Hey from Tennessee!

[goldenmean]

Howdy hoooo!!!
Welcome to RS!

Dont be afraid to ask questions.
We love to help!

[farasfarm]

Hey Lynn,
Thanks for the encouraging message. My family & I took a little field trip today into Nashville..."The Aquatic Critter" is Nashville's well know lfs and has tons of salt tanks...as well as fresh. The kids had so much fun looking at all the gorgious fish in there...I was totally drooling lol :-). I think my husband was hyperventilating at the cost of this hobby...he'll come around...he knows how much it means to me and how long I have waiting to do this.
The salesperson also said I could use my tank with an HOB overflow...I would prefer the drilled tank but it seems like such a waste not to use my current tank. I found a thread a little while ago though that said a HOB overflow was really expensive. Is that true? Another thing that was disappointing to me was the lighting issue and the high cost. She told me the only way to go for lights were the metal halides...and I'd need two of them. These were pretty expensive...she also said they would put out a lot of heat so I'd need a chiller. But the biggest surprise was...she said they would DOUBLE my electric bill. Is that true? I am trying to keep my chin up about that one. Even if I managed to save up enough $$$ to get the lights...a doubled electric bill would be a constant financial drain. My husband won't go for that one at all. Can I use another light system with any measure of success?
My dream tank is one with sea horses. I think it is so amazing that you have them. My kids want a tank with clown fish like "Nemo", and a blue tang like "Dory" or a yellow tang...(lol no surprises there I guess) I need to keep reading reading reading and researching researching researching. I plan to do a unit study on which ever ecosystem I decide to emulate in the tank. We will research the varius corals and fish appropriate for the tank ect. I am also tempted by that new Red Sea Max tank. It was a complete unit...just plug in and you're in business.
Thanks again for being so kind,
Fara

[lcstorc]

No you do not have to have MH lights. They are only needed for the most light demanding species. Many people have gorgeous softie tanks with Power Compact lighting or VHO lighting. One warning though since you mentioned Nemo. Skip the anemone. They are one of the most light demanding animals we keep as well as one of the most delicate. Also MH lights will raise the electric bill but not double it unless it is very low to begin with. I think ours went up by about 40 when we got the MH lights for my 125g reef. I run 3 MH lights and 4 PC actinics. The seahorse tank just has regular PC lights which are fine for the ponies and I only keep a couple of the less light demanding corals in that tank. If you want to go for seahorses they will need their own tank. I have 2 other very passive fish in my pony tank plus 2 shrimp and the 2 seahorses. Also the seahorses need cooler water than a normal reef so I had to get a chiller to keep them here in Florida. Do some investigating on your own. It sounds like that store is just trying to make a sale. You certainly can get one of the all in one systems but most people that do end up spending the money on upgrades to the system so I am not at all sure it is any cheaper to go that route. My pony tank is an Aquapod which is supposed to be an all in one system. We ended up removing the lid and using the filtration on the reef in order to keep them successfully. If I didn't have the reef right next to it I would have needed to do several upgrades to keep the water quality where it needs to be. I am unfamiliar with the Red Sea mostly because it is so new. I have read several posts where people were considering it but I don't think anyone here has one yet.
HTH If not ask more questions. We love to answer and help out by sharing our experiences. This is by far the most friendly forum I have ever found and people are really glad to help so do not be afraid to ask.

[farasfarm]

Hey again,
Thanks for the info. I told the lady at that store that my dream tank would be seahorses...I was talking about what I had learned about keeping seahorses in my research...that they didn't need a fast current in their tank...she insisted the latest articles she's read said that seahorses need a really fast current...was I mistaken about this?
I can't remember what I've read where...did you say your seahorses will eat frozen food or do they have to have live? I thought I read one of your posts giving a recipe for little frozen cubes of brine shrimp & garlic. This is all so fascinating...you seem to really know your stuff too. I wonder if I'd have to have a chiller to keep seahorses here in middle Tennessee. We keep our house right around 70. I was thinking that chillers were pretty expensive. Have you thought about trying pipefish? They are so interesting.

That's a BIG relief about the halide lights. I was pretty bummed out yesterday when we left the store. We have a 3200 sq. ft. house...so our electric bill--especially in the summer months--is no small change...and doubling it was a scarey thought. You have given me new hope...Thank you.

Have a great day,

Fara

[lcstorc]

No seahorses do not need a strong current and in fact they don't like strong current. They are very slow swimmers and have trouble getting around if the current is too strong.
As far as food, mine eat a combination of mysis and cyclopeze though they mostly eat the mysis and the cyclopeze gets eaten by the shrimp, coral and my clown goby. If you get a captive bred seahorse then they should already be eating frozen foods usually mysis. If you get a wild caught (which I would strongly discourage) they will be used to live food and you will have to wean them onto frozen. It is much easier to keep the captive bred ponies.