Setting up new Seahorse tank, suggestions?

[Tucson Reef]

Just tore down my 110 Reef again(Get bored about every 20 years) and set up as planted FW. Going to move the Discus from the Cube over after the plants get established.

Decided to set the Cube up as a Horse tank. Had Dwarfs and some wild in the last 50 years with relative sucess. Heres my thoughts so far, the Tank is 22"x24" and 26" tall(Tank about 58 gals and 20 gal sump) euro braced starphire with T-5 lighting. House stays 73 in summer and 68 in winter, tank without heater maxes out at 76-77. I can run fan on sump and keep it 72-73 or lower(not disireable because of evaoration going higher, although I have a 15 gal ATO resovior hooked up to the sump) by using fan on my ReefKeeper.

Plan on sugargrain size crushed coral deep enough for Shavebrush and other calcerous Algaes, maybe even some seagrasses, Tonga Rock and Acro skeltons. I'm thinking of sending off for some different pod cultures to seed the sump and tank and let it season for awhile before adding the seahorses.

Any suggestions welcome on above ideas and choice of seahorses and quanity. I prefer simple, so temp sensitive (below 72) is not an option. As I'm retired and have tank options, easier to raise fry is a consideration as breeding and rasing would be fun. Don't mind hatching shrimp for fry but do not want to get into Dwarfs again.

Thats as far as I've thought it out so far. Cost of Seahorses is not important as quality, but I wont pay stupid prices. Suggestions on who to purchase from apreciated, I've read a few of the links but would like to hear from actual customers. Thanks for any help, John

[rayjay]

Well my first suggestion is to read the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping"
Buy only true captive bred. The best recommended sites are seahorsesourc.com, pekasponies.com, and seahorsecorral.com.
Probably the easiest fry to raise would be H. erectus.

[Tucson Reef]

Heres the tank and sump

[mtc1966]

thats a nice set up .good luck with it

[Tucson Reef]

Well, decided to put a 1/10hp chiller on it. Tested it with FW, started at 11:00AM at 74.4, now at 9:30PM its at 75.5 using Fan. I will have about 35 more watts of gear, protien skimmer and maybe a powerhead and I was aiming for 74. A chiller will make it simpler keeping it solid. We have free electicity anyway so its not a money factor, we have Solar.

[Tucson Reef]

Hooked the chiller up, it read 71.8, got my good ole Tropic Marin Calabration thermometer out to cal. Guess what, it was 71.8, my ReefKeeper temp control was off by 4 degrees. Very important to check your temp controlers once in awhile, been about ten years since I last checked Cal.


So it might be a good idea to check your temp calibration on your controlers periodicly.

[KimP]

That tank looks great for seahorses! A chiller is going to make things so much simpler for you. I second the 3 sources for seahorses mentioned above. I've personally gotten all my horses from seahorsesource.com and have always been beyond impressed. I've always read/heard that erectus fry are the easiest to raise. I did not find them too difficult, just time consuming. Oh, and seahorsesource.com is also just a great site to read a quick overview of the different types and their requirements. Since it's generally not advised to mix species, I'd spend my time really making sure I got what I really wanted instead of just getting erectus because everybody said to. Unless erectus is what you want, of course! There are many choices available.

I think your plan sounds very nice. I am currently working on a similar seagrass, macro, and tonga branching rock type tank for reidi.

Best of luck! Sounds like you know what you're doing.