus Seahorses. I want to add a few soft corals to the tank as well (toadstool leather, zoos, xenia, mushrooms).

1. I'm currently dosing two part in my mixed reef but I know plants like the Alk to be a little lower. Should I keep my Alk and Ca levels at the same levels I do on my mostly stony reef? Ca 450, Alk 9, Mag 1250..

2. I want to run the tank at about 74 degrees for the horses. Will this be a problem for the macros?

3. I want to use Phosban to avoid microalgae problems. Is this necessary or recommended?

4. Should I dose Iron to help the macro grow? I think the horses will provide enough NO3 and PO4, correct?

5. The lighting on the tank is a 150W 14K MH w/T-5 Actinic supp. Is this too much light for the plants (Dragon's tongue, maiden's hair, Red Kelp (bubble & feather))?

6. I plan on using low-moderate flow (10x turnover). Is this too much? Not enough? Does it matter?

7. What about herbivores? Are there any recommendations for microalgae consumers who won't destroy my macros?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks very much in advance for your responses.
Mike

[rivoth]

Welcome Mike,

For starters you could find the thread "Dan's planted 120g seahorse tank". It's about a page or so down.

Another good source is www.seahorse.org

Frank

[TikiDan]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1344280

:)

[Mikey Donuts]

OK fellas, thanks for the replies. Frank, I spent all night reading through macro threads on the seahorse site.

Dan- Sweet looking tank! I've got an empty 90 that will hopefully look as good as yours once I save up for equipment. The 34 will have to do for now, but I'm excited to get it going!

I think I found answers for most of my questions except for the phosban question....Should I use Phosban to avoid microalgae issues?

I've got one more question as well: Is it a problem keeping shrooms, xenia, etc. happy in a macro dominated tank? I'm specifically concerned about the low temp and possible aleopathy. Has anyone run into problems with mixing coral and macros?

[rivoth]

On the phosban question. Your macro algae use the same nutrients that the micro algae does, so having phosban is likely to hurt your Macros unless you have a particularly bad phosphate to nitrate ratio.

I don't really know enough to answer the coral compatibility question. I do know that seahorses.org does have compatiability pages and some corals are listed as okay, others not.

Frank

[bluenassarius]

wassup mike :)

good to see your project begin. i can't wait to see that 90 setup.

to answer a few of your questions..


1. I'm currently dosing two part in my mixed reef but I know plants like the Alk to be a little lower. Should I keep my Alk and Ca levels at the same levels I do on my mostly stony reef? Ca 450, Alk 9, Mag 1250..

i'm going to keep sps w/ my next macro tank so i'll eventually have an answer to that :)


2. I want to run the tank at about 74 degrees for the horses. Will this be a problem for the macros?

nope.. kept macros in less than 50 degrees and it was all good.


3. I want to use Phosban to avoid microalgae problems. Is this necessary or recommended?

i'm planning to run a phosban reactor on my next macro tank.

4. Should I dose Iron to help the macro grow? I think the horses will provide enough NO3 and PO4, correct?

i did in a exclusive macro tank. i haven't tried that with fish in the tank yet.

5. The lighting on the tank is a 150W 14K MH w/T-5 Actinic supp. Is this too much light for the plants (Dragon's tongue, maiden's hair, Red Kelp (bubble & feather))?

you might experience some bleaching on the macros. i would probably stay away from maiden's hair.. it will detach itself and reappear in another spot (glass, overflow, rock, powerheads) unless that is what your looking for :)

6. I plan on using low-moderate flow (10x turnover). Is this too much? Not enough? Does it matter?

which macros are you planning to keep?

7. What about herbivores? Are there any recommendations for microalgae consumers who won't destroy my macros?

blue legged/red legged hermits, sally light foots and trochus snails are my preferred clean up crew. i usually either go w/ sally light foots.


i've never kept seahorses .. so i can't hear ya there. you might want to try the people at seahorse.org. they are very helpful

[TikiDan]

I have blue leg hermits in my SH tank. As for sally light foot, bad choice. Go with some nice ornamental shrimp like fire shrimp. Avoid serpent and large brittle stars around horses also.

The biggest thing is to keep the temp down! I keep my H. Reidi between 69 and 72 degrees. In order to keep seahorses happy long term, they have to be kept below 74. There are some species that can be kept warmer so do your research first.

[Mikey Donuts]

Thanks again for the info guys. Sam, what about Margarita snails? I know they usually die in reef tanks because they're too warm but they may do well in the coller water of a SH tank. I'll probably go with a few small hermits but I'll avaoid larger crabs with the horses.

Dan, I plan on going with Erectus and keeping the tank at 74.