New Tank for Seahorses! (First time)

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Ryan Matthews

New Member
Hello everyone.

My name is Ryan and my wife and I are new to this hobby. We fell in love with Seahorses after we went to the Ocean Rider seahorse farm in Kona, HI. Since that time we have been planning on getting into this hobby, and are now ready to take the plunge! We decided we wanted to share with you our experiences, share pictures, and ask for feedback as we go through this adventure! We are currently taking the class from Ocean Rider being taught by Pete, and have purchased a tank and are currently in the cycling process. Any insights from any of you are very much appreciated! :)

The Tank - Red Sea Max 130d with upgraded pump (350 gph) - working on getting a nozzle to slow the flow for the ponies. Got it used from a local hobbyist and sterilized it.

Current occupants - 33 pounds of Caribbean live rock (pre-cured) but may still have a few unwanted critters - not sure yet...
- 40 lbs of Fiji pink Live sand
- using Seachem stability to get the process going and to help mitigate newbie errors :) (protein skimmer is currently OFF, as recommended by Pete for the next 5 days or so to let the seachem and live rock balance themselves initially... then I will turn it on.) ideas on this?
- 10 micro blue-hermit crabs

Plan -
To get 2 mustangs from ocean rider, and to ultimately have a mixed reef with a clown fish, a few gobies, a firefish or two, and a full working cleanup crew. (any other suggestions??)
We plan to start with the ponies, and add the other fish after they are established.

That's the basic idea at this point. We are open to all ideas, suggestions, or any other type of feedback as we want this project to be a success!

Thank you so much,
Ryan

Here is our Tank:


 
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nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
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to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
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Cheers for starting a tank thread, look forward to following along - love seeing ponies !
 
Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson

Well-Known Member
I'd suggest getting Scarlet Hermit Crabs instead of the blue ones. They are the most reef safe, one of only a few animals that will eat hair algae, and they are longer lived.

Can't wait to see your ponies.
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
Already have the 10 blue hermits.. and am planning to get small snail cleaner package from florida pets that includes the following:
18 Vibex snails
12 Marginella snails
4 Virgin nerite snails.
8 Cerith snails

Do you think I should still get a few scarlet hemits, or would I be better served to stick with only the blue's?
Also, any tips on keeping the Gorgorian alive? That was a bonus on our live rock, but would be a perfect hitching post for the ponies :).
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
Nope. Hadn't gotten there yet. Thank you so much! I'm loving this Forum already! Glad to hear about the gorgonians... i started reading up a little on them yesterday but it seemed that different varieties can be difficult to maintain... but I'm guessing they weren't photosynthetic. I have 2 small clearish/pink/brown anenome growing.. hard to get a good pic of it with my phone... he is still pretty small.. but I was wondering what type he was. I'm not sure if he's aptasia.

Heres what I can get thus far...



Its the little brownish bubbly looking piece right in the middle of the picture under the initial layer of rock, like he's trying to slide back under. I'll try to get another pic soon..
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
I got two more pictures this morning...



Heres a picture of a different spot, but a similar looking specimen growing... easier to see the whole thing.



What do you all think?
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
Updated photo!

Added 5 nassarius snails, 3 astrea's, 5 black turbo (actually i think they are margharita's) and 2 peppermint shrimp. Only bad thing so far the gorgonian died, but i don't think it was healthy to begin with since we gave it LOTS of light, good flows, and even tried phytoplankton. Gonna add a few more snails I think, but otherwise let this thing sit for another month or so until we are ready for the seahorses!! What do you guys think?

Any tips?

 
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vsiege

Active Member
Awesome setup so far. Watch the shrimp and make sure they don't outcompete then for food. Mine did. One shrimp might be better. Get horses from a quality source. Make sure you have hitching posts that are appropriatly sized for the horses you purchase.

37 gallon, LEDs, fish and coral
 
ziggy

ziggy

Active Member
On the pepermint shrimp, see if you can notice if the spear/spike on the top of the head, same as a helmut would have, extends beyond the 1st 2 sets of antenna, or if it ends before the 1st 2 sets of antenna
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
Update!!!!

Still building for the seahorses...

Additions since the last picture:
1. 2 tiger sand conchs
2. Assorted Cerith, Nerite, astrea, and a few turbo snails.
3. 4 mexican red-legged scarlet reef crabs
4. 1 Filefish (to help get rid of the aiptasia... more than likely will have to take him back once the horses get here, but for now he's so freakin cool!)
5. 1 rainfordi gobi (to help keep the micro red and green hair algae down)
6. 1 Orange linkia starfish... ok this one is probably a strech, but I've wanted one for a long time, and he was on a great sale, got him for 5 bucks! (LFS was trying to make room for a large shipment and he threw this guy in for me) We acclimated him over 3 hours, and so far appears to be doing well. Any tips on watching to see if his condition is deteriorating? I've heard people with a tank of my size (34 gallons) have mixed results, any tips?
7. 1 small Pink Xenia pulsing coral
8. 1 small Zoa (i believe was promptly eating by the filefish.. not sure.. they have shrunken down dramatically, never did open up once introduced into the tank.)
9. 1 small-media finger leather coral. (3 parts to it, 2 of the 3 look absolutely fantastic, 1 piece appears to be dwindeling... any ideas why this might be? The other 2 pieces actually are growing)
10. One feather duster.

Added items 6-10 about 4 days now...

current #'s are...

temp = 74.6
salinity = 1.0235
ph = 8.2
alkalinity = 143.3
calcium = 300
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0
phosphate = 0
magnesium = 1200

I am using seachem stability and added doses when I added the new critters. I am also supplementing the tank with calcium (Calcion) from brightwell aquatics. I also have added a dose of live phytoplankton from DT's. Anything else I should be adding to benefit the stuff that I have in the tank?

I am still looking for a few more hitching posts for the seahorse (getting mustangs or sunburts) and want to go natural if possible. Any ideas on corals or plants?

A few diatoms and a small amount of cyanobacteria is growing on the sand bed, should I clean it out manually or let my cleanup crew work on it?

Any other ideas or tips? Thank you all for your help! Hoping to get the ponies in about 2 weeks!

 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
Im just checking in so that little dot will remind me to read this when I have time. (Im very busy, lol) looking 4word to watching this bloom. Welcome!
 
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vsiege

Active Member
Ok. Real quick... Get the cyano out if you can.... Would stay away from having coral until you are ok with the horses. They need a lot of love. Can't go wrong with either of those two horses... Love sunbursts! Oh and if you want natural... Try a macro or two.... Much cheaper if they don't survive or get eaten
 
R

Ryan Matthews

New Member
vsiege said:
Ok. Real quick... Get the cyano out if you can.... Would stay away from having coral until you are ok with the horses. They need a lot of love. Can't go wrong with either of those two horses... Love sunbursts! Oh and if you want natural... Try a macro or two.... Much cheaper if they don't survive or get eaten
Click to expand...

What types of Macro would you suggest? I would prefer longer ones (that I can cut down if necessary) to help and slow the flow just a little bit. Any ideas?
 
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