[rayjay]

Originally Posted by ctroms

Yes pep. shrimp cultures would be done in a separate system. 3-4 weeks rearing was the plan.

It will be a great addition for seahorse nutrition.

If Can filter is used the heater will be in-line, if sump the heater there. Temp to run tank at is planed 68f. This temp will almost double the gestation period of the seahorses, but breeding is not the goal. The plan is to provide the seahorses the best environment.

I'd suggest checking with other successful keepers on the canister filter choice. I, along with others have found the frequent cleaning needed to keep bacteria at bay was a big PITA and ditched it for easy to clean filters.

The livestock serves a purpose to clean up extra food and also provide more/different coloration. Firefish are small and very peaceful, & will consume uneaten food. Mandarin again another very peaceful fish. I've never heard of a "bad" one. Very disease resistant because of thick slime coat.

I found that additions of livestock don't alleviate the husbandry needed as everything that eats the uneaten food also passes the waste back into the water column, still degrading the quality and proving bacteria with the needed food and bedding. It doesn't mean though that you can't have it or that conditions will be worse. For me, the firefish kept jumping out the tanks. Mandarins seem to work ok if they are captive bred and trained on frozen foods. If not, they need a mature tank with a lot of natural live foods.
There is also the chance that introducing other fish ALSO means possibly adding pathogens to the seahorses that they haven't grown up and acclimated to so that seahorses that have lesser immune systems fall victim to the pathogens. I had the problem with adding pipefish which being wildcaught were not as safe as captive bred ones would be. Not many captive bred pipefish around though, especially here in Canada.

I am leaning towards running an under-gravel filter backwards driven by a small powerhead or protein skimmer return. This will push aerated flow up through the sandbed and push detritus into water column.

I love "pre-filtered" reverse flow undergravel systems. I used hagen powerheads with quick filter attachments to filter the water first before pushing it down under the plate so it couldn't accumulate decaying crap there to feed the bacteria.

Other option is sump. Not to say it can't be done but the tank can't be drill, access & placement are an issue, & then you have the overflow issues as well if power is lost.

I don't understand overflow problems on power loss. My sumps are at a level that when power goes off, or I turn off return pumps for feeding, the water DOESN'T overflow. My 90g and some of my fry systems have drilled holes, but all my 40g displays have either U-tube overflows or DIY PVC overflows. Occasional siphoning off of trapped air allows for uninterrupted flow with no blockages. I usually do this ~ two week intervals.
Regarding chemical filtration, it DOESN'T take care of the solids.
I do have my H. barbouri tank that doesn't have a skimmer on it and I use carbon in a reactor for that.
I recently started (5 months now) using Rowaphos on one tank. So far it is not long enough for me to have made a determination as to whether or not it's worth doing. It appears to take perhaps a day longer (6 days now instead of 5) for algae to accumulate to the point I need to use the mag cleaner, but, I am hesitant to let my water change frequency go longer to be able to know if it is indeed helping water quality with regards to bacteria. I just hate the thought of loosing a seahorse even to experimenting.