Fishfreak2009's 36 Gallon Bowfront Seahorse Aquarium

Fishfreak2009

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Wifey and I were struggling to decide what style tank we wanted to put in the nursery for our little girl on the way. Our nursery is ocean/reef themed, as is our whole house, but we really wanted to go all out in this room.

We knew it would be a seahorse aquarium, but were not sure on tank size or style. Finally decided on a 36 gallon bowfront with black silicone, since they were 50% off for Memorial day weekend. Filtration will be a combination of a Seachem Tidal 70 with filter floss and chemipure elite, all the macroalgae, and regular water changed. Lightning is actually designed for a freshwater planted tank, as I'm hoping it will grow the macroalgae faster. We are lighting the tank with 2x 30" Aqueon Max Optibright lights, but may change that based on how the gorgonians and macroalgae grow.

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This tank is a deeper sand bed, 4-7" depending on the spot in the tank, and will eventually house 4 erectus seahorses, along with some different varieties of pipefish, garden eels, yellow headed jawfish, a pair of mandarin dragonets, and a pair of clowns. Tank will be a planted reef, with minimal rockscape to allow the eels and jawfish to burrow, but still provide plenty of surface area to mount macroalgaes, sponges, gorgonians, and a couple corals.

Got it filled this morning, and moved over the established pile of live branch rock from the holding tank, the pair of juvenile wild-caught Hippocampus erectus seahorses we have had for about 4 months, and have successfully weaned onto frozen, along with our as of now lonely female midnight lightning ocellaris clown, and our female blue mandarin dragonet. Also moved our red gorgonian and variety of macroalgaes over. We also picked up a pair of captive bred Hippocampus erectus seahorses to join the 2 we already owned, a pair of dragonface pipefish, an awesome yellow branching sponge, and a really nice Stylococcinella colony while out shopping today!

Everything seems to have settled in nicely, and everyone is eating well. Can't wait for all the gorgonians, the other macroalgaes, and all the sponges we ordered online to arrive later this week!

Here are a bunch of pictures, since I'm already obsessed and I'm so happy I finally got the ponies and mandarin out of holding and into the display!

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Congratulations on your upcoming new addition to the family! What a cool idea for the nursery! I’m going to venture to guess this will be your first child? All I have to say is good luck and more power to you . My wife and I have our second on the way now and I can tell you the last thing I would be doing is starting a new build…. I’m trying to automate as much as possible on my current tank because when our first was born my tank was severely neglected and I just got it back to a decent state.

That said, maybe you are stronger and more dedicated than I! I have always wanted to do a seahorse tank so I will be following!
 
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Fishfreak2009

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Got my shipment from Reeftopia.com and from Gulf Coast Ecosystems today! Extremely happy with both orders, received 3 perfect yellow headed jawfish, a ton of amazing macroalgaes, gorgonians, sponges, and lots of nice inverts!

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Got my shipment from Reeftopia.com and from Gulf Coast Ecosystems today! Extremely happy with both orders, received 3 perfect yellow headed jawfish, a ton of amazing macroalgaes, gorgonians, sponges, and lots of nice inverts!

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That looks awesome!
 
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Fishfreak2009

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Here are a few pics from last night. Lost the orange macro and the blue hypnea, not because it wouldn't grow, but because the hermits and Turbo snails ate it all... tank is doing well though! All the other macroalgae are growing nicely, and the fish and ponies are thriving. Added a flasher wrasse, and he seems to have settled in nicely. He likes displaying at the jawfish.

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Fishfreak2009

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Here are a few pictures from this afternoon. I find myself watching the jawfish more and more, I've kept them in the past, but always just 1. The colony dynamic is really fun and interesting!

The flasher wrasse is also much more bold, spending almost all day out and about now.

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Fishfreak2009

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Picked up some new additions last night! Grabbed a really nice male Paracheilinus angulatus, a trio of spotted garden eels (Heteroconger hassi), a male mandarin dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus) to pair with the female in here, and a male Janss pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi). So far so good, the garden eels are already eating!



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Picked up some new additions last night! Grabbed a really nice male Paracheilinus angulatus, a trio of spotted garden eels (Heteroconger hassi), a male mandarin dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus) to pair with the female in here, and a male Janss pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi). So far so good, the garden eels are already eating!



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I love garden eels! So cool.
 
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Fishfreak2009

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Here are a few pics from the last couple nights. 2 of the jawfish are now sharing a burrow. I'm hoping to see some eggs soon! Also starting to see some displaying from the male mandarin to the female. Hoping to see some spawning dances soon.

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Here are a few pics from the last couple nights. 2 of the jawfish are now sharing a burrow. I'm hoping to see some eggs soon! Also starting to see some displaying from the male mandarin to the female. Hoping to see some spawning dances soon.

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Love the mandarin!
 
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Fishfreak2009

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Picked up this gorgeous guy today to go in here once he's done with quarantine!

Nemateleotris exquisita, the Exquisite Firefish

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Fishfreak2009

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Update: exquisite firefish ended up in the 100 gallon FOWLR after an emergency mishap with the quarantine. It is doing well in there.

This tank is doing pretty well, though I ended up with some cyano and Bryopsis. Working on getting those back under control. Also added 2 large fighting conchs, which have done an amazing job on the sandbed, which is where most cyano was.

All the fish continue to do well. Here are a few pics from tonight as well as the whole reason we set this tank up.

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Fishfreak2009

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We ended up tearing down my wife's fluval evo and moved most of the corals and all of the fish over to this tank. I also got a new sponge, a new gorgonian, and some new Macroalgae from Gulf Coast Ecosystems, picked up somw purple photosynthetic plating sponge locally, and pruned a bunch of the macroalgae already in here. We also added 3 peppermint shrimp, since some Aiptasia hitched a ride from the evo.

Current fish list:
4 Lined Seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)
1 Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus)
1 Janss Pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi)
2 Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2 Blue Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus)
4 Spotted Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi)
3 Yellow Headed Jawfish (Opistognathus aurifrons)
1 Blue Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus cyaneus)
1 Royal Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus angulatus)
1 Masked Goby (Coryphopterus personatus)
1 Green Banded Goby (Tigrigobius multifasciatus)
1 Red Sea Trimma Goby (Trimma spp.)
1 Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica)
1 Tailspot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)

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DO YOU USE A PAR METER WHEN PLACING NEW CORAL IN YOUR TANK?

  • Yes! I think it's important for the longterm health/growth of my coral.

    Votes: 5 7.1%
  • Yes, but I don't find that it is necessary all the time.

    Votes: 16 22.9%
  • Not currently, but I would like to.

    Votes: 31 44.3%
  • No. I don't measure PAR and my corals are still healthy/growing.

    Votes: 14 20.0%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 4 5.7%
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