My 2nd Tank thread

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

some of you may be aware of my main tank thread, which has been going almost a year now. That thread can be found here.

This thread will be for my 2nd project, which will present some very different problems.

This will be a fairly small desk top tank, measuring about 17 gallons, or 77 liters.

This is going to be a FOWLR tank, salt water, and my goal is to keep a small group (herd?) of seahorses.


To this end, I know that I need gentle water movement and lots of places for the seahorses to latch on to.

I believe to this end I will be trying a Ocean Free Hydra 20 filter.

I already have a spare AI Hydra 26 HD from my previous project, so I am sure that will be more than enough light.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Best of luck with the new seahorse tank - look forward to following !

Here a RS sub-forum with some good advise... if you need help
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?forums/seahorses-pipefish.123/

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

Now then... for the next challenge for my new tank.

You see, I am a HUGE scifi buff, and I am debating trying something a little bit... well... crazy.

I hope someone can tell me if this has any prayer at all of working.

The idea is to turn the live rock in the center of the tank into an asteroid field... and then to have Star Wars ships flying through the asteroid field.

Here is my concept, please someone tell me if it has any chance of working...

I want to take a center support (most likely PVC pipe). Each piece of live rock will have a hole drilled through the center to fit the pipe through.

These will later be attached using a tank safe adhesive.

The end result of this step is something like this.



Now for the tricky part. Before gluing this together, I want to install some plastic washers in between each rock, and some plastic mountings extending out, which can turn freely around the pipe.



The idea then would be to take some plastic X-Wings and TIE Fighters and attach them to the ends of the mountings.

Of course, I need to know how to find out if these little plastic toy ships are even safe to go in the tank.

Does this have any chance of working?

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

These are the ships I am thinking of using...

 

[saintsreturn]

I have never done anything like this, but I have seen people do things with other "toys" they had to cost them with some kind of sealant to make sure the paints and chemicals in the "toys" did not leach into the tank. Essentially taking a non safe item and making it tank safe.
That said, there are a ton of possibilities that lead to the coating being removed and toxins being released. CUC or some other animals may pick at it and eventually wear it out.


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[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

After a bit of research, the models are made of a non toxic pvc plastic and painted with a water based acrylic paint.

Sounds like I would need to coat then with something

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[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

The end result I would want would be simular to this, but with the ships smaller in scale.



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[DaveK]

If your going to construct this sort of novelty type of tank, keep something other than seahorses.

Seahorses live in places like grass flats in shallow water. They need places where then can hitch their tail to. The also are not good swimmers and much prefer a wide shallow area, not a vertical tank.

As for coatings for plastic models, I'd recommend using something different. In time SW is going to cut through just about any coating you can use. It only takes a deep scratch to let water in under the coating.

 

[StirCrayzy]

Interesting idea, I've not kept ponies before, but it seems unlikely that they would be bothered by all the decorations.
They are supposed to be fairly sensitive, I would be concerned to find cases that the filtration is proven successful on that size tank. Or be sure you have time to accommodate needs as they arise.
I've seen much success using sweetwater epoxy to coat items seemingly unfit for SW but Dave is right, any defect in the coating would be bad news.

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

Regarding Tank shape,
DaveK I'm not sure what you mean. I keep specifically reading regarding seahorses that they need a good vertical column for their environmental needs. Quoted from a reputable source "Seahorses are vertically oriented animals and utilize the water column to its fullest extent. In other words, the height of your aquarium is just as important as its footprint. Find a tank that is at least 18 inches tall - the taller, the better."

Regarding coating the toys,
I have been doing a bit more reading and the reason it seems I need to coat the toys is to protect the TOYS, not the fish. Apparently the models are safe, however the salt water will cause the paint to fade quickly if not coated.

Regarding the filtration,
The filter I mentioned above is actually the one I am looking at because it is proven. My LFS currently has 3 seahorse in a 70 liter display tank using that exact filter. In fact, these are the 3 seahorses I am looking at purchasing. The LFS has agreed that if I want them they will keep them in that tank until my tank is ready.

Regarding novelty tank,
From my research I am not seeing an issue with keeping seahorses in a "novelty" tank. The supports which hold the toys will make "perches" for the seahorses to attach to. The only reason really for them to be movable is so that I can turn them to maintenance the tank.

 

[DaveK]

Let me try to explain. Your planned tank has only a 14" base. You are also planning a aquascape of mostly rock. Seahorses much prefer something they can hitch to. Think in terms of long thin grasses, sort of like the Vallisneria you see in FW tanks. Often Gorgonian skeletons were used. Rocks then to be sharp with few places for the seahorses to hitch to.

It's not that you plan a novelty tank as such, it's that your not meeting the requirement for the sea horses.

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

Still doing a lot of research, and still not sure which way I am going to go with this.

I could
a) revise my idea but still try to make a Star Wars theme Seahorse tank

b) scrap the Star Wars idea and go with a more traditional Seahorse tank

c) keep the Star Wars tank idea but stock something other than Seahorses.

That said, the main reasons for this new tank was to do something different than I am doing with my main tank (which is a 75 gallon mixed reef).

So my question then is,

If I decided to keep the themed tank idea, what fish would be right to stock in a tank of this size and type?

I know that the tall thin tank does cut down on what I can stock.

I definitely DO want this to be a saltwater tank. I already have the RO and Salt mix, and all of my testing kits and supplements are for salt water.

 

[Ceejai777]

Let me try to explain. Your planned tank has only a 14" base. You are also planning a aquascape of mostly rock. Seahorses much prefer something they can hitch to. Think in terms of long thin grasses, sort of like the Vallisneria you see in FW tanks. Often Gorgonian skeletons were used. Rocks then to be sharp with few places for the seahorses to hitch to.

It's not that you plan a novelty tank as such, it's that your not meeting the requirement for the sea horses.

I agree. The rocks won't offer any way for the seahorses to latch onto and I, personally, would be leery to keep anything in my tank that requires being coated for protection. But I think that is less of a risk than keeping seahorses in the above described tank I would go with option C.