Seahorses in refugium?

[ufbrad24]

Does anyone keep horses in their refugium? If so, do you have any pics? I am thinking of going this route with my 40 gallon fuge. Thanks!

[rayjay]

Yes, it has been done, but I wouldn't.
Number one reason is that the temperature of your reef tank is most likely higher than the recommended temperature of 68° to 74°, even though the seahorses may come from warmer water in nature.
Seahorse losses are primarily due to bacterial problems like vibriosis and bacteria multiply exponentially with each degree rise in temperature. Experience on the seahorse.org site has found that the mentioned temperature range give the best odds of success.
However, if bacterial problems develop, it's best to stick at about 68°.
The next most likely cause of seahorse losses would be parasitic infestation brought on by other fish in the system, or even other seahorses from a different breeding source.
The seahorse is accustomed to the parasites it is exposed to as it grows, but when exposed to those parasites of other fish/seahorses that it hasn't been exposed to previously, it normally can't handle this new exposure.
While seahorses in sumps can be done, there are many more lost in the attempt than there are successes.

[Octoshark]

And to add to what rayjay has already said, having such interesting creatures hidden away in a sump/refuge wouldn't do them justice. They deserve a display tank.

[ufbrad24]

Thanks for the reply. I may look into setting up a tank just for horses. My tank stand is open so the refugium is viewable. I like to check out the macroalgae and life in there :)

[Reverend Reefer]

i've put mine in a display type refugium. i have to cool the SH tank tho as its hooked up to my main system and it seems to be working out. the display stays at 77 and the SH tank stays at 73. i sort of have 2 fuges running though so its a bit more complicated but that might be the reason why i can keep them running at different temperatures since the water goes from the DT, to a display fuge, and then from there to another "display fuge" which is my SH tank, and then back to the DT. i like the look of fuges so i keep them out in the open.

i also find a couple benefits of having all these tanks plumbed together: there's more water volume for my overall system so its more stable, the live rock and live sand is spread out so i can have more filtration spread out, i also find there are different pods growing in the different tanks, and it allows me to keep more diverse species by separating them and creating slightly different environments for the different species.

of course the main reason why ive done this is because the girlfriend says i can't upgrade the tank size! so ive just kept "finding" new smaller tanks to add on to the system. haha!

i got my Reidi's from rayjay so he definitely knows what he's talking about. i wouldn't throw SH in a "traditional" sump/fuge and i had to get my temp down first before i even entertained the idea of getting them, as my previous set up had my DT and fuge running at around 77-80 degrees.

adding fans really helps! i got 2 computer fans pointed directly downwards on the surface of the water so it really cools it and got the idea from melev's website. my topoff waters drips into the first fuge also so that might also add to the cooler temps in the SH tank.

here's rayjay's list of recommendations:

http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/seahorsekeeping.html

[pledosophy]

Reverend can you explain more how your plumbing setup runs. Also where in line is your chiller? What is it set to? Where are your heaters in the same line. What are they set to?

I am looking to connect a 65g system which will hold seahorses if I can get it dialed in right to my 125g reef and have them share a common 150g sump.

I think the 340g of water volume will do well to help to dilute the bacteria's involved, but having two tanks connected at different temps is intriguing. I would like to know more.

[Reverend Reefer]

Reverend can you explain more how your plumbing setup runs. Also where in line is your chiller? What is it set to? Where are your heaters in the same line. What are they set to?

I am looking to connect a 65g system which will hold seahorses if I can get it dialed in right to my 125g reef and have them share a common 150g sump.

I think the 340g of water volume will do well to help to dilute the bacteria's involved, but having two tanks connected at different temps is intriguing. I would like to know more.

its pretty crude actually but it works for me.

i find the heat generated in my system mostly comes from excess heat from koralias/powerheads (i have 5 running all the time in my DT) and from the lighting in my DT.

so this keeps my DT warm during the day. water goes down from overflow in DT via gravity into FUGE1. since my 1st fuge is run on an opposite lighting schedule, as the water sits in the FUGE1, it kinda cools down, especially since the flow in there is low. also, FUGE1 gets a constant drip of top off water, which is also cooler water.

from FUGE1, the water is pumped up to FUGE2, which is essentially the SH tank. if you have a chiller, this is the point where i would connect it and set it to a lower temp for the SH and then have it pump into your SH tank. i don't own a chiller but this is what i would do if i had one.

the water from FUGE1 is pumped up to FUGE2 (the SH tank). this water is already cooler than my DT, but is further cooled by 2 Arctic Cooler fans which i DIY made using Melev's cooling plans pointed directed at the surface of the water.

of course there is very little flow in my FUGE2/SH tank so it also stays cool in there but the fans make a huge difference. in fact, i used to have the fans on 24-7 and the water in FUGE2 was almost too cold (65-68) so i put a variable timer on the fans (on/off for 2-4hrs here and there depending on time of day) and now i've got a happy and relatively consistent temp at 73. from FUGE2, i have a gravity overflow that has them go back into the DT. its very slow so the water in the DT doesn't seem to be affected by the cooler temp water flowing back into it (except at night, so i run a heater in the DT).

hope that helps! just some other things to consider, i have 4x65W T5 lights + some LED in my DT, FUGE1 has simple old skool T8/12 lights, and FUGE2/SH tank has 70W K2 Viper MH. all my tanks are open top so no covers. i also get alot, i mean alot, of evaporation since i added the fans. both Fuges have a variety of macro, live sand (DSB in FUGE1), and live rock. i actually have to run a heater at night for the DT since the temp will drop significantly at night without a heater in the DT.

my main caveat to my 3 tank system is that there's a lot of plumbing, which i hated making. ive tested it for power outages and its all good. even if my mag drive failed i wouldn't get a flood. i have a lot of pod growth in both fuges. in fact the SH tank is filled with pods. i think my adult reidi dont care them at all, so its pretty packed with tinny little critters, some big and some small. they kinda look like a swarm of mosquitoes. actually, one night i saw a swarm of some bigger looking pods doing a weird swirly dance. every once in awhile, i blast the pumps so that some of them overflow down to feed the DT with some live pods.

good luck!

[Reverend Reefer]

p.s. - i got the idea from one of the older TOTM. i wish i could find it for you but basically this person ran several tanks each with their own "purpose". i think the guy ran something like 5 tanks together, each one filtering the other and eventually going back to the display. each tank had different life in it but there were maybe 2-3 "fuges". the main idea i got from him was i noticed the temp was different in each tank and the chiller was installed in between just before going back to DT because the slower moving 24-7 lit fuges ran alot hotter than DT.