I read/follow Doni's thread on her build because I've always wanted seahorses. After I got into the sw end of the hobby I knew I wanted either a seahorse or clown tank. Then I saw LIFE PLANET EARTH on the Dis. channel. One of the sea creatures they spent quite abit of time on was the dwarf seahorse. That made up my mind, the brand new 20 I had picked up at an overstock sale for $5.00 last month was going to become a home to a herd of H. Zosterae. The time has come to begin the researching and planning.
OH LORDY....after just a few hours of reading up on the little guys I have come to the conclusion that they really shouldn't be kept by the average hobbyist, namely me. To much time involved in just feeding them not to mention the other special needs they demand. Better left to ppl who are at home all of the time. Maybe when I reach retirement but not now.
So...I still am going ahead with my plan just will be getting a pair of H. Reidi or H. Erectus. Haven't decided which yet but am leaning to H.E.
The first bit of confusion I'd like cleared...
Liveaquaria claims minimum tank size for 1 H.E. is 30 gallons
Seahorsesource claims I can keep a pair in a 20.
Which is more true to accurate?
Can someone recommend books that I can get to read while at work?
Should I plan on skimming as efficiently as I do for my reef? If so what is an econmical skimmer to look in to for a 20 gal?
I plan on partitioning off the back 2" of the tank to hide the overflow pipe. All that will show in the display are the returns. the plumbing will all be hiden between the partition and back glass of the tank. I can't drill the tank because it's tempered. I can't hide an overflow box so I'm going with side by side 1" siphons that will "t" into one 1 1/2" pipe to the sump. Anyone know of an online calculator to find gph?
The sump will just be a rubber maid tub to hold my heater, skimmer and DIY 2 part media reactor. Also be some chaeto in there.
The display itself will have about a 2" in layer of mangrove mud. I'll lay some GARF Grunge on top of that then an 1" or so of coarse reef sand. There'll only be one manmade rock in there but it will be a sizeable sculpture that will hold my ricky's, mushrooms and some of the macro's. The bed will be planted with oar grass, ulva, gracialia mostly but will have some other types of macro's and a couple low light gorgs. I'll stock pods at the end of the cycle to get the population building.
I haven't decided on lighting yet but am thinking about PC's. High output, low cost for the screw in type bulbs and I have the fixture for them already.
It'll be months before I actually order the ponies. This will be the slowest 20 gallon build RS has ever witnessed. But I have a ton of research to do while I'm building so the time issue is a very good thing!
OH LORDY....after just a few hours of reading up on the little guys I have come to the conclusion that they really shouldn't be kept by the average hobbyist, namely me. To much time involved in just feeding them not to mention the other special needs they demand. Better left to ppl who are at home all of the time. Maybe when I reach retirement but not now.
So...I still am going ahead with my plan just will be getting a pair of H. Reidi or H. Erectus. Haven't decided which yet but am leaning to H.E.
The first bit of confusion I'd like cleared...
Liveaquaria claims minimum tank size for 1 H.E. is 30 gallons
Seahorsesource claims I can keep a pair in a 20.
Which is more true to accurate?
Can someone recommend books that I can get to read while at work?
Should I plan on skimming as efficiently as I do for my reef? If so what is an econmical skimmer to look in to for a 20 gal?
I plan on partitioning off the back 2" of the tank to hide the overflow pipe. All that will show in the display are the returns. the plumbing will all be hiden between the partition and back glass of the tank. I can't drill the tank because it's tempered. I can't hide an overflow box so I'm going with side by side 1" siphons that will "t" into one 1 1/2" pipe to the sump. Anyone know of an online calculator to find gph?
The sump will just be a rubber maid tub to hold my heater, skimmer and DIY 2 part media reactor. Also be some chaeto in there.
The display itself will have about a 2" in layer of mangrove mud. I'll lay some GARF Grunge on top of that then an 1" or so of coarse reef sand. There'll only be one manmade rock in there but it will be a sizeable sculpture that will hold my ricky's, mushrooms and some of the macro's. The bed will be planted with oar grass, ulva, gracialia mostly but will have some other types of macro's and a couple low light gorgs. I'll stock pods at the end of the cycle to get the population building.
I haven't decided on lighting yet but am thinking about PC's. High output, low cost for the screw in type bulbs and I have the fixture for them already.
It'll be months before I actually order the ponies. This will be the slowest 20 gallon build RS has ever witnessed. But I have a ton of research to do while I'm building so the time issue is a very good thing!