Questions about my seahorses setup.

[LiVEWiRE]

recently I bought 2 seahorses I am not sure what type they are yet. As I was posting about corals in another thread and mentioned I bought 2 seahorses Panmanmatt informed me that its not good to keep them in a reef tank. So I have a 20 gallon for a temp setup that has been running for months and has nothing in it. So I went to my LFS and asked about keeping some of the water and mixing salt so that the tank is ready for the seahorses. But instead they said to do a water change on my reef and add the water from the reef tank to the 20 gallon.
So this is what I did. I took all of the water out of the 20 gallon and the substrate out. rinsed the tank and got any algae off the walls. Next I added 10 gallons of new mixed salt water and then 5 gallon of my reef tank water. Then I added 40 lbs of Live sand and topped it off with new salt water. There was a 3 degree temp difference from the new salt water and my reef tank so I did not change much so I would not alter the temp of my reef tank. I left the aquaclear 70 on the back of the tank with the fresh water in it and started the pump. I let the tank run for about 10 mins and then shut the pump down and changed the filter media.
Now I am hoping that because I left the old media in the filter for awhile that it would release some bacteria into the now salt water tank. So now here is the question once I make sure all levels are ok in the tank PH, SG, Nitrate, Temp, Etc. Can I add the seahorses to this tank now or does it have to recycle again? Right now its still a bit cloudy from the sand but tomorrow it should be fine. I will be getting a 55 gallon for the seahorses in about 4 weeks . So this is only a temp tank. So what do you think?

 

[panmanmatt]

Was the 20 gallon set up as a freshwater tank? If so the bacterias are different and whatever is in the filter pads will die off. You would be better off pulling them out and replacing them.

I would let it run for a few days to clear up and check your levels to see where it stands as far as a cycle. f you have any traces of ammonia or nitrites do not add the seahorses. If the levels are at 0, I would add a small amount of mysis and let it sit over night and then recheck your parameters. This will tell you if your tank is ready for any bio-load.

Be sure to keep the tank in the 72-74 degree temp range and add something in there for the horses to hitch on to.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

I will check all of the parameters today. And I know not to add them if things are not in check. I have already changed the filter media and have added carbon and renew to my filter. I will wait until it clears totally before I add them. I jut want to get them out of the reef tank asap. They have one spot in there that does not have alot of current and thats where they hang out. I will let you know how the levels are in the tank. And yes I also bought a fake coral from my LFS so that they have something to hang onto.

 

[lcstorc]

You are going to need to either cycle it or monitor the amonia and nitrites carefully and do very frequent water changes. The bacteria for fresh water is different from salt.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

Well here are the numbers from yesterday.
PH 8.4
Alk about 4
Nitrate 0
Phos 0
Calcium 320
KH 143.2
SG 1.022

Last night I added about a half cube of Mysis shrimp and let the tank run. The temp was about 68deg yesterday I added a heater and now have it at 73deg.
Everything is the same in numbers today but the Nitrate went up to maybe 5.0 and the phos stayed the same. So what do you think can I get them ready to add to the tank tonight? Because tomorrow I may not be able to have enough time for acclamation time. And may not get the time until next week. I will have time for a 5 gallon water change but thats about it with my other tanks I have to tend too also. Once we get done this project at work I will have my time back again.
Also how do I get them out of one tank to place them in another? Do I just let them sit in my hand and place them in the bag? Thats how i put them in the tank And they seemed to like that.

 

[panmanmatt]

As long as you are showing 0 for nitrites and ammonia(the 2 things you didn't list) I would go ahead and add them. Just keep an eye on your tests for the next few days to make sure everything stays ok.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

Nitrite 0
ammonia 0
Sorry so many tests to post. I just checked both again and they are good. But you did not let me know how to get them into the bag for transport. So is the hand thing ok? Because I would think a net is out of the question. They come to me when I near the tank so its easy to get them in my hand. I also keep my SG higher in my reef tank. What is the best for seahorses? Maybe 1.023 natural? and what lighting tube should I use for them? I have a stock one right now but can upgrade the lighting until I upgrade the tank at least.

 

[panmanmatt]

Yup your hand is fine, just make sure they are clean. 1.023 is ok for them. I wouldn't go much higher. Standard light is fine for them, no need to upgrade it just now.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

Well i am moving them as I am typing this they are going through the acclamation process. Another question is I bought some pods from Reef Nutrition. I got some Arcti pods which are just plank tonic cope pods at the 3000 microns size. And some Tigger pods which are also cope pods Red and alive. Have you fed any of these to your seahorses? I hear they are really nutritious.

 

[panmanmatt]

Seahorse won't touch the Arctic pods in my experience and that of many others I know. They have even been tried by a commercial breeder and not a single horse of any size or age would touch them.

They will eat the tigger pods, but by introducing live foods for them, you risk the chance of the horses ignoring the frozen and only wanting live food from then on. Better off just sticking with the frozen mysids.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

OK I will just feed the pods to the reef tank. I'm sure that the corals shrimp and crabs will eat them. I will post a pic of my Horses once I get them into the tank. I hope I can get a clear enough one to post. I have a half ok cam 6mp but cant seem to get a good pic maybe I need to tweek it. Thanks for all your help with moving the seahorses panmanmatt I really am glad that I can make them alot more comfortable. I am sure I have to add some things to the tank to make them more happy so any suggestions? I only have 1 fake coral and 1 piece of dead branch coral in the tank to let them have something to grab.

 

[panmanmatt]

That's fine for now. They also need some room to swim around a bit.

Lets see what it looks like and how they act before adding/changing anything with the tank.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

Well they are moved and seem happier. Here are some pics Matt. Let me know what you think.

This one is not so clear..

 

[panmanmatt]

Looks good. They appear to be a healthy pair of seahorses. Looks like you have a male/female pair there.

Couple things:

Get a heater guard for that heater. The horses will ry to hitch onto it and they will get burned. If you can't find one at your LFS you can get some plastic craft mesh and zipe ties and make your own.
This is what they look like and come in different lengths.
Seahorse Source

Also I would add something a little taller for them to hitch onto.

Fake plants work great for this. My personal favorite is this one:
Sargassum platycarpum
Saltwater SeaGarden Plants

 

[Terri]

How are your seahorses doing . have you put anything else in the tank..

 

[LiVEWiRE]

They are doing good. Its kinda hard to find a heater guard around here so I will most likely have to order a new heater with a guard. Also i saw somewhere on here that an airstone does something for the horses. Should I have one in there?

 

[panmanmatt]

You don't need an airstone. As for the heater guard, you don't have to get a whole new heater, just order the guard. The link I posted previously sells just the guard that you can slip over your heater.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

Will it fit any heater? I have a visi therm in there. Without seeing it up close I cant tell. I'm sure you have one or a few in your tanks. are they pretty versatile?

 

[panmanmatt]

They are very versatile. I have them on 3 or 4 different types of heaters.

 

[LiVEWiRE]

The cost of shipping for just the guard is more than the guard itself lol. Is there anything else I will need for this tank for now? Do you need a protein skimmer on a pony tank? Or anything else I can add to it and then transfer to the 55 gallon when I get that one? I am just making sure so I can order it now instead of later.