Macroalgae Tank

[banuvatt]

I love macroalgae and soft corals tanks, they are relatively laid back and very similar to running freshwater.

 

[pledosophy]

Oh and it has been about 10 years since I had my macro seahorse system, but I had a nice forest of long sea grass I liberated from ocean beach in San Diego, and it stayed alive in 77° for over a year and spread fast.

77 for a seahorse tank? That's a hard temp to keep things healthy at?

If you don't mind me asking how long did the seahorses live?

 

[pheallox]

77 for a seahorse tank? That's a hard temp to keep things healthy at?

If you don't mind me asking how long did the seahorses live?

Tank ran for 18 months, out of the 6 only 3 made the long run(2 unknown 1 from a suprise flower nem HH) they were Reidi.

 

[pledosophy]

Tank ran for 18 months, out of the 6 only 3 made the long run(2 unknown 1 from a suprise flower nem HH) they were Reidi.

Unfortunately that is a common story with seahorses. I wish it were more widely known they need lower temperatures. I bred Reidi for quite a while and got out of it because it was sad watching the fry you spent some much love on raising to adults die so quickly in home systems.

My Reidi pair lived about 10 years. They were wild caught so I don't know how old they were when I got them, but I had them at my home for 10 years. I know of Erectus that are currently 14. That water temp makes a huge difference.

It has to do with a bacteria that is thought to be found as part of their digestive system and how that bacteria mutates and proliferates at higher temperatures. Weird thing.

 

[banuvatt]

Are pipe fish better alternatives?

 

[drexel]

Are pipe fish better alternatives?

Yes, blue stripe and dragonface are better choices. Having a disease free, pod full system is ideal. Vibrio, which is often common in home aquaria can cause issues though.

 

[pledosophy]

Any sygnathid, seahorse, pipefish, etc, will do better in lower temperatures.

Vibrio is the reason why. Almost every syngnathid I have ever seen cultured tests positive for some strain of vibrio. It is commonly theorized it is part of their intestinal tract, but there is no research money to prove it. Probably never will be. The guy, Dr Belli, who was leading the research for years has moved on from fish.

Basically vibrio reacts differently at different temperatures. It's why you can't eat a clam unless there is an R in the month. At a higher temperature vibrio will change it's structure from iiPP to IIPP. It becomes much more virulent and the animal has no resistance to. It can double every 20 minutes. It causes problems. Keeping the tank under 74F for most species and even lower for some completely removes those issues. Even if a seahorse has a bacterial infection just dropping the tank temp to below 68F will often pause the infection and give the animal a much better chance of fighting it off, especially combined with neomyicin and a triple sulpha.

IME Blue stripes do pretty well at reef temps, dragons prefer it cooler. Not a lot of cultures have been done on pipes.

I wouldn't steer anyone away from seahorses. If you can keep the temp down, buy CB, feed frozen twice a day, and have a tank setup with lots of broken up flow (spray bar through the rocks is ideal) seahorses are amazing animals to own. They got me into this hobby 25+ years ago. I will always have a special place in my heart for them. Just majestic creatures.

 

[BonnieB]

Wow, such great information. I had no clue about the temp with seahorses. How do you balance that with other fish in the tank such as blennies, dragonets, cardinals, firefish or other calm tank mates?

 

[drexel]

Depending on what tank mates you choose, the lower temp will be just fine. I've actually reduced my overall temp in my displays to 75-76. Just remember, the smaller the tank, the harder it is to regulate the temp and keep it stable. Keeping the tank in the coolest room in the house/apt would be ideal.

 

[BonnieB]

Depending on what tank mates you choose, the lower temp will be just fine. I've actually reduced my overall temp in my displays to 75-76. Just remember, the smaller the tank, the harder it is to regulate the temp and keep it stable. Keeping the tank in the coolest room in the house/apt would be ideal.

Yeah, that’s exactly where it is. I’ll adjust the temp down to 76 for both the macro and eventual seahorses!

 

[pledosophy]

Honestly 76 won't do it. 74 is an on off switch for the bacterias involved. It's not a ramp up. It's either activated or it is not. At 74F it is activated. You need temps below 74 for almost every syngnathid species. Some you need significantly lower temps, but they aren't readily available.

You can bring the temp down quite a bit with fans and surface evaporation, but I would recommend a chiller. What you save on expensive reef lights you will spend on a chiller and a good skimmer.

Tankmates did just fine at lower temps.

If you have ever been diving in the ocean you know that temps at the surface of the water, and 20 feet down are different. It keeps getting cooler the lower you go. Most of the fish available in our hobby do just fine at lower temps, it is specific corals that do not. I have kept macro tanks with my heater set to 65 when I lived in Oregon and the fish and macro, as well as some of the LPS were just fine. SPS can't hang that low at all.

 

[Jimbo327]

So much great info. Even I’m learning a lot.

 

[BonnieB]

Honestly 76 won't do it. 74 is an on off switch for the bacterias involved. It's not a ramp up. It's either activated or it is not. At 74F it is activated. You need temps below 74 for almost every syngnathid species. Some you need significantly lower temps, but they aren't readily available.

You can bring the temp down quite a bit with fans and surface evaporation, but I would recommend a chiller. What you save on expensive reef lights you will spend on a chiller and a good skimmer.

Tankmates did just fine at lower temps.

If you have ever been diving in the ocean you know that temps at the surface of the water, and 20 feet down are different. It keeps getting cooler the lower you go. Most of the fish available in our hobby do just fine at lower temps, it is specific corals that do not. I have kept macro tanks with my heater set to 65 when I lived in Oregon and the fish and macro, as well as some of the LPS were just fine. SPS can't hang that low at all.

Oh okay gonna start there.