"Let there be light!" - Kay Tickle's Seahorse Tank Build

[Kay Tickle]

I haven't posted any of my tank build yet, so now that my dad came to town and helped me build a light fixture to accomodate the awesome PAR 38s, I figured I'd show off the progress. (No seahorses yet!)

Added a top to the stand since it had to be a little bigger than the tank to have room for the sump underneath.



Prepping the tank (29 gallons drilled)



Installing the baffles in the sump



The drain (I have a overflow box with teeth from Gl*******s) and return line.



Added the sand and water



Some live, some not so live rock



So, at this point, I was at a standstill until I figured out what to do about lighting. I intend on having some corals (mostly zoas and rics) with my seahorses, so I don't need crazy lighting. However, the PAR 38s are very attractive, so I purchased one bulb and a stunner strip.

Dad came into town and we started to build.



Ta-dah! (I have room for 2 LEDs, but only have the one bulb so far). We put square dowel rods under the rim of the light fixture, where I will mount the stunner strips. The dowel rods are lightly screwed in, so they swivel to different angles -- quite awesome!



Close-up. What do you think?

[greech]

Off to a great start. Nice choice in lighting and one heck of a plumbing job!

[jasonrp104]

Looks good. You might want to lower the water level in your sump in case of an outage

[Kay Tickle]

Originally Posted by jasonrp104

Looks good. You might want to lower the water level in your sump in case of an outage

That shot was taken with the return pump off. The water just slightly falls over the baffle to the pump section. Thanks!!

[Peka]

Looks very nice.. don't forget some hitches in the tank before you put your horses in......

[Kay Tickle]

Originally Posted by Peka

Looks very nice.. don't forget some hitches in the tank before you put your horses in......

Thanks, Peka! I am planning on gorgonians, maybe a mangrove and some seagrasses. I'm going to wait a few months before I get the seahorses, so the tank should be pretty well stocked with hitches by then. I have some tonga rock, but I can't figure out where and how I want to place it (it's currently residing in the fuge).

[Peka]

I would caution against making your gorgonians the main hitches. I have had lots of them and they end up being stressed by the horses hitching on them... Tonga rock is great. The horses like it...... Aquascaping is one of the hardest parts when you set up a tank. Try not to leave too many hiding spots for them so that you can keep an eye on all of them and check their health daily....

[gotfrogs]

Can you move the heater to the sump?

[Kay Tickle]

Originally Posted by gotfrogs

Can you move the heater to the sump?

Is that for the safety of the seahorses? I tried to put it there at first but it doesn't fit. I can get a smaller one if you feel it would be a problem with the SHs.

[Kay Tickle]

Originally Posted by Peka

I would caution against making your gorgonians the main hitches. I have had lots of them and they end up being stressed by the horses hitching on them... Tonga rock is great. The horses like it...... Aquascaping is one of the hardest parts when you set up a tank. Try not to leave too many hiding spots for them so that you can keep an eye on all of them and check their health daily....

Thanks! I didn't know that about the gorgonians. I'll keep it to only 1 or 2. What do you recommend as far as seagrasses go?

[MischiefManaged]

Originally Posted by Kay Tickle

Is that for the safety of the seahorses? I tried to put it there at first but it doesn't fit. I can get a smaller one if you feel it would be a problem with the SHs.

Seahorses are known to hitch to anything and everything.. They can get burnt from a heater...

[Kay Tickle]

Thanks, I'll move the heater.

[Kay Tickle]

Here's an update!

Since I last posted, I got my other PAR 38 bulb. My camera doesn't capture the LED very well, but I've read that seems to be the case.

I've also added some things for hitches: tonga branch rock, dead acro coral, caulerpa. The caulerpa should fill in pretty nice during quarantine.

So now I'm setting up the quarantine tank, waiting for a sponge to colonize in my sump, and then I will order my seahorses!!



Accidentally, snapped the pic when the pump was off, so that's why the water level is so low.

[Kay Tickle]

Also, moved the heater to the sump as suggested! Will need to get some type of mesh or something for my overflow teeth, and I may get one more powerhead.

[Johndoe0336]

That looks great. Where did you buy your par 38 bulbs from and what did you use for the fixtures?

[Kay Tickle]

Thanks! I got the bulbs from ecoxotic (ordered one myself, and my LFS got the other one from them). My dad helped me build the fixture and we used regular pendant light fixtures (see 7th picture down) and just pulled the long cord all the way through. The PAR 38 bulbs can screw into any standard light socket, making them extremely versatile. It looks way better in person, as do most setups

[namxas]

Kay,

Nice job! And kudos for being patient, researching, and QT-ing! More folks should follow your example, for sure.

I think the C. prolifera will look great once it fills in, and your SH will love the stuff.

And the DIY pendant looks super as well. We're toying with lighting our upcoming 210 gal project with PAR 38's in ceiling cans (the vented style).

Bravo!

[Kay Tickle]

Wow, Greg, thanks! That means A LOT coming from you!

I had to slow down for a minute because I had a minor flatworm issue. I took care of it with Flatworm Exit before it got way out of hand (60-70 of them), and I've done a couple of water changes and carbon change-outs, and I'm going to start over colonizing my sponges in the sump for my QT tank. So, it will still be maybe a month before I order, but I'm excited! One of the most important things I've learned on here and through the little experience I've gained is to be patient. "Nothing good happens fast". I'm glad the flatworm incident occurred, because it made me realize that I may be feeding my tank too much, and that I need to pay more attention to my husbandry. I feel that I do well with my weekly water changes and siphoning, but I know the SHs need close-to-perfect water quality, so I'm stepping it up.

Thanks again!

[IDrawFish]

Nice looking build, I like the housing for the lighting, and the LED's look even nicer now you got the other one in there, seems a bit of hot spotted in the middle but that might just be the picture

[Kay Tickle]

Yeah, the pic doesn't do it much justice. I have a really white piece of dead acro in the middle and it is picking up the white and blasting it for the picture. I just have a point-and-shoot so I don't know if I can play with color balance, etc.

...and thanks!

[Kay Tickle]

QT Tank (the heater's gone, just wanted to warm it up a bit to grow some more bacteria before they got here):



My 2 H. erectus, by way of Seahorse Source. Thanks Dan for all your help!



They really like my fake macro:



I'm so happy. They are beautiful, and eating like champs!

[namxas]

Pretty SH...Dan, Abby, and the girls are the best.

[DanU]

They are beautiful, and eating like champs!

Would I be correct in assuming they are settled down now from shipping & acclimation?

Dan

[Kay Tickle]

Yes! I was going to call you later today. They ate when I came home from work and again this morning. They've been hitching to everything and dancing around! Love them! Thank you!!!

[TamiW]

Great looking horses! Not that its any surprise from seahorse source.

Originally Posted by Kay Tickle

QT Tank (the heater's gone, just wanted to warm it up a bit to grow some more bacteria before they got here):

If you're worried about them hitching to that heater, its mostly seahorse safe because the heating element is on the inside. The only possible problem would be if you had really tiny seahorses. But I love those heaters for seahorses. They're a little weird, yeah, but overall work really well and no issues if a seahorse hitches to them.