My first saltwater will be a seahorse tank.

[MrAlmostWrong]

Hello everyone. My fiancee is dying to get a seahorse tank so I'm obliged to make it happen. For some background I've been a freshwater man for the past two years and all of my tanks are high tech so to speak (CO2, high PAR, fertilizers, etc.) so I understand the basics of maintaining a tank. I've been researching saltwater tanks for the past couple of months on and off and it seems every build has a new piece of equipment.

Her vision is to get a 45 gallon-ish cube which I think is plenty of space for 4 seahorses. My question is what type of equipment should I consider purchasing that would make my life easier with regards to upkeep and maintenance? I'm assuming:

• protein skimmer
• Auto top off

Besides a sump, what other stuff am I missing? I see a ton of different reactors, but with so many I'm not sure if any certain one is valuable enough to get.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Zoarder]

I don't think you need much specially if you will only keep those sea horses. Usually reactors are to help with large bio loads to reduce Nitrate, Phosphate, and the carbon. Most of the other stuff is for reefs. It all depends what else you would be adding and I would research what seahorse you want to get and what they require.

 

[reefes pieces]

+1 Depends on the seahorse and typically corals with seahorses would be out of the question. Plan on setting up the sump to keep a skimmer and live rock for nitrification. Since you most likely won't have corals but could have nice macro algae for seahorses you can use any decent light. No need for power heads and actually isn't recommended since Seahorses are poor swimmers. ATO will make life a lot easier. keep in mind that certain sea horses prefer cooler temperatures under 76* so a chiller may be needed.

I don't think you need much specially if you will only keep those sea horses. Usually reactors are to help with large bio loads to reduce Nitrate, Phosphate, and the carbon. Most of the other stuff is for reefs. It all depends what else you would be adding and I would research what seahorse you want to get and what they require.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Don't know one person that has ever had a successful seahorse tank long term.

I've known a few people that had seahorse tanks. Then the seahorses died.


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

 

[jesuses]

Don't know one person that has ever had a successful seahorse tank long term.

I've known a few people that had seahorse tanks. Then the seahorses died.


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

Yup, me. I would recommend going all out and getting an aquarium controller and chiller. I think temp fluctuations killed mine. Flow is hard to get right because they don't like to get blasted but if you have to little lots of crude gets built up. Also remember to put a sponge over pumps, I had one die from getting it's tail stuck in a power head. I would wait to have a mature tank as well so they don't have to deal with all the algae stages and changes in water chemistry, they're slow enough to have algae grow on them. Also get good seahorses that eat frozen already, ask to see them eat.

Hope this helps, good luck

 

[MrAlmostWrong]

Great responses guys. There is no rush to make this happen and we have researched the possible corals that they could work with, but as you mention they might not make it in the tank. Even after the tank is setup we wouldn't be putting any seahorses in for at least two months to make sure we have the tank set exactly the way we want. Shame to hear about not many people being able to keep seahorses long term.

 

[reefes pieces]

Sea horses take a lot if dedication and commitment. I think it's certainly possible to sustain them.